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As Ascent’s Head Coach, Chris combines thoughtful programming, competitive experience, and an infectious love of training to help athletes at every level become stronger and more capable.
Train with ChrisChris has a gift for making strength training challenging, approachable, and genuinely rewarding. From first-time lifters to national-level competitors, he combines smart programming, attentive coaching, and meaningful benchmarks to help every athlete recognize their progress.
Chris designs and leads Ascent’s Performance Lab programming, creating purposeful training cycles that develop strength, movement quality, work capacity, and long-term athleticism. Every workout has a reason, a progression, and a place within the larger plan.
As a competitive USAPL powerlifter and USAPL Alaska State Co-Chair, Chris understands both the preparation and the pressure of competition. He coaches lifters through technical development, meet preparation, attempt selection, and the process of performing confidently on the platform.
Chris has a particular passion for helping new and young athletes build a strong foundation. His coaching has helped Alaska lifters progress from learning the fundamentals to competing at state championships and USAPL Nationals.
Chris introduced a DOTS-based tracking system to Ascent’s gym programming, giving members of different sizes and experience levels a meaningful way to measure progress. It adds milestones, accountability, and friendly competition without losing sight of each person’s individual goals.
Chris is a passionate and experienced personal trainer with more than 17 years of experience helping people discover their strength, build confidence, and find genuine enjoyment in movement.
A lifelong athlete, Chris grew up playing competitive soccer before becoming a collegiate-level diver. His athletic background now spans strength and endurance sports: he remains an avid swimmer, competes in powerlifting through USA Powerlifting (USAPL), and serves as a USAPL Alaska State Co-Chair. He also coaches swimmers with the Aquatic Foundation of Alaska’s Yeti Swim Team.
Chris has a particular passion for introducing new and young athletes to strength training. His thoughtful coaching and carefully structured programming have helped lifters progress from learning the fundamentals to competing at the state and national levels. During the past season alone, he guided several Alaska athletes to state championships and helped lifters earn the opportunity to compete at USAPL Nationals.
As Head Coach at Ascent Health & Performance, Chris leads the development and delivery of the Performance Lab. He designs the gym’s training cycles, coaches athletes through each session, and continually looks for new ways to make progress visible and rewarding. That includes introducing a DOTS-based performance tracking system that allows members of different sizes, ages, and experience levels to celebrate milestones and enjoy a little friendly competition.
Chris’s coaching philosophy blends evidence-informed strength training with the adaptability developed through a lifetime of sport. His programs are challenging and purposeful, but always built around the person in front of him. Whether someone is stepping into a gym for the first time, rebuilding confidence after an injury, pursuing a new personal record, or preparing for high-level competition, Chris meets them where they are and provides a clear path forward.
Clients value his thoughtful coaching, exceptional programming, and the occasional mischievous grin that usually signals a particularly difficult—but worthwhile—challenge. His goal is not simply to make people stronger for a season, but to help them build the skills, confidence, and resilience to enjoy training for a lifetime.
When he isn’t coaching, Chris can usually be found training, swimming, exploring Alaska, supporting local athletes, or quietly plotting the next Performance Lab challenge.
