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Welcome to an exciting and powerful yet simple fitness program. In today’s culture the gym and “church” are two separate places. Personal fitness and faith are two independent practices. Gaining physical and spiritual strength are two independent goals. This program changes that.
Use the menu below to navigate to all the Every Body Matters ONLINE pages.
The Every Body Matters Fitness Program begins with a half hour of conversation based on well-developed topics and discussion questions from the book. Then the remainder of each session is an engaging exercise program specific for the group. It’s that simple. This page equips you with the basic information you need to start the program.
IS THIS PROGRAM FOR YOU?
You don’t have to be a “church-going Christian” to participate in this program. Most people face challenges that need solutions beyond just exercise. This program is an answer to the question, “Does your gym meet your real needs ”? While the program is designed to help everyone address deeper spiritual and emotional needs, the physical fitness component can be customized for many specific goals and groups:
– various group exercise classes from novice to experienced skill levels – sports specific for a group of men or women or a mixed recreational group – cardio rehab or other wellness activities for seniors – creative play and recreational fun time for families – prenatal or postnatal workouts – diet and weight loss focused groups – vocational rehabilitation, injury recovery, functional training, stretching/pain management
Use the link below and go to the Everybody Can Do It page for ideas and support on how to customize the physical fitness component of this program for your specific group needs.
THE 5 THINGS YOU NEED TO DO THIS PROGRAM:
- A copy of the book Every Body Matters for each participant (paperback or e-book)
- Access to Every Body Matters ONLINE
- A location to do the program
- A discussion facilitator
- An exercise instructor
How to plan for a successful Every Body Matters Fitness Program:
BUILD A TEAMIt is recommended that you have at least two people in your team and divide the primary program responsibilities of book discussion and exercise instruction between the two. We always recommend that each person in the team lead with his or her strengths. So, a pastor, Sunday-school instructor, counselor, teacher, chaplain, seminary student or other person with a good knowledge of the Bible would be ideal to facilitate the spiritual conversations that are centered around the book. Similarly, a personal trainer, group exercise instructor, fitness director, athlete, or other fitness or wellness professional would be suitable for leading the fitness component of this program. We strongly recommend that someone lead the fitness and exercise portion of this program with academic training or certifications. Having a person with a good knowledge of how the body works, how to exercise properly and how best to lead others in fitness training is important for safety, participant success and building a good reputation for your program. Ideally this person is also CPR certified.
Beyond these two key program leaders you can add any number of other team members that might include: – Promotions Coordinator: a person in charge of publicity, correspondence, media, presentations and more. – Nutritionist: a person who regularly brings focus and support to participants toward developing a healthy diet and good nutrition and food practices. – Prayer Leader/Team: this can be one or more people that regularly support the program with prayer and are available to support the participants with prayer. – Wellness Lead: this could be a doctor, nurse or other person that has a strong health care background and can be available simply to discuss health and wellness concerns or organize more extensive services. – Exercise, Recreational or Sport Specific Facilitators: The physical fitness component of your program will include some specific activity like pilates, Zumba, spinning, strength training, walking, running, martial arts, volley ball or something else. Get someone that knows that specific activity to lead it.
PLANNING FOR YOUR PROGRAMDon’t let planning keep you from starting. And – Don’t let your first Every Body Matters Fitness Program be your last. Make a list of what you want to do to assure that your program goes well. With this list you can then set a launch date. Start too early and you may not be prepared. Wait too long and it may never happen. Until you do your first program you won’t be able to measure feedback and results. Nor will you be able to do it a second or third time — again and again building on what you have learned and introducing new approaches.
An important part of planning is to identify your audience and then understand their needs. To better identify your audience use the
Everybody Can Do It section of Every Body Matters ONLINE. Once you have determined what population will be served with the program then conduct research to learn what challenges they face, what needs they have and what expectations they will bring to your program.
Organize your program well. Participants want to clearly know what they will do. A well-prepared leader will deliver a more meaningful and challenging program. The book combined with the online resources offers a rather comprehensive and thoroughly developed foundation for meeting the spiritual needs of participants. The program provides for tremendous flexibility with the fitness component. For this reason it is very important to clearly plan and organize the physical activities of the program.
Live one-on-one support is available to plan, organize, implement, continue and evaluate your program. Use the
CONTACT US form to request this support.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND THE ANSWERS TO THEM
- How long is this program? You decide. The book has 15 chapters. So, you could easily make this a 16-week program with one chapter plus an introduction each week. Or you could do an 8-week program covering two chapters per week. You have the flexibility. Make it work for your needs and requirements.
- Can people of faith (other than Christian) or people with no specific faith participate and benefit from this program? Yes, while the book presents conversations from a Christian-faith perspective your discussion facilitator can guide the conversations to be meaningful and supportive for everyone. By nature the Christian faith is compassionate and non-judgmental.
- Is there a fee? The only cost associated with this program is that of the books. Each participant should have a book. You are free to set a program fee to cover additional expenses you may have such as space rental, program leaders, etc. Live one-on-one support is available to plan, organize, implement, continue and evaluate your program. Use the CONTACT US form for cost and to request this support.
- Is there any professional development support for my program team? Yes, a variety of free articles are available in the LEADERSHIP DEPARTMENT of Faith & Fitness Magazine and through the consulting services of ChurchFitness.com.
