Contact
Biography
Karen Van Ness is a Certified Fitness Trainer and Specialist in Performance Nutrition with the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA), the oldest certifying organization in the United States.
She is a member of the IDEA Health & Fitness Association and the Medical Wellness Association.
She has a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College and a Masters of Science from the Johns Hopkins University. She has many years of experience in the areas of athletic training, fitness, nutrition, and overall wellness and personal development principles.
Karen lettered in basketball and softball in high school and was a league all-star and team captain in both sports. She lettered in basketball and track and field at Dartmouth College.
At Dartmouth, she was a member of two Ivy League Championship basketball teams and participated with her team in the women's NCAA Division I basketball tournament her sophomore year. In track and field, she was one of the pioneers in the women’s hammer throw, a relatively new event at that time, and set a school record after only a few months of training.
Karen has been a devotee of the martial arts since childhood. She holds Black Belts in Tae Kwon Do, Karate, and advanced rank in Hap Ki Do. She has also studied Qi Gong (Chi Kung) and Yoga. Karen enjoys training, teaching, and fighting and is undefeated in amateur sparring and full contact kickboxing competition.
After a successful career in the financial services and technology industries, Karen transformed her knowledge and experience in martial arts, fitness training, and health and wellness into her profession. She teaches a unique and exciting program that leverages time-tested principles and techniques from the martial arts and related disciplines, along with modern and proven training and nutrition strategies.
Karen appreciates the opportunity to inspire people to make profound changes in their lives. Her no-nonsense, practical, and comprehensive approach is designed to achieve optimal health, energy and vitality.
Karen lives with her family in Annandale, Virginia. She can be reached at Karen@BestBreathingExercises.com or Karen@OvercomeAsthma.com
