Karl has attained a level of brains and brawn that most of us can only dream about. He has a background in engineering and in the liberal arts, with two engineering degrees, a doctorate in philosophy, and a master’s degree in theology. At 48 years of age, he has squatted 602.5lbs and benched 440lbs in competition.

But one of the greatest things about Karl is his generosity of knowledge and strength. He taught philosophy and humanities for twenty years at Benedictine University in Lisle, IL, but has since moved on to be full-time strength coach. He has been coaching professionally since 2012, and has run camps and staffed seminars around the country. He currently coaches in-person clients at Chicago Strength and Conditioning, is a Coaching Academy instructor, and works at Online Great Books running seminars on the great books.

His strength journey began in high school with the Nautilus machines. He kinda leveled up in college and got pretty good at the bench press. But then, as many do, he went astray, exercising with various ineffective machines and even tried running. He was weak. When his son John was born, he discovered how weak he truly was, since carrying him around gave Karl debilitating back spasms. He discovered barbells and serious strength training in an attempt to cure his back problems. Since he started deadlifting in 2009, those problems have vanished. He wasn’t imbalanced or suffering from a pathology, he was just weak. Barbell training changed his life, and he wants to help other people get the same benefit.

Karl now holds state records in 100% Raw Powerlifting for Illinois in the bench press, squat, and total for his age and weight class. He currently holds national records in the Masters 110kg class in US Strengthlifting. He loves teaching, but the best teaching he ever does is coaching people to get stronger.

In-person coaching:

Chicago Strength and Conditioning
5354 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60646
www.chicagosc.com