Coaches
Alec and Dan are friends and lifelong athletes who came up through collegiate and elite-level sport. Between them they hold six degrees and certifications, and both hit the limits of generic programming in their own careers before they fixed it.
01
Founder & CEO · Director of Sports Performance
Alec founded American Ascension. He runs the company and leads its sports performance programming. He holds a BS in Exercise Science from Catawba College (2022) and an MS in Sports and Health Sciences from American Public University (2024), and he is VO2 certified.
He still competes, as a sub-elite cross country and track distance runner for Railroad Athletics.
Personal records
Top achievements
The long way round
Alec started at Avon High School in Indiana, where he was a four-year varsity letter winner in cross country and track. In college he competed at NCAA Division I and Division II, with varsity roster spots at UNC Charlotte and the University of Indianapolis.
It was not a straight line. Alec went through four years of burnout, with results that stalled and then declined. He changed coaches, overhauled his training and rebuilt himself into a strong mid-distance and distance runner. Every achievement listed above has come since, in 2025 and 2026.
Alec’s coaching is individualized and hands-on. He uses non-traditional training that asks the body to move in complex directions and patterns most exercise programs leave out. He uses it with athletes chasing performance, with clients getting healthy after an injury, and with people who want to stay healthy for the long term.
Specialties
02
Co-Founder · Sports Performance Coach · Health & Exercise Coach
Dan co-founded American Ascension. His focus is sports injury prevention and rehabilitation programming. He holds a BS in Exercise Science from Montreat College (2022) and an MA in Communications from Queens University of Charlotte (2025), and he is ISSA certified.
In college he competed at the national level in both triathlon and distance running, so he knows from experience what it takes to compete, recover and perform.
Top achievements
How he coaches
Dan’s coaching is individualized and hands-on. He builds each plan around the person’s body, goals and history. The work trains the body through varied, purposeful patterns of movement: correcting the imbalances that hold performance back, or restoring the movement people need for healthy daily life.
He works with athletes and with general population clients, whether the goal is competing at a higher level or feeling better day to day.
Specialties
Credentials
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Tell us about your sport, your history and what you are working toward. We will reply with how we would approach it.
