Michelle Bridges was sitting in the shower on a plastic chair, her crutches propped beside her, when the enormity of what had happened finally hit.
“I’d lost all of my independence,” she tells The Weekly. “In a flash of my eyes, I’d lost all independence, and here I am a single parent having to look after a nine-year-old, and I can’t even drive him to school.”
The fitness expert and founder of 12WBT (12 Week Body Transformation program) has spent decades helping Australians take charge of their health. But after badly injuring her knee while skiing in Japan, Michelle suddenly found herself in unfamiliar territory.
“I couldn’t drive, I couldn’t cook, I couldn’t even carry a cup of tea. I’m thinking, ‘What the hell have I done?’”
In the shower, she completely broke down.
“I feel like I’m in a nursing home at this point, with my crutches next to me, and I’m bawling my eyes out,” she recalls.
Then her son Axel walked in.
“He could hear me crying. He goes, ‘Mum, it’s going to be okay. You’ll be fine. We’re going to get through this together. It’s going to make me more independent, and I’m going to have to pull my weight.’”
It was a beautiful moment. Although the next night, Axel was less patient.
“He comes in and says, ‘Mum, I don’t have it in me tonight. You’re just going to have to pull it together,’” she laughs.
Michelle had been given a glimpse of how quickly the independence she had always relied on could be taken away.
“That was the real eye-opener,” she says.
A confronting wake-up call
As Michelle recovered from her injury, the feeling stayed with her.
One rainy day in Bondi Junction, she was walking along a slippery footpath. “I found myself going right up against the wall and walking really slowly so that people could pass me and not knock me over,” she recalls. “And I’m thinking, ‘Far out, this is what it feels like to be old.’”
Even for someone as fit as Michelle, it was a confronting moment.
“It just gave me the biggest eye-opener of what it must be like if you haven’t maybe taken that great care of yourself, and what it could be like if you did.”
It became the starting point for Michelle’s latest 12WBT program, Future Proof, which follows her Menopause Method and Perimenopause Method programs. But where those focused on helping women understand what was happening in midlife, this one looks further ahead to the years still to come.
“This is not about aesthetics,” Michelle says. “The name Future Proof kind of says it all. As we move from the 45 to 50 category and beyond, what are we doing to make sure that we’re maximising our health and quality of life to the best that we can?”
For Michelle, the goal is not simply to live longer, but to stay strong and healthy enough to enjoy those years.
“This program is about strength, injury prevention, independence, not being a burden,” she says. “When I talk to people about how they see themselves at 60, 70 or 80, most people, one way or another, say they don’t want to be a burden to their family and they want to maintain their independence.”
Why strength matters more than ever
While the wellness world right now is crowded with biohacking advice, supplements and endless “hacks”, Michelle is adamant the fundamentals remain simple.
“You cannot get anything in a jar or in a bottle that will beat movement.”
Future Proof takes a holistic approach to ageing well, bringing together strength, mobility, nutrition, mindset, and brain health. Alongside Michelle’s workouts, the 12-week program includes insights and guidance from Australia’s leading health experts.
The exercise component is structured around five 30-minute workouts a week: three strength sessions, one mobility session and one dance-based workout.
“It’s not that much,” Michelle says. “I scroll on my phone for more than 30 minutes a day.”
Strength training, she stresses, is particularly important for women as they age.
“If you can just keep your legs strong, you will have a far greater opportunity of a better quality of life.”
The mobility day was also inspired by her own recovery. Like many people, Michelle admits she has not always been diligent with rehab exercises after injury.
“You go to your physio and they say, ‘Okay, here are all your rehabilitation exercises,’” she says. “Nobody ever does it. I didn’t do it.”
So in Future Proof, mobility and “prehab” are not tacked onto the end of a workout. They are part of the workout.
The surprising power of dance
Perhaps the most unexpected element of the program is dance.
No one would immediately associate Michelle Bridges with dance, but she says that is part of the point.
“Let me be completely honest, I’m not a good dancer,” she laughs. “But I love dancing. I love dancing with my son. We dance in the lounge room all the time.”
Dance was a “non-negotiable” to include as it combines movement, music and learning something new. Michelle enlisted choreographer Kelley Abbey, who she describes as “royalty” in the dance world, to create the dance sessions of Future Proof.
“Dancing doesn’t feel like you’re exercising. It’s movement,” Michelle explains. “It’s the music, which is huge for brain cognition. And then you layer that with learning choreography. That is a powerful way to really fire up your brain.”
To anyone who feels self-conscious, Michelle points to one piece of advice from Kelley that stayed with her: remove yourself from the outcome.
“It’s not the outcome that has the brain working,” Michelle says. “It’s in the learning. It’s in making the mistake and then getting it right.”
A different way to think about ageing
For Michelle, now 55, ageing well feels deeply personal
“I want to be agile and fit and strong to be able to keep up with my son and be on this planet for as long as possible and watch him grow up,” she says. “I’ve got a purpose. I’ve got a drive.”
But it is not just about living longer. “I don’t want to just be alive. I want to actually have a quality of life.”
She wants to travel, enjoy retirement and be able to pick up her own suitcase in her 60s and beyond.
“Ageing is a gift,” she points out. “Not many people get to do it.”
After decades in the fitness industry, Michelle’s focus has shifted to preparing for the years ahead. She wants to change the way we think about getting older: not as something to fight or fear, but as something we can take control of and still fully enjoy.
“It’s an incredible time of life if you can keep your health,” she says. “Because you’ve been around the block. You’ve been through the joy, you’ve been through the heartache, you’ve seen tragedy, you’ve watched people pass away. You’ve lived a life, and you have all of that knowledge and all of that insight.
“Imagine being able to have that, which is extraordinarily wealthy, and have it in a body that’s still capable. That is nirvana.”
To learn more about Future Proof, visit 12wbt.com.
