Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Our Dream, Our Passion

My husband and I have been involved in fitness our entire lives.  His passion was soccer he played throughout high school and played for Coe College here in Iowa.  That was back when I met him, we had so much in common and I am blessed that he chose to stay here in Iowa with me rather than going back to Oregon where he grew up.  My passion was track and volleyball and then I found weight training.

Throughout our life together he searched for a good fit but just couldn't find the right gym to train with.  He also worked for nutrition stores such as GNC and Complete Nutrition, great places just still not what he truly wanted to do.

A few years ago when he became the GM of Kosama, a gym that was brand new to us, we never could have imagined the path it would take us down.  Kosama is a group fitness gym that teaches kickboxing along with kettle bell and TRX strength training.  This style of training was new for both of us we were accustomed to the "standard" style of strength training in the gyms we belonged to.

Both of us fell in love with this new style of training, while keeping our standard strength training in the mix as well.  Kickboxing has become my favorite form of cardio, there is nothing like hitting and kicking a bag to some awesome music surrounded by amazing people who are all pushing each other to do their best.  We were so blessed that the owners saw such potential in Kyle and I working together, they could see we were both so passionate about fitness and offered us to take over.  One of our biggest dreams ever, that we never thought would be possible had been presented to us.


We were honestly scared but more excited than scared.  Kyle and I knew between the two of us we could create something truly amazing.  As time has gone on we've added our own personal touches to Kosama Cedar Rapids.  Kyle runs his own little camps that include K-Performance which is the personal training portion of our gym.  We work with athletes from soccer players to Spartan racers to figure competitors and more.  

Watching people transform themselves and learn to live a healthier lifestyle while having fun and not being crazy restricted when it comes to food is indescribable.  We believe in eating to live, you can eat your favorite foods and still meet your fitness goals.  The nutrition side is my own personal passion, I love creating meal plans and am working towards educating myself more because you can never know enough about nutrition!  Our community of trainers/coaches, members and clients is a close community.  Every single person supports one another, we cheer each other on at races, games and in the gym.

I am blessed, we are blessed.  The video below was made by our dear friends Arsalan and Krystal Monawar who own Monawar Studios.  Their incredible talent and vision created this amazing short video showing snippets of all we do.  We made this almost two years ago, much has changed since then but this still gives me chills and makes me so proud my heart could burst.


KOSAMA | #WeAreKosamaCR from Monawar Studios on Vimeo.

20 comments:

  1. Loved watching the video!

    It's so amazing that you get to do what you love and also help people transform their lives for the better.

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    1. Thank you! We are truly blessed to be able to do what we do :)

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  2. Very nice!! We should try to hook up sometime since we don't live very far apart (I'm in Grinnell). I'll be training for a marathon this summer, so that will involve lots of running...maybe I'll see you at a race somewhere ;-)

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    1. One of my best friends from high school lives in Grinnell, you aren't far away at all! Hopefully once I get started running again all will go well and I will get to do some more races :)

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  3. How cool that you and your husband get to work together in fitness. I mainly skate, not work out, but I do have to do a little at the gym. And my husband does more. Our gym is a Gold's, the best one I've seen (I see a few here and there when I travel). It has all the equipment in your video except for the giant tire. My husband loves to work with kettlebells. I like the Battle Rope, should use it more.

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    1. We absolutely love it, battle ropes, box jumps and tire flips are my favorite!

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  4. What a cool video! I hope one day to be able to open a gym. Time will tell... ;)

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    1. Thank you! Good luck to you on your endeavor, it's a lot of hard work but so much fun :)

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  5. I do kickboxing every Wednesday with my trainer. Also one of my favorite workouts and a great stress reliever for sure. Glad you both are able to continue doing what you love

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    1. Thank you! Yes kickboxing is a great stress reliever :)

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  6. I love it! My husband and I run together and we both have a passion for fitness and food! I dream of running off to Greece and starting up a fitness company - he could be running trainer and I would do massage and fitness instruction and mobility training... ah would be so great but alas that's not on the table right now. You never know though! So glad you two have this opportunity!

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    1. I was really into running for quite a while and my husband has never been into it much. I took a long time off and will start running again this month because now he wants to do obstacle races :) Dream big, you never know what will come your way and that dream of yours sounds amazing!

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  7. Fabulous video!

    I love it when people are able to realize their passions and bring them to life, especially when it involves helping other people. Makes life that much more wonderful!

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    1. Thank you! You are so right, helping others and seeing positive changes in their lives if incredibly fulfilling :)

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  8. I love that you two were able to do this together! My husband does not run but I wish I could get him to LOL

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    1. Well the only way I could get my husband to run is obstacle races, they are fun though! :)

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  9. So exciting that you two are able to share your passion with others! The CrossFit box where I work is owned by a married couple and it's really cool to see how they bring a family feel to the place.

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    1. I love hearing that same comment from our members, they feel like our gym is a family, best compliment ever!

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  10. That is so neat that you both were able to learn new ways to workout and find a new passion!
    My husband and I have VERY different workout styles ;)

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    1. He is very happy that I enjoy weight training so much and lifting heavy :)

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