My Road to Kettlebells

by Elizabeth Upchurch

I have a wonderful family that loved and supported me through my adolescent and teenage years. Birthdays were always special. We would go out to a nice, big dinner and have cake. I was often rewarded for a good grade, or consoled for a bad day, with ice cream after school. We spent summers at the beach where cookies and whole milk for breakfast were never out of the question. Holidays were a big deal and so was the menu. We enjoyed each other and never put much thought into our health because we were content with our lives.

The news of my mother being diagnosed with breast cancer came as a shock to all of us. Why her? Why us? Why now? What could have been attributed to her illness? Why was it fatal? When my mom passed away I began to overindulge, longing for the comforts I had before she was gone. I hardly ever exercised and I never said “no” to any calorific treat. I was twenty-four years old, forty pounds overweight and miserable with my self-image. I was experiencing a downward spiral with my well-being and did not have the tools to pull myself out of it. I was destroying my body and I realized that I didn’t want to die at forty-eight like my mother. She seemed healthy but our lifestyle was not one of sustainability. Breast cancer ran in our family, and heart problems were around the corner if I didn’t do something fast. I had to take control of my life. I had to make her proud.

At that point it was baby steps. I took a five week introduction to yoga class. It became a time when I actually slowed down to absorb what had been going on in my life. It was an hour a day, three times a week of low impact movements. Being that I am five foot two and was forty pounds overweight, even that posed a challenge. I started to pay attention to my body and began to feel a yearning inside of me to be a healthier person and deal with my issues. No matter what I did to mask my unhappiness it would still be there until I made the effort to change my lifestyle and improve my quality of life. It was time to face it head on.

I knew that it was my body and nutrition that would lead me through a long and happy life. It would not come from the instant gratification that overindulgence or comfort foods provided me. I was seeking a solution, guidance, a light. I knew what I wanted but like all other average Americans I felt uneducated and untrained on the subject to do it alone. I also knew that it was not going to be easy or happen overnight. In my search for wellness, I was excited to find that Charlotte had a lot of options for the fitness enthusiast. Pilates, yoga, martial arts, even whitewater rafting and mountain biking. My boyfriend and I would go hiking or rock climbing to burn some extra calories and enjoy the fresh air at the Whitewater Center. I enrolled in a yoga study course and found it was a little advanced and I was just another student in the class. Yoga and the outdoors were great to spend a little time with myself, but I needed more; I needed support, and I needed a resource. I decided that a personal trainer was my best option, but I wanted the best that Charlotte had to offer. That was when I met Cyrus Peterson.

At first encounter, I knew Cyrus was serious about training. Certified Master Trainer and Kettlebell Instructor, he was the epitome of health and physical fitness and had a powerful presence that was intimidating, but I was ready to take action. I began working with my new trainer and told him about my lifestyle, eating habits, and beginnings with yoga. He explained that he would be challenging me physically, but that if I was not serious about changing my eating habits then I would essentially fail. FAILURE!!! I was scared to death to fail and now I was looking down the barrel of the gun being asked the question: Would I fully commit? “Ok.” I said, “Let’s do it!”

I committed myself alright! We immediately began to build a meal plan around my likes, dislikes, deficiencies, and excesses. He helped me to realize the delicate balance that the human body needs to sustain life. I was on a structured, dietician-designed meal plan for the first time in my life and I was actually enjoying it. I began to journal what I ate and used meal planning software that Cyrus had provided. It became a game of adding up grams of proteins, carbohydrates, and healthy fats to ensure that I was getting the proper amounts of all. I did resistance training four times a week with my trainer, which helped me to develop muscle tone and burn fat. I found that it enhanced my yoga practice and made general chores and movements easier. I was building endurance and strength. He became a world of knowledge for me in those first few months. I probably asked 100 questions and was always presented with a well thought out answer that provided me with more information than I had initially requested. I started to become educated on the human body, how it burns fat, builds muscle, and functions correctly to optimize your physical condition.

As time went on it became very natural to eat healthy and I became very conscious of everything I put in my body. I had finally realized the definition of nutrition. My body craved the things that it needed, like lean proteins and healthy fats. It told me when I needed more or less. I was starting to see results fast!! Everyone says that it is about your diet when it comes to weight loss and I can say that, for me, 90 percent of what I was doing was all about the nutrition. By reaching out to a certified professional I found the guidance I needed to accomplish my goals. My personal trainer became my greatest resource during the process of changing my eating habits and evolving into a health and fitness enthusiast.

After six months of working out and being on a meal plan, I had already dropped at least twenty pounds. I was hearing great feedback from friends and family. Some people were astonished at my transformation and even commented that I seemed like a different person. I was happy, fit, and continuously losing weight. Given my past lifestyle it was something that had seemed far-fetched. I had an enthusiasm that rubbed off on friends and co-workers that was so exciting to see. I had knowledge to pass along to them to help them get started. My trainer was even impressed with my progress. I had become so much more physical and realized that the city had so much to offer on that level.

During the early fall months Charlotte becomes a runner’s paradise, with several races supporting amazing causes, every weekend against the cityscape. I decided to run a 5k that would support breast cancer survivors and the search for the cure of the disease. I was never a runner and felt that this was a bit of a challenge for me, but knew it would be a way to dedicate my new found wellness to my mother. In the month prior to the race I jogged 5k three times a week, slowing to walk when I needed, finding my pace. My trainer gave me an interval training, cardio schedule that helped me build endurance and prepare. For a non-runner, 3.1 miles was a lot to work up to. By the end of the month of preparation I was able to run the entire length! I realized that setting small goals, like running a 5k, had become the key to my success. I never let myself get overwhelmed. I took it one day, one month, one challenge at a time. I ran the race and felt so amazing in the presence of all of the women and men who had been affected by breast cancer! It was a great experience to help me to begin a new chapter in my life, one of optimism and health.

Given that I had accomplished so much I began to itch for a greater challenge. I wanted to try something that would be completely different, confuse my muscles, test my strength, and push me to achieve more. Aside from personal training, Cyrus had developed a program called KettleHell BootKamp that operated out of his health and fitness kettlebell studio, Advanced Training Concepts. I was confused by the whole concept at first. Considering I was still a newbie to the athletic world, and knowing his passion for strength training, I figured it was a basic resistance class with a fun name. Well there was nothing basic about neither the program or the kettlebell sport. The kettlebell is a cannon ball shaped weight with a handle that allows you to incorporate total body movements, cardio, and resistance training to receive optimal results. Once again I found myself intimidated in the face of Cyrus Peterson. I could tell he had his doubts about me sticking with his program but, as always, he supported me as I gave it a shot. In order to join the regular BootKamp classes, one has to take a couple of preparation classes to learn the technique of the sport and the safety precautions to be taken. After two prep-classes, instructed by Cyrus, I was sore and exhausted! After months of training, showing off in yoga, and eating healthy I was surprised at the extreme challenge this sport had posed for me. It lit a fire inside of me. It almost felt like the past months were only to prepare me for this.

I began attending three KettleHell BootKamp classes a week, waking up at 5:00 am to make it to the early morning classes. It was an intense workout that included a calisthenic warm-up followed by sequential movements performed with the kettlebell. I found that it became the best way to get myself going! I was more productive, I ate even healthier throughout the day, and I was losing even more weight at a really fast rate! As I became more acquainted with kettlebell as a sport, I realized that I really enjoyed it. Kettlebell training had become widespread on the west coast, Midwest, and especially in New York, but was new to the Carolinas. My friends became very intrigued by this innovative training method as they started to see my enthusiasm for kettlebells evolve. I began to get more people involved at Advanced Training Concepts. I worked with several new members to help them understand the sport and, most importantly, the effects of training with kettlebells. During one-on-one training with my instructor we worked on my form and technique. I saw myself excel in the classes. I dropped another 20 pounds once I began attending the BootKamps and had surpassed all the goals I had set! I felt empowered. I had finally found something I was crazy about and had exceeded my own expectations!

A year and a half prior I was despondent and overweight and now I am an athlete, a health nut, and in training to become a certified kettlebell instructor. I would have never guessed that this would be the road that I would take, but I accepted the challenge and pushed past obstacles to achieve the ultimate goal of a healthy lifestyle.

Elizabeth Upchurch, from Pinehurst, NC, attended Appalachian State University where she majored in Public Relations. After working as a public relations professional for a Commercial Real Estate company in Raleigh, Elizabeth relocated to Charlotte, NC where she began to explore many of her passions — health, fitness, and shopping! Managing a high-end women’s clothing boutique, she discovered the joys of working with women and the ins and outs of fashion. Outside her work, she enjoys high-intensity Kettlebell workouts at Advanced Training Concepts, an elite kettlebell studio in her city. After great weight loss success through the studio she has been sharing her testimonial with anyone who will listen.

“I have found great happiness in kettlebell training; it is always a challenge and has built endurance and willpower into my everyday life. I am truly doing what makes me happy in life! I am taking care of myself, I love my job, and I am surrounded by people I love.”