The University of Toledo

While most people pack swim trunks and sunscreen for trips to Florida, Dr. Dalynn Badenhop found room in his suitcase for a bicycle helmet when he went south last month.

Between watching spring training baseball games, the director of the UT Medical Center’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Department pedaled to his heart’s delight.

Badenhop, a clinical exercise physiologist, sees the importance of regular physical activity firsthand. Although his schedule mirrors the hectic lifestyles many face, fitness is near the top of his to-do list.

“Every Sunday, I can usually be found at a local YMCA working on strength and core conditioning,” Badenhop said. “Planning for the week’s exercise usually starts Sunday, too. I look at everything I have scheduled and figure out when and where I can exercise.”

Badenhop will join Dr. William Colyer Jr. and Dr. Joseph Carlson in discussing how a few basic lifestyle changes can improve heart health during UT’s “Taking Control of Your Heart Health Through Nutrition, Exercise and Medications,” a free, public program offered Thursday, April 29, at 6:30 p.m. in the Dana Conference Center on Health Science Campus.

During the program, participants will learn how therapeutic lifestyle changes, or TLC, can improve heart health. Free pedometers will be distributed while supplies last, and several heart monitors will be given as prizes.

Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. for free blood pressure screenings and other activities.

Badenhop oversees the UTMC Cardiac Rehab Program. While the goal for his patients is to strengthen a weakened muscle, he said exercise for a healthy heart may protect it from harm.

“The goal is to get 150 minutes each week of moderate physical activity,” Badenhop said. “You get as much benefit from walking briskly for 10 minutes 15 times a week as you do from walking for 30 minutes five times a week. It all adds up to 150 minutes.”

According to the American Heart Association, in addition to strengthening the heart muscle, regular exercise also:

• Improves blood circulation and blood cholesterol levels;

• Helps with weight control;

• Prevents and helps manage high blood pressure;

• Prevents bone loss;

• Boosts energy;

• Helps manage stress;

• Improves the ability to fall asleep quickly and sleep well;

• Enhances self-image;

• Counters anxiety and depression; and

• Delays or prevents chronic illnesses and diseases associated with aging and maintains quality of life and longer independence for older adults.

For more information or to RSVP for the April 29 program, call 419.383.3981.

This entry was posted  on  Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 at  5:40 am and is filed under  Events, UToday.
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