Dr. Courtney Mizuhara-Cheng
Osteopathic physician · RKC April 2007 · RKC Level 2 June 2007.
Trained by her husband, Dr. Mark Cheng, Dr. Courtney Mizuhara-Cheng got deep into kettlebell training after giving birth to the couple’s son as a way of getting back into shape. Not only did the baby weight come off, she became a committed kettlebell enthusiast — dropping serious pounds and gaining major strength.
The clinical view
As an osteopathic physician, Dr. Mizuhara-Cheng came to the conclusion that her husband’s belief was correct: kettlebell training is a peerless form of rehabilitative exercise. That is a meaningful endorsement from someone assessing it through a clinical rather than a fitness lens.
During her residency at Pomona Valley Hospital, she taught kettlebell strength, rehabilitation, and fitness training in the Inland Empire — Covina, Pomona, San Bernardino — and occasionally on the Westside.
Certification
She officially earned her RKC designation in April 2007, directly from Pavel Tsatsouline, and trained under Pavel’s supervision on several other occasions, earning her RKC Level 2 certification in June 2007. Level 2 was the advanced tier of the certification, focused heavily on Functional Movement Screen methodology.
Today
Dr. Mizuhara-Cheng practises as a board-certified family medicine physician, with additional listed specialisms including osteopathic manipulative therapy and acupuncture — a combination that keeps her close to the manual and movement work that drew her to kettlebells in the first place.
Her planned kettlebell site, DOkettlebells.com, never launched and the domain is no longer active. For kettlebell instruction, contact Kettlebells Los Angeles or see the other instructors. Clinical enquiries should go through her medical practice rather than this site.
Common questions
Are kettlebells safe after pregnancy?
Kettlebell training is widely used for post-partum strength work — it is how Dr. Mizuhara-Cheng came to it herself — but timing and progression matter, and issues such as diastasis recti and pelvic floor recovery need to be assessed individually. Clear it with your own physician first, then work with an instructor who will screen before loading.
What is the difference between RKC and RKC Level 2?
RKC was the foundational instructor certification covering the core hardstyle lifts, teaching methodology, and a physical test. RKC Level 2 was the advanced tier, adding more technical lifts and, from 2007, a substantial focus on Functional Movement Screen methodology for assessing and correcting movement.
Why does a physician teach kettlebells?
Because the two overlap more than they appear to. Osteopathic training is built around the relationship between structure and function, which is the same question a movement screen asks. Physicians who train with kettlebells tend to be interested in them as a rehabilitation tool first and a conditioning tool second.