The Heart of the Matter

1. The Heart of the Matter • Put your hand on your heart • Hold out your hand and make a fist • Why do we wear wedding rings on our left hand? • lub-Dub, lub-Dub. Sound familiar? These sounds are made by the heart valves as they open and close

2. Heart Facts • The heart is a strong muscle that pumps blood throughout your body • Your heart provides the power needed for life • An adults heart will beat about 70 times per minute • We have 6 quarts of blood that moves through our body 3 times every minute

3. Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart • Veins are blood vessels that carry blood toward the heart • Even at rest, the muscles of the heart work hard -- twice as hard as the leg muscles of a person sprinting

4. Your heart and exercise • The heart changes how fast it pumps to meet your body’s needs. • As muscles work harder, they need more oxygen supplied by blood from the heart. • The heart has to beat faster to keep up with the needs of the muscles.

5. Problems of the heart • Heart Attack - caused by blockage of a coronary artery. • Damage to the heart muscle can occur if there is insufficient blood supply for more than 20 minutes or more.

6. Typical Warning Signs • Chest discomfort along with pain that runs down the left arm • Shortness of breath • Nausea • cold sweat, light headedness

7. Risk Factors • Family History of early heart attack before 65 for women before 55 for men • Age (heart attack risk increases with age) • Race • Diabetes • High blood pressure

8. Blood Pressure • The pressure exerted by the heart in pumping blood away from the heart. • High blood pressure is 140/90 or higher • Systolic (top number) is the pressure in the arteries as the heart contracts • Diastolic (bottom number) is the pressure in the arteries as the heart relaxes

9. Did you ever wonder • Why a nurse checks your pulse during a checkup or why they check a victims pulse? • Your pulse tells how well your heart is working • Many factors affect pulse rate fitness level, genetics, stress, diet

10. Your heart is a muscle • If you want it to be strong you need to exercise it.

11. Did you know • Heart Disease is the #1 killer of women. • 1 in 3 women dies of heart disease • Yet women make up only 25% of participants in heart related research studies

12. How to take your pulse • Never use your thumb • Begin your count with zero • locate pulse in your wrist or neck • count for 30 seconds multiple by 2 • Resting rate is your pulse rate before you get out of bed in the morning

13. Target Heart Rate • To get the most benefit from aerobic exercise you need to work out in your target heart rate zone. • 220 - your age = maximum heart rate • MHR x 60% = lower range of zone • MHR x 80% = higher range of zone • You should be in this range of 60-80%

14. Tuesday • In your groups • one member of group will complete 3 fitness stations • Two minutes of exercise, record pulse after exercise, 30 seconds, 60 seconds and 90 seconds after exercise • other team members will act as timers, recorder, and pulse taker