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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 has a rare ability to make challenging workouts incredibly fun. His sessions combine thoughtful programming, attentive coaching, humor, and genuine encouragement—helping people work hard, recognize their progress, and look forward to coming back.
Chris has a rare gift for making even demanding workouts incredibly fun. His sessions are thoughtfully programmed and purpose-driven, but they are also energetic, approachable, and filled with the kind of humor and encouragement that keeps people looking forward to training. From first-time lifters to national-level competitors, Chris combines attentive coaching with meaningful benchmarks to help every athlete recognize their progress and enjoy the process of getting stronger.
A lifelong athlete, Chris grew up playing competitive soccer and swimming before becoming an elite high school diver and continuing the sport at the collegiate level. Those experiences shaped his appreciation for disciplined practice, skilled coaching, and the confidence that comes from seeing consistent effort turn into measurable progress.
Chris’s ability to make challenging training genuinely enjoyable—without losing sight of technique, purpose, or results—is one of the qualities that truly sets him apart as a coach.
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.
