{"id":25970,"date":"2015-10-27T13:53:15","date_gmt":"2015-10-27T17:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/?p=25970"},"modified":"2015-10-27T13:53:15","modified_gmt":"2015-10-27T17:53:15","slug":"a-newbies-guide-to-being-new-the-athletic-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2015\/10\/27\/a-newbies-guide-to-being-new-the-athletic-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"A Newbie’s Guide to Being New: The Athletic Centre"},"content":{"rendered":"If you\u2019re like me, a big barrier to trying something new is being that person that\u2019s standing in the middle of the hallway with no idea where they\u2019re going or what they\u2019re supposed to be doing. If you\u2019re like me, you\u2019ll pull out your cellphone and pretend to be super-engaged in text messaging. I\u2019m operating under the assumption that I\u2019m not the only one who feels like this and responds to new situations and environments this way. Please don\u2019t let me be wrong!\r\n\r\n
\"Forever<\/a>
Forever alone?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nI\u2019ve often been held back by an aversion to those awkward situations. I\u2019m hoping to prevent such \u201cfish-out-of-water\u201d feelings from stopping you from exploring our campus athletic centres (that you\u2019re paying part of your tuition towards) by presenting to you: The Newbie\u2019s Guide to Being New Part 1: The Athletic Centre<\/strong>\r\n\r\nTHE WHERE<\/strong>\r\nAlso known as the AC,<\/a> this is the rather aesthetically unappealing building on the corner of Huron and Harbord. It\u2019s a lot more interesting inside. You may have had an exam here in the past and probably didn\u2019t enjoy that experience, so why not replace it with a more positive one?\r\n\r\n
\"The<\/a>
Don't judge a book by its cover, right?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nWhen you enter the Athletic Centre from Harbord St. you\u2019re going to walk past the pool gallery (did you know we have the only Olympic-size pool in the city?!) and the swag-shop and make your way to the turnstiles. This is a great opportunity to be anti-social since all you need to do is swipe your TCard and walk on through. No human interaction necessary.\r\n\r\nOk, you\u2019ve made it. You are INSIDE the Athletic Centre and even PAST the turnstiles. What now? From here, your basic options are the Strength and Conditioning Centre (SCC)<\/a> which you\u2019ll find straight ahead, or the field house<\/a> which is up the stairs.\r\n\r\n
\"Drawing<\/a>
This is probably a poor representation\u2026 but it\u2019s enough to get you where you need to go!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nThe SCC is the room full of medieval-looking contraptions and is usually also full of people. Look out for a follow-up post on surviving the SCC in the near future. Anyhow, that\u2019s where you\u2019re going to go if you want to lift heavy things and \u201cmake gains\u201d (read as: build muscle).\r\n\r\n
\"Weightlifting<\/a>
Speaking of making gains\u2026 my Olympic weightlifting class is ramping up! LOVE IT. This is the program my coach created for us. Well, it\u2019s one of a few pages.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nThe field house, on the other hand, is a big open space with a track, multi-function courts and fitness equipment that is scattered throughout the room (it\u2019s a really<\/em> big room). The openness of the space makes this a great place to start if the congestion in the gym makes you anxious. You\u2019ll find cardio machines, mats, a pull-up bar and other fun surprises.\r\n\r\nNOTE: Rules in both these spaces are NO photography (which is why you\u2019re forced to endure my memes and stick figures) and NO bags or personal belongings.\r\n\r\nNeed a change room? Take the stairs to the bottom. You\u2019ll find these and lockers. Don\u2019t forget a lock!\r\n\r\n
\"Devastated<\/a>
Don\u2019t be this girl.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nTHE HOW<\/strong>\r\nStill not eager to give it a try? Bring a friend! I love to get in some extra training with friends in the field house. Or, another great way to get acquainted with any athletic centre is taking a class \u2013like me! You\u2019d be surprised how many different classes are offered, they have everything from circus silks to synchronized swimming. You can find the full list here:\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.athletics.utoronto.ca\/registered-programs.htm<\/a>\r\n\r\nGirls, if you want to take advantage of the SCC while it\u2019s less populated, why not visit during women-only hours? You can find those here:\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/physical.utoronto.ca\/docs\/drop-in-programs-schedules-fees-forms\/strength-and-conditioning-schedule-fall-2015-(september-14-december-13).pdf?sfvrsn=0<\/a>\r\n\r\nTHE WHY<\/strong>\r\nWhy do you want to go to the Athletic Centre?\r\n
    \r\n\t
  1. To take advantage of a membership <\/a>non-U of T folks pay a lot of money for! To explore one of the many facilities and services U of T has to offer<\/li>\r\n\t
  2. To do something active<\/li>\r\n\t
  3. To meet new people!<\/li>\r\n\t
  4. Because it\u2019s a great, dynamic space<\/li>\r\n\t
  5. \u2026There\u2019s a Starbucks if worst comes to worst?<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nI hope that makes the whole experience of exploring the AC a little less daunting and encourages some of you to go check out the facility. J\r\n\r\nIn the meantime\u2026\r\n\r\nOn October 30th<\/sup>, I encourage you to pay the Varsity Centre a visit! MoveU is hosting a \u201cScary Skate\u201d from 7:30-9PM and it\u2019s FREE. Having said that, if you bring a non-perishable food item, you get a surprise gift! Costumes are encouraged and some skates are available for rent. Hope to see you there!\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.physical.utoronto.ca\/Event\/2015\/10\/15\/scary-skate<\/a>\r\n\r\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    \n
    \nIf you\u2019re like me, a big barrier to trying something new is being that person that\u2019s standing in the middle of the hallway with no idea where they\u2019re going or what they\u2019re supposed to be doing. If you\u2019re like me,…\n<\/div>
    Continue reading “A Newbie’s Guide to Being New: The Athletic Centre”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>
    Continue reading “A Newbie’s Guide to Being New: The Athletic Centre”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":274,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1758,65,61,58,82],"tags":[25512,768,15645,15644,1858,1733,111,15643,285,9420,9283,15642,15641,15627,696,1382],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25970"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/274"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25970"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25976,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25970\/revisions\/25976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}