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Workouts are important as you age

For impressive abs Cable crunches develop strong abdominal muscles

Weight training, once considered an activity for youngsters, is now accepted as the best companion of the aged.

Researchers now say that proper weight training can be effectively used to keep bones and joints healthy as a person ages. Workouts have proven themselves effective in tackling osteoarthritis — the degeneration of joint cartilage, which leads to pain, restricted motion and loss of function.

Cartilage covers the end of the bones in the joints. It allows pain-free motion and absorbs shock. Once osteoarthritis sets in, the cartilage wears away. This brings about direct contact between the bones and leads to the formation of bone spurs and joint fragments. This is where strong muscles help a great deal. They help to stabilise the joints and prevent osteoarthritis.

In a landmark study, Canadian researchers studied a group of patients who trained with weights for 30 months. They showed less joint space narrowing in the knee (a measure of osteoarthritis) when compared to another group that did not train with weights.

Scientists have written in Arthritis Rheumatology that weight training becomes progressively more important as a person ages, because it prevents muscle and bone loss, and osteoarthritis.

Kneel on the floor a few feet away from the high pulley cable machine and grab the handle with your hands and hold close to your head. Exhale and crunch forward, trying to bring your rib cage as close as possible to your pelvis. The movement should be a perfect crunch. Do not merely bend forward. Care should be taken to avoid momentum or any pain in the lower back. Slowly return to the starting position.

This exercise can be done holding a small handle (as pictured) or a rope handle. It builds thick, brick-like abdominal muscles over a period of time, when trained using heavier weights.

A small twisting action can also be incorporated in the movement, which involves twisting mildly to the side while crunching. This advanced variation sculpts the ‘oblique’ (waist) muscle and builds the ‘intercostals.’

Stronger abdominal muscles help to stabilise the torso and improve performance in almost all sports.

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