Movement is Life! The Rules of Sport Walking from Ukrainian Pensioners!

The Rules of Sport Walking from Ukrainian Pensioners! Look how they enjoy life, even in such a challenging time! This article was written by participants of the ShimWalking sports group in December 2022. It was a time when Free Ukraine, together with the ShimWalking group - Health Walk with Oleksandr Shymko, decided to help active retirees in different cities of Ukraine to uplift their spirits and overcome the harsh winter of 2022-23.

Now, winter is approaching again, and with our support, we want to warm up around 120 retired athletes in various cities to make it a bit easier for them to endure the upcoming winter, which might be even more severe.

The enemy awaits our exhaustion and discouragement, but we are united and strong together. Together to Victory!

In the next article, we will tell you how we compiled lists, searched for different forms of support, packed kits, and sent them to different regions of Ukraine (Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, Chernivtsi).

And now, the long-awaited article. Perhaps you can also use these simple rules in your everyday life.

Movement - is life!
Morning, center of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine: the monument to Taras Shevchenko (the most prominent poet of Ukraine) is covered with protective tents, and plywood panels can be seen in the windows of the Kyiv National University and Teacher's House (the former Parliament of the beginning of 20th century - Centralna Rada building). Worried Kyivans rush around to tend to their affairs, and a group of people in bright yellow uniforms looks unusual. They are cheerful, smiling, full of energy and optimism...

It's hard to believe that many of them came to exercise in Taras Shevchenko Park out of loneliness, depression, or difficulty in even moving short distances due to various illnesses. However, they are all united in their desire to improve their physical and emotional well-being, and most importantly, to socialize.

There is no time to feel sick! That's what Oleksandr Shymko believes - a distinguished coach of Ukraine and Head Coach of the All-Ukrainian Walking Federation organization. Shymko has over 50 years of coaching experience and possesses unique knowledge in the field of sports and human health, and for whom healthy walking has become a way of life. Since October 2006, methods and techniques of healthy walking have been developed and implemented, a plethora of walkers have been trained, and walking centers have been established in more than 70 settlements in Ukraine.

Rules for healthy walking

Walking has unique healing opportunities. If you learn the correct walking technique, with just one step, you can engage more than 340 muscles in the body.

Rule 1. Walking provides a self-massage for all internal organs and the spine, improving metabolism in the body. The main rule is to start training in one state and always finish in a better one.

Rule 2. It is necessary to dose the load correctly and not tire the body. A necessary element of walking is musical accompaniment, which improves mood, creates an appropriate background, sets the necessary rhythm for walking, and provides enjoyment from movement and exercise.

Rule 3. The best way to improve health is in a group with pleasant old and new friends and acquaintances. Therefore, great attention is paid to creating the right atmosphere in the group, caring for its members, congratulating and celebrating holidays and birthdays (including anniversaries) and so on.

Life and dreams before the war

Before the war, a good tradition was the organization of joint trips, excursions, and cultural events (visiting museums, theaters, exhibitions, lectures). The Federation became a second family for many of us.

Among our members, there are many amateur athletes who just yesterday considered themselves sick and helpless, and today are ready to walk a marathon distance of 5 km, 10 km, and 20 km. Nobody is saddened by their age. Our Federation athletes have won over 60 medals in world championships, where they received standing ovations.

Federation members choose their own uniforms. The requirement is that it should be yellow, bright, and warm. With its brightness, the uniform attracted even more respectable people to sports despite the age category. The bright uniform is also necessary to boost the morale of athletes and to represent themselves well in competitions of various levels, both in Ukraine and beyond its borders. We once had a dream of dressing our leading Federation members in new modern and comfortable uniforms, but the war thwarted those plans...

Rocket strike on Kyiv

Monday, October 10th, 2022, 8 am. Irina, a member of the Kyiv subdivision of the Federation who just returned from Switzerland, where she stayed temporarily due to the attempt to capture Kyiv by russian invaders, says: 

"This morning Kyiv was shaken by a series of russian rocket strikes on the capital. Our beloved park, where we constantly exercise, was hit by two rockets.

One rocket hit at the entrance to the park at the intersection of Volodymyrska and Shevchenko Boulevard in the center of Kyiv, where many people in cars and on foot were killed.

The second rocket hit a children's playground in the very center of the park, about 50-70 meters from the Shevchenko monument and our sports ground.

The monument itself was not damaged, it was timely protected, but these explosions damaged the buildings around the park, including the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (the red building), the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko Museum of Arts, and also broke windows in the Kyiv Picture Gallery and other structures."

The war has had an impact on our sports life as well - many Federation members have left Kyiv for safer places, but many have remained and adapted to life in current conditions: constant air raids, life in bomb shelters, interruptions in heating, water, and power supply. These are our everyday lives in which we continue to live and, of course dream for better…

Despite the ongoing war in the country started by russian aggression, life goes on:  training in Shevchenko Park continues, where members meet and wish for a swift return to a peaceful and safe life as it used to be before the war.  Movement  is life!

Members of the Kyiv subdivision of the All-Ukrainian Walking Federation,

Irina Odynova and Lidiya Pravydna.