Classes & Events
Health and Wellness Classes
Holy Cross Hospital Community Health offers a number of heartsaver first aid and CPR classes, including Heartsaver: Adult CPR & AED Training, a four-hour class that provides hands-on training on how to perform lifesaving CPR and how to use the Automatic External Defibrillator (AED). A card from the American Heart Association is issued upon completion.
Exercise Classes
Being inactive increases your risk for heart disease and contributes to other heart disease risk factors such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and low blood levels of healthy cholesterol.
The health benefits of regular exercise include:
- Lower blood pressure
- Weight loss
- A lower risk of diabetes. Exercise may also decrease the insulin requirements of a person with diabetes.
- Higher HDL cholesterol, which has been linked to a decreased risk of heart disease
The American Heart Association recommends at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three to four times a week to promote heart fitness. Examples of aerobic exercise include moderate-to-brisk walking, jogging, running, swimming, and sports such as tennis, racquetball, soccer and basketball. Even modest levels of low-intensity physical activity, such as gardening, walking and brisk housework, can help if you do them regularly over a long period of time.
If you are 40 or older, if you smoke or if you have not exercised regularly, talk to your doctor before you start an exercise program.
The best defense against heart disease is prevention. Holy Cross Hospital offers a range of fitness and movement programs to improve cardiovascular health and reduce stress.