Do you know how difficult these moves are?

Here’s my interview with the Australian Kettlebell Club.

Best,

Steven

Annie and Kenny in Japan for the World Championships

Details are available in our office or you can email us directly at info@icechamber.com for more information. 

Annie has also been updating her life and progress on her blog to share with you all: http://mushi1221.wordpress.com/.

Sincerely,
Steven, Maya, and Jess
p.s. below is a letter from her teammate, coach, and fellow IC’er, Sayaka, explaining the importance of your support.

_____________________________________________________

I am writing to you on behalf of the my close friend and teammate, Annie Shiraishi. As most of you already know, Annie is currently training and traveling extensively to make the 2012 London Olympic Team. She most recently competed in her first World Championships in Tokyo, Japan where she went 1-1.  For the rest of 2010, Annie’s competition schedule is rigorous: she is scheduled to go to Great Britain, Holland, Japan, Dubai and Korea. As a former competitive athlete in the sport of judo, I know firsthand how exhausting it is both physically and mentally to be traveling all over the world. In addition, it is extremely costly to be traveling to all these worldwide destinations.

IC, Annie needs your help. The training and traveling costs that she and her family will incur in the latter part of this year and next year will probably reach close to $50,000. Without the generous support of individuals such as yourself, Annie may not have the opportunity to attend competitions which may be crucial to her making the 2012 Olympic Team. 

Please help support Annie by contributing to her sponsorship fund!! Your contributions will go directly to Annie and help support her endeavors of becoming an Olympian in the sport of judo.

Thanks so much in advance for your support!

Sayaka Matsumoto
2008 Olympian
IC 7am Bootcamper

Nearly 80 people attended last Monday’s 9am Labor Day workout with Steve and Jess.  I loved every minute of it!  Being their professional sidekick on days like these allows me to catch up with so many precious IC veterans whom I haven’t seen in a long time.  It was great to rediscover that you all still have the amazing healthy glow that only comes from consistent exercise.  I was touched by a comment made to me by Holly Bartling, a mother of two who’s been training at the Ice Chamber since the birth of her second child. I remember Holly’s first day of training quite well because I was still in the throws of new babyhood back then too.  Seeing her son slung across her hip three years later was motivating to say the least!  I left the conversation feeling proud to be in Holly’s “Moms Who Exercise No Matter What” club.

I know some of you think that this whole “consistent training” thing is effortless for me by this point, and that I must wake up über-excited to swing a kettlebell over my head each morning, but that is simply not true.  (If you’re anything like me, taking great care of yourself is nothing but a consistent challenge!)  …and so I’m always craving new sources of motivation and ways to keep myself mentally and physically in shape.

Here are 12 things (in random order) that have recently inspired me:

1.  Seeing Olympic bound Foreste Petersen and Keith Moffat training at the IC last Wednesday morning

2.  My ICKB teammates preparing for competition (Sara and Surya are the Queens of Consistent Training)

3.  Jessica’s incredible prenatal workouts (she still trains like an athlete)!

4.  Valery Fedorenko’s 8 minute kettlebell swing set on YouTube

5.  My new zip hoody

6.  Steve teaching the snatch (with barbells and kettlebells)

7.  Tamara and Suzanne from 7am’s Morning Bootcamp (incredible changes!)

8.  Kaiser Pinole employees successfully losing weight through Dr. Calvin Deng’s Wellness Initiative

9.  Annie’s 1st round win at the Judo World Championship last weekend

10.  AC/DC’s Back in Black and Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream

11.  Nick’s overhead squat in Industrial Strength today

12.  Each person in the collage above showing up every week to do the work

What are yours?

Maya

Meditation in mid-air.

Looping ropes together is a danger signal.

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Thank you Sayaka!

Want an edge over the competition?  It all starts with the mind.

photo courtesy of NBC Sports

Come hear Olympian and 7x National Champion, Sayaka Matsumoto, discuss the topic the winning!  Learn about Sayaka’s experiences, personal obstacles, and strategies that got her to the 2008 Beijing Games!

Free to all IC members and their families:

Tuesday, July 20th

6:30pm

RSVP online Space is limited!

Early bird catches the prize.

Master of Sport, Surya Voinar-Fowler finds additional uses for the non-comp bells.