NORFOLK, Va. - As Old Dominion University athletes find themselves at home with no practice facilities to work out in, or games to be played, they have to find other ways to occupy their time.
For ODU football's Joe Joe Headen, he keeps himself entertained on TikTok.
I got too much time on my hands right now... #SocialDistancing https://t.co/P9nb30M2OD pic.twitter.com/5qGkuKfGm8
— Joe Joe Headen (@joejoeheaden) March 17, 2020
The app allows people to be creative with videos. Headen's video about cleaning during COVID-19 was an idea that came to him after he returned home to Pennsylvania when ODU transitioned to online classes.
“Mom was telling me I gotta sanitize my room, sanitize my car, literally everything I had coming back from school I had to sanitize," Headen said. "And then I started talking to my friends and their mom’s are doing the same thing... that’s how I kinda came up with the idea.”
Most of ODU's basketball team uses TikTok as well, according to Monarch guard Loren Brill, but Brill also turns to piano as a way to keep entertained.
“I first started playing when I was about five because I saw my mom play the piano," Brill said. "She was classically trained and it’s always been a passion of mine to play.
"The go-to song would probably be "My Heart Will Go On," Brill said. "I think everyone knows that because it's kinda been a meme. Usually in sports when something bad happens they play that song. That's my go-to and then, for me personally, I like to play "All of Me" by John Legend because a lot of people know that one and a lot of people sing along.”
While ODU athletes turn to entertainment during their down time, they're also finding time to get workouts in, no matter how unconventional the training is.
“Honestly, I’ve been using a book bag full of books," Headen said. "I’ve been doing lunges and squats with them.
“[The coaches] realize that we can’t go to a gym, or we’re not gonna have the same type of weight training. They told us just to focus on our conditioning and whenever we are able to come back, we’ll be conditioned and we can just go right into it.”
“Our trainer, Eric, Eric Potter, he sends us lifts so the kind of lifts you can do by yourself," Brill said. "Pushups, situps and all those.”
