Heart Rate

A step stool can add value to your workout. The good news: you probably already own one. If you don't, they are inexpensive and easy to find at supermarkets, hardware stores and even pharmacies. The simple step-up, step-down movement is just what you need to up the intensity of your cardiovascular workout. Do this for 5 minutes and your heart rate will soar. It's all good, whether your workout is 5 minutes or 55. Once you feel comfortable with the basic move, you can graduate to more complex ones.

Fattest city in America? Even Mayor Street is drumming for a fitter Philly. Could Men's Fitness magazine be right? Maybe. Maybe not. But this much is true: Whatever condition your body's in, it can probably be better. And there's no time like the beginning of a new year to begin building a new you. We'll help. Here's a hint: "Fitness" includes mind, body and spiritual health. The flesh may be flabby, but if the spirit is weak, the weight will hang around, no matter the diet, the workout or roster of resolutions.

Dobbins Tech's boys' basketball coach said last night from his room at the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital that he feels fine. Rich Yankowitz was rushed to the hospital Wednesday morning after suffering an adverse reaction to medication for a pinched nerve in his shoulder. His heart began to race, and he became disoriented. "The medication was too strong or something," he said. Once he reached the hospital, doctors returned his heart rate to normal. "I feel great," he said.

Suzie McConnell Serio, a former WNBA coach of the year, was hired yesterday as the women's basketball coach at Duquesne after a 7-20 season. She replaces Dan Durkin, who resigned last month and had a 176-217 record in his 14 seasons as coach. The Dukes' last winning record, 16-13, was in 2004. McConnell Serio, who is from Pittsburgh, resigned last year as coach of the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx, a team she guided to two playoff appearances in three-plus seasons. In 2004, McConnell Serio was honored as the league's top coach.

Q: My mother is 85 and had numerous syncopal episodes for nearly a year. Last spring she had a pacemaker implanted because of low heart rate, but she does not have a heart condition. Tests, X-rays, a CT scan of the brain and a visit to her dentist and ear doctor were of no value. Why would someone, normally with an abundance of energy, have such a distressing problem? A: Syncope means fainting. This has many causes but, in the elderly it often is due to an irregular or slow pulse.

The airline passenger was in deep trouble - not breathing, no heart rate - when a fellow passenger, Raina Merchant, then a resident in emergency medicine, tried to save his life. "The patient survived the flight, but, sadly, not much longer," said Merchant, who performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the passenger. That was seven years ago. Now Merchant, a University of Pennsylvania physician whose research centers on resuscitation, is developing a mobile-phone app that would, with one push of a button, provide oral instructions for CPR. The app would even say, "Press, press, press," to allow the right rhythm for chest compressions.

Sixers fanatic Marc Bernstein sat down to watch Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the Lakers attended by a team of doctors. They drew his blood for testing. They hooked him up to a beeping heart monitor. And they planted him in a La-Z-Boy with a full supply of corn chips, soda and sandwiches. "I'm the guinea pig tonight," Bernstein said Wednesday as a doctor attached electrodes to his chest at an Allentown medical clinic. One of two guinea pigs, actually. As research for a forthcoming article in Men's Health magazine, based in nearby Emmaus, doctors at Allentown's St. Luke's Hospital sequestered two fans - one Sixers, one Lakers - to test how their bodies would react to the vein-popping excitement of televised basketball.

She limps in slowly. Knees bent. Back hunched. The painful expression eases from her face as she makes her way down the six steps into the pool. She joins a group of women and they form a circle. As they begin to jog in place, someone begins to sing, "Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. " The others join in. "I feel wonderful, wonderful," said Alma Kelly, 80, of Westville. "Some days you don't feel like getting out of bed, but you force yourself, come here and feel wonderful!"

Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Jonas Gustavsson was taken to the hospital in Montreal with an elevated heart rate following the first period of the Leafs' 3-0 victory over the Canadiens last night. Gustavsson made eight saves before he was taken to the hospital as a precaution. The Swedish rookie had minor heart surgery during training camp after he experienced a racing heartbeat. Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke said Gustavsson is expected to be fine. "We're just being ultracautious," Burke said.

Spring pulls some crazy stunts on us. One day it's balmy enough to jog around in shorts, and the next it's so chilly that you take refuge indoors. But don't let temperature swings keep you from a regular aerobic workout. If you want to defy nature's spring antics, try bicycling - indoors or out. But bicycling isn't as simple as it was when you were young. To reap its aerobic and strengthening benefits and to avoid injury, keep in mind these tips: GET A CHECKUP. Before starting a bicycling program, visit your doctor for a routine physical exam, especially if you have been sedentary for a while or have a personal or family history of heart disease.