The
worldwide transplant community has been challenged to celebrate the gift of
life and get active by collectively walking a billion steps
The World Transplant
Games Federation (WTGF) announced today the return of its highly successful
“Billion Steps Challenge” to encourage health and fitness amongst transplant
recipients all over the world
The Fit for Life! Billion Steps Challenge, proudly supported by Novartis, is an
online exercise program designed to help recipients and the extended community
stay active and celebrate a life where physical activity and movement is the
‘new’ normal.
Several research studies have shown that some transplant recipients have a
‘fear of movement’ following transplantation, worried that they might overdo
exercise and damage their transplanted organ. The first Billion Steps challenge
held in 2017 saw participants increase their daily step count by an average of
50% throughout the challenge.
WTGF President, Chris Thomas said “We can demonstrate that, with planning,
advice and common sense, transplant recipients can get back into exercise and
sport. There really are no boundaries”.
For many, Covid-19 has created great amounts of stress, fear and anxiety.
Regular exercise benefits both the body and mind. Exercise has the ability to
improve mental health, reduce the risk of depression, cognitive decline and
improve overall feelings of wellbeing.
“At times like this, focussing on ourselves, both physically and emotionally is
crucial. Exercise is really the best way to beat the blues and maintain a
positive outlook. We are pleased to be contributing to the welfare of
recipients across the world at this difficult time”, said Chris Thomas.
We know the importance of an active community around recipients, which is why
this challenge is also open to the entire transplant community, including
living donors, donor families, medical professionals, carers, family, and
friends.
It begins on October 5th and will run formally for 10 weeks until December
13th 2020.
It is designed as a fun, community-centered interactive challenge where teams
of between 2 and 5 people register online and sync their fitness trackers to
record their daily steps.
The online Movespring platform also allows manual submission of steps for those
who do not have a fitness tracker. Likewise all exercise types can be converted
to steps. So if you prefer to go for a cycle, swim or perhaps participate in a
fitness class, the easy conversion tools will allow you to convert these
activities to steps.
The platform promotes healthy and fun competition between the teams, with
various newsfeed and chat forums active, as well as regular messages of
encouragement and updates on the leader board status. Weekly fun challenges
will be set with WTGF branded hoodies up for grabs.
There is no age limit and no experience is needed. The challenge is designed to
motivate all to exercise within their means, starting with some simple goals,
such as walking around the block and building towards more ambitious goals.
The WTGF will be promoting ways to achieve your daily steps targets both at
home and outside, taking into account different social interaction rules around
the globe. The Billion Steps Challenge demonstrates to recipients that there is
more to the WTGF than the highly successful Summer and Winter Games, and we
plan to bring more events like this to you in the future.
To find out more about the Billion Steps Challenge or sign up to, please
visit https://wtgf.org/billion-steps-challenge
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