Chris Carmichael

Chris Carmichael is the founder and CEO of Carmichael Training Systems, Inc. (CTS). Named the US Olympic Committee’s Coach of the Year in 1999, Chris formed CTS in 2000 to make world-class coaching accessible to athletes of all ability levels. Innovation has been a driving force throughout Chris’s career as an athlete, coach, and entrepreneur; he’s played a leading role in advancing the use of power meters, aerodynamic testing, altitude training, online coaching tools, and specific training methods for time-crunched athletes.

Through Chris’s leadership, CTS immediately established itself as the premier destination for personal fitness, nutrition, and life coaching; a leadership position the company has held throughout its nearly 15-year history. To ensure that CTS Athletes receive the best expertise and customer service, Chris created an unsurpassed education program that develops the highest-trained coaches in the industry. With a network of more than 80 coaches, the thousands of athletes working with CTS have full access to an unmatched base of knowledge and experience.

To make hands-on coaching interaction more accessible to the public, Chris pushed to open regional training facilities. Currently, athletes can experience CTS coaching, camps, and testing services in Colorado Springs, CO; Tucson, AZ; Brevard, NC; and Santa Ynez, CA. Innovation has always been a core component of Chris’s business philosophy, and starting in 2014 CTS is starting to pursue an international expansion with training centers in Central and South America.

On the way to building a multimillion dollar coaching and multimedia business with more than 50 full-time employees, Chris also authored seven books, including The New York Times Best Seller, Chris Carmichael’s Food for Fitness (2004) and his newest titles, The Time-Crunched Cyclist (2nd Ed., 2012) and The Time-Crunched Triathlete (2010). His unique perspective on performance appears in his monthly columns in Road Bike Action (2013-present), Bicycling Magazine (’05-2010), Triathlete Magazine (2010 – 2012) and Outside(’05-’08), and the broad appeal of his message has seen him featured in TIME, Entrepreneur, Business 2.0, Inc. Magazine, and Forbes Small Business. The company has also released more than 20 full-length training DVDs featuring workouts led by Chris Carmichael and other CTS Coaches.

Chris has also been very active in television, with appearances on the NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, The Early Show, The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, CNN, 60 Minutes, The Discovery Channel, ABC’s World News Tonight, and other venues. From 2001-2005, he served a daily on-air commentator for the Outdoor Life Network’s (now NBC Sports Network) Tour de France coverage. And in 2006, Chris was the host of the Me vs. Me television show on the Fine Living TV Network. In 2009, Chris appeared in Race Across the Sky, a documentary about the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race.