New Recreation Center Opens!

Let the workouts begin! Old Dominion University's much-anticipated new Recreation Center opened Friday, Feb. 27, for tours and clinics, and Monday, March 2, for usage of the facility. Here are some new pictures! Yee Haw!! Did any of you go?

A College Fitness Trend?

As I went on a quest for pictures ideas for our latest assignment I realized that something interesting is happening in the college fitness world. The colleges seem to be putting a lot into their fitness facilities. As I browsed around to see what other colleges are doing I realized that most of the pictures of college rec center looked very similar. Their entrances are very bold and modern--and inviting. The floor plans are airy and bright. Other colleges are also adding rockwalls, and can you believe it, an indoor golf course, just like ODU has added an indoor hockey area. This blows my mind! Are we spending too much or is too much ever really too much in order to motivate and help get people healthy? Another mysterious question...hmmmm. Enjoy the slideshow of other college fitness centers and see if you see a trend. I a working on the resolution of the pics, sorry.

More info to help unravel the New Rec Center mystery!

Make sure you look at your email! Scott Harrison from the Rec Sports dept. has another email update about the New Rec Center! Here's the link to the Rec Sports dept. website that reflects the emails he sends. By the way, the Rec Sports dept. is located on 47th street right before the intersection of 47th and Killam.

Do you know how to get to the New ODU Rec Center?

I just realized (from a friendly reminder) that some people may not even know where the New Rec Center is located since it is so protected right now. If you are on foot it's easy to just follow the maglev monorail to the end of the line toward Powhatan.

Another route is to travel down 49th steet toward Powhatan. If you look to your right before reach Powhatan you will see it (through the construction of course).

New ODU Rec Center

A Mystery? New Rec Center at ODU?

I like the slideshow that we made in Flickr last week so I added more to the New Rec Center slideshow. This facility is very mysterious and as I took more pictures of it, I felt like I was investigating a shrouded place. The gates around the whole facility, and even one of my classmate’s difficulty getting into the facility last week has made me feel like this place and even finding info about it is a secret. What is the deal? We will watch the mystery unfold in the next few weeks. Come back for more pics of progression.

Pump You Up Now!

Here's my last interview with Neeraja Chimata, a
graduate assistant for Group Fitness and Wellness at
Old Dominion University. She is supervising my involvement in Monarch Quickfit.
I asked her the following questions:

1. Has the QuickFit program been successful and do you have a lot of
participants?

The program is being successful with 70-75 participants in Spring and Fall semesters.

2. Is it used for motivating people and for research for you?

It is a program in which the participants monitor themselves throughout the program. The program has pre and post assessments to set goals. The research part of the program is only to know about the participant participation and improvement.

3. How do you think the university could best motivate students and
faculty to stay fit and healthy?

The University must provide more funds and support from different areas to develop fitness programs for their students, faculty and staff. The participants can best utilize the campus recreation and their programs online at http://studentaffairs.odu.edu/recsports/ and take the best use of them. Also get updated with the new Student Recreation Center which has more opportunities for staying fit like Group fitness classes, open recreation, Outdoor adventure programs, intramurals and sports clubs.

Why ODU Fitness?

My intention is to follow the construction and ultimately the opening of the new ODU fitness center in March. Come back for pictures of the building, the inside and more updates of the progress. And don't forget to look for the rec sports emails or check out the Transition to the SRC webpage for the same info.

My next interview will be along the lines of getting motivated and staying motivated with Monarch Quickfit.

Interview with Dr. Kevin Marbury

I used an interview my group did from last semester in PR class for my interview with Dr. Kevin Marbury, the Director of Recreational Sports at ODU. He made some changes to this interview and gave me some new information. First of all, it’s exciting that the facility is really opening in March. If you have noticed, the rec sports department has been putting out emails every week informing the ODU community of what’s happening and what going to happen with new rec facility. I told Dr. Marbury that I thought these emails were effective. He said that they will be coming with more frequency soon. I would love to see some events promoting it around campus! If you want to see the whole interview, I will email it to you, but here are a few key points that you may not have known.
The project started out as only renovations to the existing building, but after evaluation, they decided to just redo the whole thing except for the pool. The project was originally supposed to start around 2002 and last 24 months, however there was a budget crisis in Virginia so it was put off until the government was more stable and could afford to give ODU funding for the renovations.
The Recreational Sports Department is made up of five program areas: Open Recreation, Fitness and Wellness Programs, Intramural Programs Outdoor Adventure Programs, Sport Club Programs, and Employment Opportunities. More about the interview later…

Tantric Yoga?

Ok, I was looking at my RSS feed site Health and Fitness Zone.com and realized that it had changed one of its topics to Experience The Tantric Yoga Exercise. I got a giggle out of this. But alas the article was not as racy as I thought, but interesting. Check it out, it's exercise!

Interviews

I interviewed the attendant at the Webb Fitness center. I was really interested in knowing if people ask him about the new rec facility. He rolled his eyes and said, "ALL THE TIME." I sensed that he was frustrated by it. I also asked him if there was a good turnout of both students and faculty. Much to my surprise he said he was a good mix of the two and a mix of ages. So old people like me are hitting the gym too. He also said that the gym at Webb was not always brimming with people. There were only certain times that it was really busy. That got me thinking about how to motivate people, which got me thinking about the Monarch QuickFit program I was involved in. (see earlier post about the program)

My next interview is with the Monarch QuickFit trainer....

Monarch Quickfit

I neglected to communicate that I am doing a fitness program through ODU call Monarch Quickfit. I signed up for this because it was free and it motivates me to exercise. In the beginning a staff member at the gym gets your info (yes I was pinched an inch) and sets you up on a program for 8 weeks. You have to supervise yourself which isn't so hard because you have a pressure to do it from the trainer--just because. I know that the info they get on me is research for them and MAYBE THE REST OF THE FITNESS WORLD!!!!!!!!! Schedule an appointment with Neeraja Chimata at nchimata@odu.edu .

Well, I have been doing great with exercise, except yesterday when I pushed myself to workout extremely hungry. Don't do this. I got dizzy and was miserable almost all day.

Pump U up

I'm Ok You're Ok

Well, I have not excercised in about a week. The kids were sick then I didn't feel well. But now I am back on track. I realized that shit happens and that it's ok to stop but then always get back to it. I walked earlier outside and after class I will do weights. I feel ok about it all. Faith baby--faith!

S.

I am not alone up in the gym working on my fitness!

I went out looking for other sites like mine where a normal woman is trying her darndest to get fit and healthy. Knowing how hard it is for me, it's nice to know that others share the fight.

Here's an attractive blog that I found pleasing:

http://www.workinonmyfitness.com/

Ipod Tragedy

My ipod seems to be broken. The screen says that I must use itunes to restore. I can't find the cable. The wetness of the ------ in the toliet was too much for it. How will I work out without MUSIC! I am going to find a way.

Ipod-Pee Pee-Treadmill and Attempted Fitness

Ok, I know that's a weird title, but listen to my weird day yesterday. I finally get the gumption to go to the gym. I finally use the handy dandy ipod holster my parents gave me so I could be "hands free" with my ipod. I holster that baby on my pants, and go to the bathroom (before I go on the treadmill which makes me pee if i haven't peed before hand-TMI) I pull down my pants to pee (again with the p-word) and plunk goes the holster (fell off my pants) with the ipod in it into the toilet bowl. In a mad frenzy I slosh my hand into my own pee water. Yes, that's right. To make a long gruesome story short-it still worked and I was very happy-Wet but happy.

Ok, so I am a bit traumatized since I had to recover from the whole toilet bowl thing, but I manage to get on a treadmill and start walking. Yes! I made it to the gym and I am actually exercising! Ok, then the madness with the ipod starts again. I don't have it holstered on my hip because the holster is wet with water and ... I accidently pull the wire for the headphone too hard and the ipod rips off the headphones and slip under the belt of the treadmill. Un-be-lieve-able. Thanks to a very nice teenager, I was able to retrieve the ipod from underneath the belt. I told him the whole toilet story which I am sure traumatized him too. I PUT THE IPOD AWAY.

And through all that I treadmilled for 30 minutes and did weights for 20!!!!!

Anyone have similar phone or ipod stories?