Walk Your A.S. Off
Join the community to bring awareness. Together we can stand up to Spondyloarthritis and raise awareness!
Walk Your AS Off is a virtual walk event to get moving and raise awareness for axial spondyloarthritis. We “Walk our A.S. Off!” in order to stay active to keep our joints working as well as possible. Most people with Spondylitis benefit from regular exercise. Unfortunately, many of us don’t do too much. Walking is a fantastic form of low impact exercise – so let’s get moving!
Walk Your A.S. Off™ was conceived and founded in 2012 by Jennifer Visscher, an A.S. Health Advocate and blogger. The goal is to get people with any form of spondyloarthritis to raise awareness of the diseases while working to move their bodies and be active. Being active and movement is one of the best things patients can do to help manage their disease.
Who? EVERYONE – in addition to yourself, invite your friends, family, colleagues to participate in the challenge. Get everyone involved ! You don’t have to be an athlete or have axial spondyloarthritis. Our mission is to raise awareness and get people moving at ALL levels, whether that’s a few steps per day or gentle chair exercises, or running marathons (there’s one or two who do!) People from all walks of life, countries around the world, and of all ages have participated in Walk Your AS Off, and we welcome everyone.
Why? To raise awareness of our invisible disease. Had you ever heard about Spondyloarthritis before you received a diagnosis? Not likely. Make our condition be known, recognized and respected!
What? Walk your AS Off is a virtual event that occurs annually during the month of May.
How? It’s simple. Join a team or start your own. Teams create a support system for members to encourage each other, and team captains function as leaders who can help answer questions and encourage accountability for logging steps. Think of your team as your virtual community, although some teams may actually be regional and able to meet up in person. If you’re regional, consider organizing group walks or events for members.
Step 1: Join the Canadian A.S. Busters team here –
Once you’ve registered and logged in, click on “Join” . Search for “A.S Busters Canada”. Click on the “Join” button to join this Team!
OR
ask to join the Facebook group named AS Busters Canada FB group .
OR
How can I make a team? You will have the ability to form your own team when you have signed up. There are no limits on team size. Since we’ll be tracking our steps from May 1st until May 31st, please try to get your team ready to log steps starting on launch day.
Step 2: Record your steps – there are many ways you can record your steps.
- Apps – there are several different apps you can download to your phone or smart device that will count and track your steps. Choose the one that meets your personal needs best
- Personal devices – use your fitbit, apple watch, garmin or other personal devices.
Step 3: When – simply record your steps between May 1 and May 31 on the walkasone.org website after logging into the site.
All exercises can be converted to steps. Whether that is at the gym, doing yoga, participating in group class or gardening and housework. It can be all converted with our step conversion chart.
Interesting in training? Use April as your training month. You can log your steps for fun to watch your progress. The month of May is the official challenge month and you should log your steps weekly.
What else can we do to raise awareness?
- POST Selfies on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and use the hashtags #walkasoneworldwide #ASwalkSelfie #WalkYourASoff2020 #ASwalkSelfieCanada also tag @walkasoneworldwide
- BRAG about your steps and post them with the hashtag to challenge others. Be sure to share why you are walking and use the hashtags #WalkYourASoff2020
- RECORD a short video talking about the challenge, your walk, and what it means to you
- SHARE with others why you are participating in the challenge
- POST pictures of areas you have walked or hiked and the where and why you walked there. Be sure to include the hashtag #WalkYourASoff2020
TOGETHER – LET’S PUT CANADA ON THE MAP!