UGA Fitness Center's Cardiac Rehablitation Program Now Accepting Applications

The University of Georgia's Fitness Center is accepting new applications for participation in its Cardiac Rehabilitation Program, a series of exercise sessions for people with coronary heart disease, prior heart surgery, revascularization or those at-risk for developing coronary heart disease.

Designed to build cardiovascular endurance, strength and flexibility, the program was developed 23 years ago by Harry DuVal, director of the center and associate professor of exercise science. It was the first cardiac rehabilitation program in the Clarke County area.

The program has served more than 1,500 adult fitness and cardiac rehabilitation participants, about 800 of which have been cardiac patients. Some have participated in the program for more than 15 years.

Each week the Fitness Center offers three, one-hour cardiac rehabilitation exercise sessions on Monday, Wednesday and Friday in 101E of the Ramsey Center. Participants may choose to attend 9:30 a.m., 2:45 or 3:45 p.m. sessions.

The year-long program costs $35 a month, in addition to an initial entrance and fitness evaluation fee of $95. A physician's referral is required prior to initial testing and stress test evaluation. Currently, the program has 30 slots available for new participants.

During the classes, a qualified exercise specialist leads participants in multilevel cardiovascular exercises. Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) personnel are also on duty to monitor for changes in blood pressure and heart rate. To assure an accurate evaluation of progress, individual data and progress reports are kept on each participant.

Those interested in joining the program or receiving more information should contact Jacquee Rosumny at 706/542-4230 or jrosumny@coe.uga.edu.

For more information:
http://www.coe.uga.edu/exs/fitness.html

Wednesday, September 1, 2004

WRITER: Nicole Richardson, 706/583-0811, nrichard@uga.edu
CONTACT: Harry DuVal, 706/542-4395, hpduval@uga.edu