Surya claims her Master of Sport victory after her last rep...
Congratulations to ICKB Girls Sara & Surya for earning their Master of Sport rank in the Long Cycle this past weekend at the 2010 Arnold Sports Festival!
Sara at the top of the Long Cycle Clean & Jerk
“Leading up to the moment, Sara was nervous and nauseous, but she fired off her set with classic well-trained speed strength and I didn’t see an ounce of doubt after rep one….”
Mother of four, Rebekah V., with Team 0600
Rebekah joined the IC to lose her post-baby weight and to just get in shape after a significant hiatus from exercise… well, do four children really count as a hiatus? Coming from someone who loves watching Star Wars as much as she loves reading Pride and Prejudice, is it any surprise that Rebekah fits right in around here?
Immediately following her first intro session, Jessica made a quick prediction about Rebekah… Jess said, “She has the right attitude to reach all of her fitness goals and then some. I think she’ll be very successful.” Now that Rebekah has proven Jessica right by losing close to 10 pounds, Rebekah’s got more big goals to think about this month in hopes of winning the latest IC Challenge. In the meantime, please feel free to give her a High 5 next time you see her walking back to her car with an endorphin glow!
Thank you for the inspiration Rebekah!
World Champion and Master of Sport, Elena Yurysheva
Master of Sport, Elena Viktorovna Yurysheva is from the Vologodskaya region in the city of Vytegra, Russia. She is 25 years old and weighs between 60-61 kilograms. Elena credits her coach, Vyacheslav Yakovlevich Ogarev, for helping her become one of the first women in the world to snatch the 24kg kettlebell over 120 times in competition. Click here to read the full interview…
Thank you Elena. You rock!
Foreste Peterson
Check out IC athlete Foreste Peterson’s incredible stats this year:
Top 3 in the U.S.
3 months into IC Boot Camp / One year later
To kick off our next Fat Loss Challenge of 2010, we are featuring the incredible transformation of Karen King to get you motivated. In a candid interview with Maya, she opens up about what it took to lose 40 pounds without going on a strict diet or beating herself up over numbers on the scale. How did she do it and make front page news on Athleta?
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Back by popular demand, here are the NEW IC Challenges for 2010:
-60 Day Fat Loss Challenge: member with greatest percentage lost receives six months of Bootcamp!
-Performance Challenge: member with greatest number of repetitions of squats, push-ups, and sit-ups receives one month of Flex Access!
Registration details will be announced in class this week. IC Challenges start on February 1st!
IC athlete Michael Eldred does it again!
Mike and Annie, two Olympic hopefuls
This just in from USA Judo:
“A 2009 Pan Am medalist in the 73kg division earlier this year, Michael Eldred (Fruitland, Idaho / Western Idaho Judo Institute) won his first A-Level medal on Sunday when he placed third at the OJU World Cup in Apia, Samoa.
The win moves Eldred back into the #1 ranking in the United States in the 73kg division and makes him one of just three U.S. players to win a medal on the World Tour this year.”
Congratulations Michael!
Congratulations to IC friends Kukka Laasko and Siiri Univer for their performances at the IUKL World Championships in Tallin, Estonia this past weekend!
Photo courtesy Ari Kaikkonen from the Finnish Kettlebell Team
Kukka, who is a product of The CImes’ Institute of Kettlebell Lifting 
, Team Finland, and the head representative of Ice Chamber Europe , became the Amateur Women Champion!
While 16 year old Siiri from Estonia won the Junior’s Division!
Both these women exemplify strong technique and great character, making them true stars in the world of Kettlebell Sport!
Annie once again represented the IC and East Bay Judo Institute in world class fashion!
photo courtesy of Robert Strukelj, vivid-photo.net
From USA Judo (Oct. 18, 2009): “After taking much of this season off to rehabilitate an injury, Shiraishi’s gold medal in the 48kg division was her second international medal in less than a month.
A silver medalist at the U.S. Open in September, Shiraishi dominated her opponents in Canada, winning each of her four matches by ippon, including a victory over 2009 Senior Nationals bronze medalist Angela Creutzberger (Ballston, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center).
Shiraishi’s gold medal also will improve her ranking in the division, moving her up to the #1 slot on the USA Judo Senior Elite National Roster.”
Special thanks to Coach Sayaka Matsumoto for being by her side and strategizing each match, Coach Thomas Henry for his excellent S&C programming, and everyone at the IC for their continued support. We are edging closer to the 2012 Olympic games!
We received this wonderful and inspiring passage from Karen King this morning. Karen is another IC Supermom, Boot Camp die-hard, and weight loss winner. Thank you for sharing Karen!
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“I have recently re-learned one of life’s fun little lessons: success is 10% talent and 90% perseverance. And of course, success is a moving target.
Being a big, tall girl in a family of petite women, I am not what you’d call best friends with weights, scales, and measurements. So, when I joined the Ice Chamber just about exactly a year ago, I suffered through the original weigh-in, etc., then did my very best to ignore the stats of 196 lbs., 35.2 BF, and 28.9 BMI. I set my sight on “improving my diet” (read changing my diet as little as possible!), “just feeling better and stronger” … and maybe squeezing into those size 14 jeans that were too tight.
Well, after a year, I’m still no better friends with the old scale (I am blissfully ignorant of how much I weigh), but I do feel MUCH better and stronger. And, guess what? Those size 14 jeans, fit, then were loose, then were just plain too big. I went shopping a few weeks ago. I bought and comfortably wear a size 6!
I am very grateful to you all for your encouragement and skill. And I’m grateful to the whole 10 AM and now 9 AM crews for inspiring me, challenging me, and the occasional high five.
Now let’s redefine success again!”
At 50 years young this month, Craig Sterry is more fit than most people half his age. He once weighed 360lbs and carried a host of health issues including sleep apnea. But you would never know it today since he is now a Level III Kettlebell Sport athlete within the WKC Rankings.
Craig has been with the IC since July of 2006 and is one of our most celebrated heroes!