LOS ANGELES — Getting hearts pumping is nothing but normal for 71-year-old former CrossFit Games competitor and actor Tim DeZarn. But staying in shape is something he hopes to keep up with at any age.

“I’ve always thought that my body is my instrument," DeZarn said. "If I don’t keep it tuned, it won’t play right.”

But about six years ago, DeZarn said he noticed something he couldn’t control was out of tune: his heartbeat.

That’s when he said he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, a condition where a person’s heart beats irregularly and often rapidly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If left untreated, it could lead to stroke, heart failure and more.

“I wasn’t getting it that often just about three to four times per month," he said. "Just like how anyone has a heart flutter.”

As doctors monitored his condition with prescription blood thinners, he said he was ready to try a new FDA-approved procedure that uses Boston Scientific's FARAPULSE PFA system to deliver an electrical pulse to areas that cause the irregular heartbeat. Dr. Shephal Doshi, an electrophysiologist and the director of the Sandra and Vin Scully Heart Rhythm Center at Providence Saint John’s Health Center, said it’s a game changer in the way the condition is now treated.

“With this technology, we don’t have to put a tube down their throat or use general anesthesia. We can just use a deep sedative like propofol, which is commonly used in sedation for colonoscopies,” he said. “Patients recover quicker. They can go home in a few hours and the procedure is incrementally faster.”

Doshi said the new procedure takes about 30 minutes compared to the previous method that could take hours to make corrections with pinpoint burns.

Three weeks after his surgery, DeZarn is back in the gym and said he’s already feeling better.

“I think I’m going to have a little more energy and, in general, relax a little bit about life,” he said.