Want a good safe run on campus ??

powhattan
Originally uploaded by Jordan Ephraim

If you are like me and enjoy running outside more than being in a crowded gym , then Powhatan St. on campus is your best bet. It is a good five miles just going down one way, which is a decent run. I just feel that on campus there are bad parts ,so i would not recommend just running anywhere.It is a pretty busy street but luckily there is a sidewalk the WHOLE way. I know i am just as guilty as running on the street but i know i am risking a lot doing so.This street runs through the end of campus and through nice residential areas, with lots of trees and pretty even pavement. I think running outside is actually more relaxing and if you run to relieve stress, than there's nothing like fresh air to also help.So get your running shoes on and start off slow, im not saying jump right into five miles, but maybe do one then slowly but surely it will get easier.

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ODU Tennis Facility

ODU Tennis Facility
Originally uploaded by Jordan Ephraim

Like to play tennis or give it a shot ? now you can rent rackets and go play with a friend all you want. There are twelve outdoor courts and eight indoor courts ! probably the biggest exercise facility we have and not enough people use that too their advantage. Just make sure that you wear the proper sneakers, from personal experience, they are strict with their rules. Then again the school did put $7 million into it !! I wont even go there , considering there has been no money given for the swim pool in three years. But i do think tennis is a great work out and if you are a social person, it can give you something to play and talk. So why not give it a shot ?

ODU SOCCER HOUSE

Soccer Locker Rooms
Originally uploaded by Jordan Ephraim

You know there are just sometimes where you would love to go out and take a nice run, but do not want to run on the street. I have noticed, now i am not sure if this is allowed, but the soccer fields are always open ! The gate is rarely closed, so if you want a nice run on your joints, go hit up the soccer fields on campus. Heck if you love to play soccer , get a group together and go play. They have practice fields which are rarely used,so im sure if you got a group, it would be some fun exercise !

Athletic Training Room

Athletic Training Room
Originally uploaded by Jordan Ephraim

You may wonder why you never see any of the athletes in the schools gyms but its because they have their own. The athletes at ODU did not use to be so fortunate , having a weight room the size of my bedroom. Last year they opened up a new weight room that has all new equipment but sadly it is not open for everyone. I felt like last year when the students at ODU had no where to work out, that it should of been open for everyone, but thats ODU for you. When renovating and making a new gym you can tell they put a lot of thought into it. If you have not been there before it is pretty cool place too see, and if you want nutrition information or work outs their is someone there to help you. I feel like it would be good too know that there is someone on campus that can make work outs and help you, all you would really have to do is walk in there and ask. It has many inspirational quotes all over the walls by famous people and coaches here, it is also probably one of the cleanest gyms i have seen.
Also you may not know it but there is trainers in the same building, so if you are at the any gym on campus and you get hurt, you can walk in and get help. A lot of people who go to the gym do exercises wrong and hurt themselves, so this way if that happens to you while on campus , it will be good to know where it is located !

Rollins Swimming Pool

I know i have written about this before but probably out of my whole three years of college here at ODU, i spent more than half of my time at the pool. I was part of the ODU swim team that reopened rollins hall pool to swim in and believe me, you could tell that it had not been used in decades. We heard all the stories about it though, that it was haunted, two people died from drowning in it, and the list goes on. Whats even more interesting too think about is that the pool i swim in, back in 1945 , the boys just came back from the war and decided to make a swim team, and they also swam in Rollins hall. There is so much history in this building and all this time i just looked at it as a really crappy pool. I mean do not get me wrong, i do not enjoy swimming in a pool built back in 1936 but it has become a part of me. What makes me even more sad is too know that no one at ODU even knows that this pool exists unless they are on the swim team or are on ROTC.

Some history facts that even shocked me was that Rollins Hall was built in 1936 containing the

pool, two gyms,a library,six classrooms,administrative offices,all costing $123,000 total ! Not

even did i just find out that , but also that there use to be a snack bar in the same building ! It

was called the bud and was built in 1945, was known for "the place to be". Now when you go too

rollins hall there is only the administrative offices and the lonely pool. Crazy hu ?

Ending this semester = goodbye blog

As the school year is ending and summer is arriving, there is no better time to be outside and do something fun. So if you are on your computer and reading my blog, get out of the house ! if i did not have two finals tom. i would be at the beach for sure. Well after doing a blog for the first time i must say it was interesting. I guess because i do not really spend a lot of time on the computer, blogging is something i would not use. I love it though when i type into google about something that im interested in and there is a blog, because blogs unlike other websites , will give you someones personal thoughts. Which when it comes to things like restaurants,bars,places too go, or even famous people; i love reading those. If i was going to do something differently i guess i would try to follow more bloggers posts and try to build relationships with them, to make mine better. The only thing i did not like about this blog was that i had to write about fitness , and it had to be around ODU. I guess whenever i feel like writing, i want to write about more personal experiences and stuff thats going on, instead of about fitness at ODU.I like the fact it has to do with local places though because we are all students here, i guess i just wish i had more freedom of what too write about. It definantly was a good learning experience though and opened up my eyes to google map,flicker and other places.

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the good old pyramid

So today in the locker room at swim practice one of the girls meantioned how she is SUPPOSE to be losing a pound a week. I asked her why she would even think that, and she told me how she put all of her information into a pyramid her teacher told her to do and it came out saying she should. Basically she had to put in how much she weighed, her hieght,what she eats daily,how much she works out and etc. I think that programs like that are giving people false hopes , i mean sure it may help you have some sort of idea but it isnt something to live by. We asked our weights coach about it and he said that the work out idea to the pyramid is not enough, Because what people burn during work out is very different. Since i have been swimming competitively since i was six, if i put in that i work out 4 hours a day swimming, i will not burn as much as someone who rarely swims and goes and swims for an hour. Since your body builds endurance too specific things you do everyday, thats why you have to change up your work outs. I know that post was random and really has nothing to do with much, but just trying to make people aware that if you are doing this pyramid method and not dropping weight, its not completely your fault, hang in there !

Creatine

Yes that is my brother , begining of 2008 in the top pic. and now in the bottom picture...my motivation to write this blog.

Normally i would write about health topics and fitness but my roommate and i were discussing steriods and muscle enhancer such as creatine. I had no idea how common it was or how many people i knew were using it or had used it.So i decided to do some research on creatine to make people more aware of it cause like myself, i had no idea about it, i just knew it made people big.

Creatine-A compound the body synthesizes (makes) and then utilizes to store energy. The storage of energy occurs when phosphate molecules are attached to creatine to create creatine phosphate. Creatine phosphate is capable of donating phosphate to ADP in order to make ATP. ATP can then be converted into ADP with release of energy.

Basically ,Creatine is sold as a dietary supplement and is used by athletes as a "legal steriod" to increase muscle bulk. Since your body creates it normally on its own, it only helps store it more and give you more energy. The only thing is they are still uncertain about side effects later on that might occur and if you stop taking it , if you just lose it all.

They actually have a blog all about creatine if you want to check it out :-)

Harvey T's

If it does not sound familiar to you, it use to be the organic health food grocery store here on campus. It was right next to la herradora in the village, but recently had to close down because of unsaid circumstances. If you have ever been in there they had the most amazing selection of health foods and it was not even badly priced, it had alittle cafe in there where you could get awesome salads and wraps.They cater to everyone from people who just want to eat healthier too vegans and vegetarians who find it hard to eat anywhere else.It is deffinantly sad to see it go but there is another one pretty close by in Suffolk if you want to get some good food. They plan to reopen a store in norfolk this year but they are trying to find a location. You can even send them an email or call them if you are a customer who knows of a place they should put it .If you know of an open place it says to call Tommy Langford at 804-221-6042.

Golds Gym in Ghent

Yeah now that we have the new gym on old dominion campus we finally can actually stay on campus and get a good work out. Not that long ago there was not that option and the closest real gym was down 21st street in Ghent.Most of the people that were in the gym were college students and college professors, ouch now i guess.I am one of those people who kept anxiously waiting for odu fitness center to finish but when it never was getting done, i finally decided to join golds gym. They have an awesome student rate and even if you aren't a student it is still a good price. For being able to come in whenever you want and get to take awesome classes for free.
I know if you are like me that classes are the best way too go, to have a teacher telling you what to do is easier than making yourself do it. They have all kinds of classes from spinning classes,ab classes,yoga,pilates,body pump,and step classes. With a wide range if you go in there to work out, there is bound to be some kind of class taking place.
I talked too one of the managers there , her name was jamie. She was very sweet and showed me around, heck if you are a girl and love to tan and get massages you can even do that there too. So how awesome is it too have a work out, then go get a good tan, and then maybe even a facial or massage . Sounds like a pretty good deal too me. If you are interested in where too find this golds gym and are living in the norfolk area i put it on a map for you ...

while in mexicoo

After getting better, i was off to cancun mexico for 5 days. Short but lovely trip. And on my way back i was reading the new cosmo and discovered they really need some new stories. But what caught my eye was how they always have tips on what you should eat to get rid of your flab..

the list=

1.green tea=caffeine,plus catechins substances that burn belly fat. aim for three 8ounce cups a day

2.yogurt=contains probiotics, a bacteria that absorbs fat.

3.coffee=caffine that jumps your lipolysis, breaks down fat. drink 2 cups a day

4.cinnamon=adding 1/4 to 1 teaspoon of it, helps blood sugar to raise energy

5.chili peppers=metabolism-boosting compound called capsaicin

6.chicken and fish=takes energy to digest food , so body burns calories digesting protein more than carbs and fat .

Although some of these are obvious and you already knew, just thought id share some pointers from the top selling girl magazine in the world. Now back to my cancun trip. I stayed at an all inclusive resort and was actually very shocked at how many people were working out on vacation. The gym was packed there every morning and then through out the whole day they had things such as water aerobics, yoga on the beach, snorkeling in the pool, and stretching/meditation classes. My friend tina and i decided to try the yoga on the beach and i have never felt so relaxed in my life. Something im defiantly going to continue to do.

kidney stones

So i have been gone for some time because after my championship meet i was stuck in the hospital with two kidney stones..NOT FUN. but i didnt know why i got them seeing as i thought i was very healthy, worked out alot and ate well. so I decided to see how people got kidney stones and i discovered...it is caused by dehydration and it is caused by eating too much calcium riched foods. So i highly advise everyone to drink your water and watch what you eat because it is not something you want to go through ouchhhh.

CAA day one here we go

Today is the day, i will start my third CAA meet here at odu and nerves are high. I was just sitting here thinking of all the things i have done, how many times a week i worked out and how many weekends i was gone traveling with my team. I am trying to pump all my teammates up and show them pictures through out the year, and told them to read my blog later but i think these quotes can pump anyone up , even if its just to go for a run to get ready for spring break body !

Some videos that get me siked to go out and not doubt myself..

USA micheal phelps 8th gold medal ! crazy finish !

MIRCLE SPEACH  .. you know this pumps you up !

Tiger Woods..golf is A SPORT !

Sports drinks

 I am at my championship meet for swimming and i noticed every team is drinking something different. From vitamin water, gatorade,ensure,red bull...it got me thinking WHY. So i decided to look up somethings because i could not understand why someone at a swim meet would want to drink ensure, because im aware my grandma drinks that . What ever happend to drinking water ? i got told that you are suppose to drink four to six ounces of water for every fifteen minutes of exercise, seems like a lot i know. So i did my research and found that WATER is the best way to go over any sport drink. The only reason people tend to think sports drinks are better is because it is easier to drink more of it. People only really need sports drinks with electrolytes if they are going to be exercising for three too five hours, but you do not need it for all exercise, since 8oz of it can contain up too 100 calories !

 ALSO last week i had a drug test and they told us that if we were vitamin water drinkers we better watch out. Vitamin water contains NCAA banned substances ! so if you are an athlete in college, id  watch out what flavor you drink..if interested ..look here !

next time you before you go to work out remember :

• Drink about 15-20 fl oz, 2-3 hours before exercise
• Drink 8-10 fl oz 10-15 min before exercise

• Drink 8-10 fl oz every 10-15 min during exercise
• If exercising longer than 90 minutes, drink 8-10 fl oz of a sports drink (with no more than 8 percent carbohydrate) every 15 - 30 minutes.

• Weigh yourself before and after exercise and replace fluid losses.
• Drink 20-24 fl oz water for every 1 lb lost.

HOPE THAT HELPS ! off too the pool....

Carlates -Exercise in your car

So i was sitting at home and my roomate who is a exercise science major was writing a paper on a new exercise program called, carlates.You think im kidding, i wish i was. So i decided to check it out for myself and see what information i could find...
CARLATES at its best

I dont know about you but im thinking spring break is 2 weeks away, and those girls bodies are making me think i should give it a shot...

Focusing on fitness with friends

Over the past few days i decided to find out from other ODU student athletes how they felt about students on ODU campus in general with their health and fitness. When it came to campus food, that was the biggest problem i found. Every single girl i asked said that they had gained the freshman 30 within the first semester. Why? i asked them " have you been into whitehurst dining hall ?" then i actually had to agree. I remember living in whitehurst and they basically told you that there was a huge selection but the greens were always brown and the only thing that looked remotly good was french fries. BINGO there is your thirty pounds fries and pizza.
Then i was curious to see, because since they are required to work out and it is forced, that if they were not on a team, how hard would it be to work out. Half said they would want to go run more and be active , while the other half were pretty honest and said it would be hard to motivate themselves. Seeing as their whole life people have MADE them work out, if they had the freedom not too that they could not make themselves do it for themselves.
Surrounded by girls constantly talking about diets and how they need to lose weights, not on of the girls i interviewed could stick to a strict diet for longer than a week without giving up and eating some fries or ice cream. YES these are college athletes ha. One girl made a good point though " Exercise is like a routine, if you start just waking up and making yourself go for a run for about 2 weeks, you will actually get in the hang of it and it will not be that hard." its never to late to start exercising !
So get out there and start walking..then that turns into running..then before you know it you will not even get sore anymore ! good luck

La herradora ..following blog

When reading another students blog on the restuarant La Herradora, it made laugh because me and my friends talk about that place all the time. I am from houston,texas and know GREAT mexican food but all my friends from here love la herradora, but i think it is just okay. I agree it is a nice and fun atmosphere and it located right on campus, which makes it a great spot to catch up with friends. I think whoever thought of putting la herradora right in the village was a very smart person and is deffinantly doing good now. I have never gone in there and it not been really crowded or run into a friend from class in there. Even though i do not love the food, i have probably been there more than 20 times over the past three years with friends and family.If you want to read more ..http://amani001.blogspot.com/

if you are looking to keep healthy though,i would not suggest eating here. Mexican dishes are high in calories and fat.. you may think you are doing good by ordering a taco salad but that still has up to 900 calories , yikes ! and dont fool yourself your going to eat your body weight in those chips and salsa before with a margarita. dont we all...

Who knew ODU had a pool ?

Since i have been on the swim team for three years i can not tell you how many people do not even know we have a pool on campus. Our old pool that was open till three years ago was in the main athletic building , which has been under construction for three years. Since then we are in a building called Rollins hall. If you are thinking to yourself , where is Rollins hall ? its the building where financial aid is located.When you first enter the pool , you will be in complete shock that a college division one swim team has trained here for three years, and still somehow has an undefeated guys team.
Being on the team, we have named it the dungion. When you look at it you will know why, this three lane pool that they made into four lanes was built in 1937. Yes it is as old as most of your grandparents, and not even that but two people have died in the pool over the years from drowning.So talk about some haunted swimming pool, but then again it is a pool and water is water.
The swim team consist of 18 boys and 24 girls and the coaches have to be at the pool from 11-5 just so everyone can practice. The new pool will not open till march, me being a junior have swam in rollins hall all three years and keeps waiting for the new pool. Knowing ODU i probably wont ever get to experience swimming in it.

Scavenger Hunt

So i thought i knew old dominion pretty well, since i have lived on campus for three years. Apparently i was wrong though and discovered we have a fitness room in webb center, who knew?? When you walk into Webb, the student center here, you would not know but there is a gym that is the size of two classrooms, hidden next to the cafeteria. When I walked in I was not surprised I had not heard of it, seeing as it was about ten in the morning and there were only three people in there. When I first walked in I was greeted by a student whose job is to get people to sign in and make sure they have a towel. He was friendly and gave me information about the gym and said that it really is never that crowded till night time.

When he showed me the rules and things you had to do before working out, I thought to myself, and that’s why students are not here. There were so many rules and things you had to do, just to simply go work out. You have to take a pre exercise course before you can begin to work out there or if you do not do that you have to come to a specific time once a day and do an introduction course for your first workout session. College students are not for doing more than they already have to, especially for something such as working out, which is hard enough to get motivated to do. Not only this but they have the fitness room in Webb in the HEART of the cafeteria, surrounded by food. When I was in the gym all I could smell was pizza hutt ,quiznos, and French fries..yum.Thats exactly what I want to smell when I go work out...

Alittle about Me ...

Starting second semester of junior year, and still scared of the thought i have to go out in the real world soon . Majoring in Communications and minoring in Marketing is what im headed for, in plans of becoming an event planner or at least helping in that area. Not from around norfolk, VA but am fully raised from Houston, TX. You are probably wondering how i even heard of this school and why would i want to come to norfolk from there. Well what brought me here was a swimming scholorship to swim for the universitys team , i have to admitt it was kind of a culture shock when i arrived here in August of 2006. I do not mind it here, but i can say i will deffinantly be moving away from here when i graduate. Being a full time student and athlete, i cant really say i have experienced the full college life that many others have been able to do. But i would not trade what i have experienced to be able to go out and party more . Swimming has deffinantly kept me structured and i am very reliable on my planner to keep me on track. Yes i am that girl that has everything to the minute written down in her planner, which im not saying is a good thing. But being organized helps my crazy schedule and life . Ive never done this before so well see how it goes ...