Collegiate Times

After growing up in a family focused on physical health, Brian Jardine is seeking to share his knowledge of nutrition with the Blacksburg community.

In July, he opened Blacksburg Nutrition, located on 460 Turner Street, on the edge of campus. This new store offers a variety of weight-training dietary supplements, including protein shakes, bars and powders. The store also shares an entrance with New Tech Fitness, making it a convenient stop for strength trainers, athletes and even those just coming back from a quick workout.

 “My parents owned an organic food store back on the Eastern Shore,” Jardine said. “So, I’ve kind of grown up in a family business setting, and it felt natural after I got my degree in nutrition to go forward with my own business. I’m more interested in strength training and supplements than organic foods.”

While many outlets for exercise are offered, Jardine, a December 2010 Virginia Tech graduate, felt that Blacksburg was lacking a location where both students and locals could supplement their exercise routines. He decided, drawing from his background as a human nutrition, foods and exercise major, that it was time to cater to the needs of serious athletes and strength-training individuals who have not had a store that houses strictly workout and dietary supplements.

Jardine originally came to Tech for engineering, but soon found his passion in HNFE, where he pursued a degree in the exercise and health promotion option of the program. After working extensively to help others improve their fitness, he found protein supplements to be a key component of many weight lifters’ workout regiments and decided to open up the shop to expand and enhance Blacksburg’s fitness offerings. 

In addition to providing useful weight-training supplements to those who need it, Jardine also posts several workout videos on his website to help his customers optimize their training.

“In my own workouts, I try to find something that is important to the specific training,” he said. “I’ll try to find an article or a video that I think would be good to share with people.”

However, for serious trainers, it is widely believed that supplements have a substantial benefit on overall results and performance. Jardine recommends his products, such as the supplement, Bulk Protein, to a variety of people, including both men and women. By opening a supplement shop in Blacksburg, he hopes to encourage students and locals to explore the benefits of adding supplementary protein to their workout plans.

Maurice Freeman, a senior engineering major and personal trainer at McComas Hall, feels that dietary supplements like protein shakes are advantageous for his clients and recommends them for serious trainers.

“The biggest benefit is for people who can’t maintain a lot of protein intake and need more because protein is pretty filling,” Freeman said. “I have some of my clients take protein powder just because they can’t stomach so much meat.”

Jardine takes pride in his store motto: “providing quality and affordable supplements to the Blacksburg area.” If the store does not carry a certain item, he will order it and have it shipped promptly.

Such commitment to customer satisfaction is what Jardine hopes will spur interest in his up-and-coming shop.

“Once people come out to my store, they come back to my store,” he said. “Repeat business either tells you that you have a good product, are serving your customers well, or a combination of both.”

A version of this article appeared in the Oct 13 issue of the Collegiate Times.