Heartmoves aims to makes Cobar residents’ hearts healthy
Wednesday May 20, 2009
At the launch of Heartmoves last Friday at the Cobar Youth and Fitness Centre were Jenny Bridle, Roger Shanahan, Bernice Martin, Marlene Wynd, Mary-Anne Jones and Dr Deon Heyns.
Heartmoves, an exercise program approved by the Heart Foundation, was launched last Friday morning at the Cobar Youth and Fitness Centre.
The classes are offered free twice a week by the NSW Outback Division of General Practice and are led by accredited group and personal fitness trainer, Mary-Anne Jones.
The Heartmoves program has been specifically developed for people who have health risk factors or stable chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and bone or joint problems.
“Heartmoves can help to lower blood pressure, manage weight, manage diabetes, improve sleep, help to manage arthritis, improve cholesterol control, improve well being and quality of life, improve balance and flexibility and also improve bone mineral density,” Mrs Jones said.
“It is also suitable for people who haven’t exercised in a long time.”
Heartmoves focuses on delivering safe, low-to-moderate intensity exercise incorporating gentle aerobic activity, weight-bearing or resistance exercise and stretching, all of which help to build strength and improve balance.
Dr Deon Heyns from the Cobar Primary Health Care Centre gave a talk at the Heartmoves session on Friday giving participants a brief background on heart disease and how important exercise is for the heart.
“The heart is a great organ, and is one organ in our body that does not really age,” Dr Heyns said.
He said if you look after it, your heart today can be still as good as it was 10 years ago.
Dr Heyns said there had been a lot of research done into heart disease with inactivity one of the biggest risk factors that led to the development of heart disease.
“Inactive people have twice the risk of having a heart problem compared to active people,” he said.
“Exercise puts elasticity into arteries, helps the heart to use oxygen more effective and makes for better circulation.
“Exercise also reduces other risk factors such as being overweight and cholesterol.
“Exercise generally gives people better health and Heartmoves is a good starting point that people can build on,” Dr Heyns said.
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