Andrea U-Shi Chang

“Own your movement. Earn your strength.”

Andrea U-Shi Chang, Master SFG Instructor, CK-FMS,
Ground Force Method Global Instructor, Z-Health Certified Movement Coach
Owner, Lead Instructor

Andrea has been training with kettlebells since 2005. At that point, the former college soccer player and competitive tennis player was on the verge of 40. And she wasn’t happy with how she felt. Though she had stayed active (she thought) playing tennis and working out regularly at the gym, at 195 pounds and 34% body fat she was technically obese. She had trouble sleeping. Her body ached. She knew she had to make a change to get back to her true self.

When a childhood friend introduced her to kettlebells she was hooked—and the weight started to fall off. In just five months, Andrea lost 45 pounds and dropped to 17% body fat. Kettlebells literally transformed her life. After having spent two decades working in real estate, Andrea dedicated herself to Kettlebility.

Since earning her Russian Kettlebell Challenge Certification directly from Pavel in 2006, she has followed her passion for sharing her continued learning about the body, movement and the mind-body connection (not just in advanced kettlebell forms but modalities such as tai chi). Andrea has coached and certified hundreds of instructors worldwide. She was tapped in 2016 by the Seattle Seahawks to set up their Functional Movement Systems (FMS) screening program for players. Andrea is a Master SFG Instructor (the only one in Washington State), a Certified Kettlebell-Functional Movement Specialist, Ground Force Method Global Instructor, Training for Warriors certified, and a Z-Health Certified Movement Coach. Today, stronger and in better shape than ever, Andrea is a role model to many. She brings her trademark sense of humor to her training while simultaneously kicking your butt.

You can read her Hardstyle Magazine article, ‘Kettlebells to the Rescue: A Total Transformation’ HERE.

7 Questions with Andrea

1. Favorite healthy food you couldn’t live without:

Fatty pork. Chinese-style braised fatty pork. OMG. It’s amazing. I cook my great aunt’s fatty pork. (I know it’s not really a health food. Sigh.)

2. Favorite non-health food you couldn’t live without:

See above. Fatty pork.

3. Favorite KB movement:

So many … When my shoulder was destroyed (playing tennis, then surgery) and I couldn’t do anything I dreamed about snatching.

4. Proudest moment?

Seeing my son coming into his own physically and mentally as a real, strong, intelligent, viable person. He’s 13.

5. Who are your heroes?

Martina Navratilova, Jack LaLanne (known as “the godfather of fitness”) and my mom. My mom is the most hardworking woman. We grew almost all our own food growing up. She sewed all of our clothes. She made our backpacks, our sleeping bags, our tents. We still have them. And then she became an entrepreneur and ran a Chinese restaurant in Albuquerque. She worked her fingers to the bone. Martina showed me how physically strong and skilled a woman can be. Jack embodies the attitude of “don’t ever stop.” Here’s a guy who was doing one-arm pushups the week before he got pneumonia and died (at age 96).

6. What’s on your bucket list?

Mostly travel: I want to take my son to the Louvre, to Rome. I want to go to Patagonia. We’re going to Mongolia soon. And I have a ton of movement goals, too. I know I’ll be stronger at age 80 than I was at 20. Freestanding handstand pushup. That’s the golden ring for me.

7. Your mantra?

Own your movement, earn your strength.

Email Andrea: andrea@kettlebility.com

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