Let's Get Moving!
A walking program for congregations

Presbyterians, like many of our colleagues and neighbors, tend to live rather sedentary lives. We often sit behind desks or around committee tables exercising our minds, but not our bodies. This lifestyle, combined with a life-long opportunity to eat as often and as much as we like, can contribute to our individual girth and place us at increased risk for cardiovascular events and diabetes.

Walking programs are an ideal way for congregations to focus on an opportunity for individual Presbyterians to practice good stewardship of our own bodies and health collectively. Many congregations are already using walking as an activity and some have formal walking programs in place. Let's Get Moving is an option for those who wish to have a more formalized program.

According to some sources, the rate of walking has dropped by 42 percent over the past 20 years. Over that same period, the number of overweight people in the United States has increased by 40 percent.

The health benefits of walking are astonishing. Not only does walking help reduce stress, it also reduces the risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, stroke and breast or colon cancer.

Walking stimulates the brain to release endorphins, the body's natural opiates, which can make you feel better about life right away. It also stimulates the brain to increase production of the neurotransmitter serotonin, another potent mood elevater.

Walking requires neither club membership nor pre-certification/approval from your healthcare insurance provider. The weather is warming, green is re-emerging and there is no better time to take a deep breath, clear the winter fog from our lungs and move!

• Walking Program: Benefits
• Gathering Group Participants
• Beginning the Program
• Essentials for Safe and Effective Walking
• The Value of Walking
• The Top Ten Common Walking Mistakes
• Walking Logs and Poster

Download Let's Get Moving program in the printable Adobe Acrobat format.

Download walking logs and a poster in the printable Adobe Acrobat format.

These files require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.
For best results, right-click the link (or click and hold for Macintosh), select "save target as" and save the document to your desktop for viewing and printing.