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The Cardiac Rehab and Cardiac Prevention programs promote exercise and healthy lifestyle choices

The heart that gets broken, warmed, worn on sleeves, given away and occasionally left in San Francisco 鈥� the heart that symbolizes our deepest of emotions and is pressed into service in this, the most emotive of weeks 鈥� well, let鈥檚 face it, nobody knows the exact formula for keeping that heart healthy.

But the real heart, the fist-sized organ that pumps oxygen through your body with its incessant, rhythmic thump day after day after day鈥揗elissa Rodgers knows just how to handle that one.

Rodgers is the director of the 91制片厂鈥檚 Cardiac Rehab and Cardiac Prevention programs, designed to help people get their hearts in shape through exercise and other lifestyle changes. She and her staff 鈥� a graduate student and six to eight undergraduate students who get class credit for their work 鈥� assist people who have had heart problems or who are at risk for heart problems.

鈥淭hey come in and we do initial evaluations and run a whole regime of physical fitness tests,鈥� said Rodgers, who has run the program for about four years. 鈥淎nd from that we develop an exercise program for them and note what things they might need to be educated on further.鈥�

The two heart programs and a recently added peripheral artery program offer highly individualized routines with a common focus: hard work. 鈥淭he best kind of exercise for the heart is cardiovascular, or aerobic, exercise,鈥� Rodgers said. 鈥淓xercises like cycling, running swimming, that use large muscle groups and are performed at moderate intensity for an extended period of time.鈥�

The 18-week programs are designed to bridge the gap between hospital cardiac rehab programs and independent diet and exercise regimes. And many times, that four-month fling turns into a lasting relationship. About 20 people are enrolled in the programs at any given time, but the majority are ongoing participants. 鈥淲e have individuals who have been with us almost since the program started more than 30 years ago,鈥� Rodgers said.

Why? Well, like true love, exercise and healthy eating just make people feel good. 鈥淧eople come back and they say, 鈥業 feel so much better,鈥欌�� Rodgers said. 鈥淭hey feel more capable of achieving the normal activities of daily living without getting tired.鈥�

And hey, when the old ticker is working well, it follows that the love life might get a boost too. The relationship between our real hearts and our symbolic hearts may, in fact, be reciprocal. Rodgers recently read a Michigan State University study that reaffirmed an idea that鈥檚 been kicking around for a while: people in long-lasting, happy relationships tend to live longer.

This being national Heart Health Month, Rodgers and her staff like to have a little fun with the analogy too. In years past they鈥檝e handed out 鈥渧alentines鈥� with heart-health tips around campus, and this year they鈥檙e wearing red on Friday.

Just don鈥檛 come banging on her door with your love dilemmas.

For information on the Cardiac Rehabilitation and Prevention Programs, , call 862-0597 or e-mail melissa.rodgers@unh.edu.

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