By Elisabeth Halfpapp, executive vice president of mind body programming, exhale
February isn’t just about candy hearts and romance. It’s American Heart Month, a topic very near and dear to my heart.
Christa Halfpapp, my loving mother and best friend, opened my eyes to heart disease in women, and sparked a heartfelt passion for dedicating time and joyful energy to the American Heart Association.
She was and continues to be an inspiration to me every day.
With her heart she opened mine to volunteering for AHA’s Go Red for Women, a movement that I was honored by last year as a Luminary of the Heart. Go Red for Women, created by women, for women, is dedicated to uncovering the truth about women and heart disease. More women die of heart disease than all forms of cancer combined! Heart disease is the number one, and stroke is the number three killer of women. Approximately eight million women in the U.S. are living with heart disease; yet only one in six believe that heart disease is their greatest health threat.
Here’s where I can help! As my heart doctors say…exercise is the best medication for the heart! Remember your heart is a muscle, and if you do not exercise it, it is going to get deconditioned, just like your biceps, triceps, thighs and glutes if you do not exercise them. When your heart is out of condition it becomes less functional and less able to do its job. It will have to pump harder for normal daily activities. And this could be life threatening. Your heart muscle is priority and needs to be taken care of with consistent exercise in four areas of fitness: strengthening, stretching, cardio (interval training is the best for the heart), and balancing.
Find the exercise program that is balanced and right for you…co-creating Core Fusion with my husband, Fred DeVito, our goal was to cover all these aspects of fitness with Core Fusion Barre (strength/stretch/balance), Core Fusion Cardio (cardiovascular health), Core Fusion Extreme (interval training), Core Fusion Sport (interval training), Core Fusion Yoga (strength, stretch, balance) and Core Fusion Boot Camp (strength/stretch/balance/interval training). Exhale guests have the opportunity to mix and match all of these classes to create a balanced fitness program.
Look at exercise for your heart health as a priority, all the other benefits will follow…such as the outer results and of course your inner balance!
In my commitment to the American Heart Association and Go Red for Women, I will be offering a by-donation Core fusion Barre class the end of February at exhale Upper East Side, with 100% of the donations going to AHA.
exhale Upper East Side
Thursday, February 19
7:15pm – 8:15pm
$30 donation
Sign up by emailing [email protected]
From my heart to yours…here’s to your healthy heart and spreading heart health to all those around you!