Setting a heart-healthy example

Published: 10 June 2021

This month Samantha Bowman will be running 10km in the 2021 Wellington Marathon to raise vital funds for the Heart Foundation and support those suffering from heart disease.

Sam is the Senior Cardiac and Exercise Physiologist at HeartWorks, where she developed the HeartWorks rehab clinic in 2016. She says it’s her goal to be a role model for those involved in the clinic to gain confidence in the benefits of exercise for healthy hearts.

“I’m hoping to pass the message onto people who’ve had a cardiac event that exercise is a fun and enjoyable part of life,” she said.

With her target of raising $1000 already achieved, Sam’s keen to show her support for the community as a whole and prove that people can ‘Exercise without worry’.

“I see a lot of people in my cardiac rehab clinic who have never exercised before and they don’t realise how important it is for their hearts to stay motivated and healthy.”

With a wealth of clinical experience in Aotearoa and abroad, Sam has built her livelihood based on working closely with real people and helping them to achieve their own personal goals.

Sam also has prior marathon experience, having run in the Hawke’s Bay half marathon, though she isn’t taking the competition too seriously this time around.

“I’ll have my 15-month-old son in the buggy with me and most of the ladies in our group will be walking,” she said.

The real reasons behind her efforts lie in what she sees as a lack of support for those who have suffered after a cardiac event.

“There is a failing in our health system whereby people aren’t encouraged enough to get back out there and do any kind of exercise because they are scared about their heart. In reality, this should be the other way around.”

Sam knows this first-hand as her team of cardiologists, exercise physiologists, dieticians and clinical psychologists are working every day to empower people to live healthy and confident lives after a cardiac event.

For more information about HeartWorks. Support Sam on our fundraising page.