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Working Out At Opers : Tips And Essentials

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCSC chapter.

It’s the new quarter and the warming weather is reminding you that summer is coming! And with summer comes the appeal of working out. Sure you’ll rock your swimwear no matter your body type, but you may want to slim down anyways or tone it. Maybe your reasoning has nothing to do with the weather and it’s just you finally cracking down onto yourself to work out more. Either way, Opers is a great option to start out at, with a pool, tennis court, and a field perfect for soccer or rugby. Here are some tips and essentials when going to work out at Opers:

  1. Before working out, stretch! You risk getting injured if you don’t warm up and stretch before. Also, cooling down by stretching after working out will help increase flexibility and prevent injuries.

  2. Make sure you bring your ID! This shouldn’t be a problem due to how important our IDs are to us students, but it is required to enter the facility.

  3. If you need a locker, also bring a lock. They do have daytime lockers for free use, but they do not come with a lock so protect your stuff. They also have locker available for rent that are located in the Pool and Team Locker rooms or Team and Unisex Locker rooms depending on whether you choose to rent large or small lockers and come with a lock and towel service. You can rent either of them annually or quarterly.

  4. Bring plenty of water. You do not want to get dehydrated while working out, especially because you’re going to be sweating a lot. Especially with the hot weather coming up, you don’t want to end up getting heat exhaustion as well.

  5. You can check out equipment such as footballs and tennis ball racquets for the day.

  6. Start slowly and gradually raise your activity level until you get to a level you’re satisfied with. This way you won’t hurt yourself by starting at a level too hard for yourself

  7. The equipment is kinda gross, as there are a lot of people using them. You don’t have to go germaphobic, but be wary and wash your hands after you’re done.

  8. If you feel dizzy or nauseous, stop doing what you’re doing and take a couple minutes and drink some water.

  9. Some people to say to keep going even when your body is hurting because that means it’s effective, but if your body is starting to hurt when you move, do not believe their lies and and give yourself time to rest. You could seriously injure yourself if you try to push past the pain. There is a difference between “feeling the burn” and “feeling your shoulders slowly dying”. Give yourself some time to let the pain subside before continuing.

  10. It’s better to start small and do it faithfully often then to do big workouts and never do it again.

Now you’re ready to go forth and conquer that workout!

Clarissa Hyun is a Class of 2016 Psych major at UCSC. She hails from the birthland of the Mac, which she states is very overrated. On her spare time she draws, attempts to write, and eats. Which is totally a hobby. Yes.
My name is Geraldine Nicdao, a UC Santa Cruz '14 Banana Slug Alum. From day one, I was born and raised a U.S. Navy Brat and spent most of my life growing up in Japan. A few things that I absolutely love are steak, fashion, and travel. I am always striving to go beyond the cookie cutter and constantly defying everybody's expectations. One of my biggest accomplishments to date, would be finishing the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco 2013. Not many know this, but I also was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and so I've had my fair challenges balancing the life of a college student and the obstacles of health. My philosophy is: "work hard and play harder" because I believe that self care is important which includes rewarding yourself for the hard work that you do- "treat yo' self!". Looking at my Instagram will give you a bit of an insight to my fun and busy bee life. One of my current projects includes the #BangingBootyProject which is a document of my goals, efforts, and strides on my own health and fitness journey. Over the next few years, I am planning to pursue a second degree in Communications and PR/Marketing.