Polytech, receives ergometer

Press, 16 August 1988, Page 8

Polytech, receives ergometer

An ergometer worth $2300 has been given by the Canterbury regional Heart Foundation to the Christchurch Polytechnic to help improve the general fitness of the students at the institute.

The ergometer is a fitness bike designed in Sweden. It calculates a person’s fitness in a six to 12-minute work-out by measuring the subject’s heart-beat as he or she exercises. The tutor at the Recrea-

tion Centre, Mr John Boniface, said the bike would be a great help in assessing a person’s cardiovascular condition and tailoring a fitness programme.

A subject sits on the bike, warms up for a couple of minutes, then gradually increases speed and the adjustable loading or weight mechanism until reaching 70 to 80 per cent of physical capability-

The Heart Foundation

also gave a blood pressure unit and regular checks are made of a subject’s blood pressure to make sure it does not get too high. The ergometer and blood pressure unit will be used by students at the polytechnic. Mr Boniface said as many as 300 individual programmes would be developed. Making the donation, the medical director of the National Heart Foundation, Dr David

Hay, said the foundation was concerned that too many young people were pulling out of sport early.

“But we want them to form lifelong habits. This is part of an over-all strategy to promote fitness in the community,” he said.

Mr Boniface hoped that by encourging people to look at their own fitness they would look more closely at all aspects of their life-style, including diet and leisure.