OUR COACHES
Niko Karavolos, NSCA-CSCS, NASM-CPT, Master Flywheel Trainer, USAW Coach Level 1
Coach Niko is an accomplished Strength & Conditioning Coach and Track and Field Coach at the high school, college and professional level with 13 years experience. Owner and operator of a Sport Performance and Personal Training Studio, Ignite Fitness for 9 years. Founder and Executive Director of a local youth development organization, Team Ignite, and founder of the Elmhurst Track and Field Club.
Coach Niko has extensive knowledge of the latest strength and conditioning techniques, team building strategies and innovative sports performance development training.
Coach Niko started his career at the University of Illinois at Chicago as a Horizontal Jumps, coach where he had 3 NCAA championship series qualifiers. Moved on to Roosevelt University as the head strength and conditioning coach for women’s soccer, volleyball and mens and women’s track and field. In 2021 he was appointed the sprints and horizontal jumps coach at York High School where he brought the team their first short sprint relay qualifiers since 2013.
In addition to working with high school and collegiate athletes Coach Niko had the honor of working with 3 professional track and field athletes as a strength and conditioning coach, two of which went on to complete in the Olympics. He currently owns and operates Ignite Fitness, a personal training and sports performance facility for the youth, high school, collegiate and professional athletes.
Nathan Goliak, ISSA-CPT, USAW Level 1 Coach
Coach Nathan is in his final semester of his Kinesiology degree at the University of Illinois. With a passion for fitness and athletics, he has 1 year of experience in Strength and Conditioning, focusing on training youth and high school athletes.
Coach Nathan’s dedication to sports began early, as he played soccer for 16 years, developing not only his skills but also a deep understanding of the game. In addition to his playing career, Coach Nathan had previously spent two summers coaching youth soccer camps, where he has inspired young athletes to embrace the sport. Beyond soccer, he has also participated in rotational sports, including baseball and golf, which have broadened his athletic perspective. His coaching philosophy emphasizes not only physical development but also the importance of discipline, accountability, and respect.
This diverse background has equipped him with a well-rounded approach to coaching, allowing him to draw from various sports disciplines. Coach Nathan is particularly interested in how Strength and Conditioning can enhance athletic performance across different sports.
Mike Lohman, “From Ironman to Strongman…”
A Chicago-area native, Mike Lohman played football and wrestled at Naperville Central High School before attending DePauw University where he played offensive line for the Tigers. He’s been an avid weightlifter since he was 14.
After college, he continued to live an active lifestyle as a multi-sport athlete, competing in more than 25 triathlons, including three Half-Ironmans and one Ironman race. However, Mike didn’t like to run, so in 2011, he shifted the focus of his physical training to the sport of strongman. Since then, he has competed, won, and placed in dozens of local, regional, and national contests (including a 5th place finish at USS Nationals in 2019 as a 50+ Masters Heavyweight competitor).
From 2014 to 2017, Mike was the Co-Captain and Anchor of a corporate team that participated in the Illinois Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run and Plane Pull, which competed against dozens of other teams to pull passenger and cargo aircraft 12 feet as quickly as possible. During the four years that Mike anchored his team, they finished in 2nd place in the Open Division in 2015 and 2017, and they won both the Open Division and Grand Championship in 2016 when they pulled a UPS Airbus A300 cargo plane weighing approximately 180,000 pounds for 12 feet in 10.5 seconds.
Mike is now “retired” from competing, but continues to promote events and coaches several successful strongman athletes, including three national champions. He is extremely passionate about the sport and is committed to helping grow the sport and community of athletes in Illinois and throughout the entire Midwest.
In 2024, Mike published a book, Mastering Strongman: A Training Guide for 40+ Strongman Athletes, with his friend and two-time World Champion Masters Strongman, Ken McClelland. The book provides insight and guidance for older individuals about how to stay healthy and train for the sport into their 40s and 50s.
A National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) Certified Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist, Mike also holds certifications from Functional Movement Systems, Onnit Academy, and Training For Warriors. He works as a strength coach to help his clients become stronger, better versions of themselves.
Mike is also the founder of Warpath Strength, co-host of The Average Joe Strongman Show podcast, and the Northern Illinois state representative for United States Strongman. He lives in Elmhurst with his wife, daughter, and two dogs.
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