Cardiac rehab at home 'promising' option (Canada)

As heart patient Mark Lemieux runs on a treadmill at his home, the slap of each sneaker-clad foot marks one more step in his quest to bump up his cardiovascular fitness and keep it there. Lemieux's routine, which also includes lifting weights and resistance training to strengthen muscles, is part of a cardiac rehab program he began last June after he was treated for three partially blocked coronary arteries. What's different about this rehab program is that he can do it in the comfort of his own home, working out at a convenient time, rather than having to take time off work to attend a traditional hospital-based program. "One of the challenges for me in the regular location program was that it didn't really suit my lifestyle and particularly my work style," says Lemieux, 54, a pharmaceutical marketer who lives in Markham, Ont., northeast of Toronto. "It would have been difficult to integrate going into the centre," he says of the cardiac exercise program located at Toronto Rehab, a 50-kilometre round trip from his home