Will Jefferies
is a CrossFit Level 1 Coach, Movement and Mobility, and Olympic Lifting Certified(with plans for most, if not all, of the specialty courses) who draws on a 13 year personal training background. Being in and out of the big box globo gyms for a good portion of that time has shown him that there is NOTHING like CrossFit. Will has been certified by many of the “major” companies in the industry at one point or another and admits to having been caught up in the hype and dogmas of the industry at different points favoring one over another.
Though many of them shared some elements with CrossFit in terms of exercise selections or perhaps intensity, none have put together the whole package until CrossFit. Because none of the other certifying bodies out there treat fitness as a sport none of them really train athletes like athletes, what athletes care about is performance not promises, and that is why Will has fallen in love with CrossFit. If you are a competitive athlete or a mom trying to rush your kids out the door in the morning, life is all about performance.
Katy Rickman
is one of the South Bay’s top personal fitness trainers. She began training people in the mid 90′s, has trained and trained with top fitness celebrities, models, athletes and actors. Being an international fitness competitor and cover model, featured in Ironman, Muscle and Fitness, Playboy and several other international magazines. Katy is a mother of two amazing kids, a professional fitness competitor and an NPC Bikini Champion.
Finding CrossFit “Lets just say I drank the Kool-Aid” Katy says.
Will and Katy started training together in 2008, she had just finished placing 6th in Mexico and needed a change of pace wanting to learn more about kettlebells from Will. “So we did a little here a little there and then Will took me through a 300 workout and I loved it.” Will then asked Katy to check out CrossFit. After she read through the journals and watched the workout videos with Will, she was hooked. Katy thought that this was truly the way to train and it was so simple “all I could think about was getting my clients on this program.” In March 09 Will and Katy headed to Aromas California the site of the games to get their level 1 certification with CrossFit.
Katy is Level 1 Coach, Olympic lifting and Movement and Mobility certified with CrossFit. Master Level, Sports Nutrition, Youth Athletic, Senior Fitness, and Pre and Post Pregnancy Certified with the IFPA. She is ENW certified in Nutrition has experiences with Active and Isolated Stretching and Post Rehabilitation Movement.
“CrossFit has changed the way I look at everything,” she says with a smile.
Nicole Helfenberger
Before CrossFit, Nicole worked out at an average Globo gym. It wasn’t until a friend introduced Nicole to CrossFit that she realized how incredible it was. After “drinking the kool-aid,” she never looked back. CrossFit became her new sport, changing her physically and more importantly, changing the way she looks at life. Through CrossFit Nicole has realized that you are responsible for your life, your actions, and the impact you can have on others. Nicole’s primary focus as a coach is to specialize in working with women and making them more comfortable with having a strong body. Nicole has found that with a strong body, comes confidence and a strong mind, two attributes she hopes to instill in other CrossFit women. Nicole has her Level 1 certification and is pursuing other certifications that will help her become a better coach. When Nicole is not at the box, she enjoys being outdoors, participating in local CrossFit competitions and playing beach volleyball. Nicole is working towards her degree is Kinesiology and Dietetics.
Mark “Shurg-Knight” Shurgot
Mark Shurgot is a CrossFit level 1 coach and CrossFit Gymnastics Certified. Mark took his first CrossFit class in 2009 as a supplemental program to his training in Krav Maga. Mark moved away from his Krav Maga studio in 2010 and began the hunt for a new fitness program in Manhattan beach. This is where he found Karma CrossFit. Over the last 15 years Mark has explored many areas of fitness as an athlete and trainee. He knows from first hand experience that there is nothing else out there like CrossFit when it comes to achieving ones goals in body composition and athletic performance.
Outside of the box you can find Mark on the pursuit of some adrenaline pumping adventure, whether it be wakeboarding, mountain biking, snowboarding, or “dogboarding” with his two rambunctious labrador retriever rescues.
Mark also has a day-gig producing Emmy Award Winning Interactive Sports Television Programs.
Mary Beth LaRue
A Santa Monica-based vinyasa yoga teacher, MB received her 200-hour Yoga Alliance certification from Flow Yoga Studio in Washington DC, her pre- and postnatal teaching certification from Inspired Yoga in Washington DC, and her 500-hour teaching certification from YogaWorks in Los Angeles. She teaches group classes at two local studios she absolutely adores – Yogis Anonymous and Studio Surya Yoga. She also teaches yoga in drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers and mental health facilities in the Los Angeles area, and has developed classes held at the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles for teenagers, newborns, and their family members. Her classes have been featured in the Huffington Post and LA Yoga. She is also an ambassador for lululemon athletica, YogaEarth and Organic Oasis.
MB resides in Venice where you can find her riding her bike, going to the farmers’ market, and taking roadtrips in her VW. She also loves avocados, homemade chai tea, and hip hop. Check out her website at www.mblarue.com.
Ashley Weber
Ashley Weber is a national-level competitive weightlifter who has nearly a decade of experience with Olympic lifting with 3+ years as a competitor and a coach. She started lifting weights in high school to get stronger and utilized the Olympic lifts to train for throwing the shot put and discus. During that time she realized that lifting heavy weights explosively was a passion of hers and she wanted to compete in weightlifting. Ashley’s first coaches for weightlifting were Senior International Coach Mike Burgener and Sage Burgener of Mike’s Gym. During her time at Mike’s Gym, Ashley was able to experience top notch coaching as a lifter and held a coaching position too.
When not training for competition, Ashley can be found coaching the Olympic lifts or coaching athletes training for their sport of choice. Ashley is currently coached by two of the best coaches that the sport of weightlifting has to offer, John Garhammer PhD and Sean Waxman of Waxman’s Gym. Prior to working with her present coaches, she was also coached by USA Weightlifting Hall of Fame Coach Bob Takano. Working with exceptional coaches has really shaped Ashley as a weightlifting coach. Through thousands of hours of experience with world-class coaching and weightlifting, Ashley has developed the unique ability to see and communicate the details that occur in a lift as well as the lift as a whole. Her style of simplifying this complexity for other athletes and helping them learn/improve their Olympic lifts is unmatched.
