the origins of river north strength
Ryan & christy Lukach
Before starting RNS in November of 2018, Ryan was a coach for nearly three years at Strive Village, a private strength and conditioning facility in the River North neighborhood of Chicago founded by his former collegiate strength coach. There, Ryan worked with a wide-range of clientele including former athletes, business executives and busy moms.
After Chicago, Ryan and his wife Christy moved back east to Richmond, VA to be near family & start River North Strength. The goal was to create an adult-training-centric facility that offered a high level program not seen in typical Boot Camps or CrossFit gyms.
In the winter of 2019/20, Ryan and Christy relocated to the Saint Louis area and opened the newest RNS location in Kirkwood, MO. In early 2022, they sold the Virginia location to two former RNS employees - now operating as 804 Strength.
Prior to a career in fitness, Ryan played five years of NCAA Division I Baseball at the University of Hartford where he was captain for four years. Ryan holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Hartford and a CPT from NSCA.
Ryan and Christy reside in Glendale with their son Marshall and Labrador Nala.
COACHING STAFf
ryan skiera
Before joining RNS in June of 2022, Ryan was most recently a graduate student and strength
and conditioning coach at Lindenwood University. There, Ryan had the chance to work with a variety of university sports programs. In January of 2022, Ryan was tasked with overseeing the programming and coaching of Lindenwood’s Men’s Ice Hockey, Women’s Wrestling, Men’s and Women’s Swim, and assisting with their Football program. He graduated with an MS in Health Science from LU in May of 2022.
In the summer of 2021, Ryan was an intern for the Football Strength & Conditioning Program
with the University of Iowa. Prior to his time at Lindenwood, Ryan played 4 years of college
football at Benedictine University, just outside of Chicago, IL. He graduated with a BA in
Exercise and Sports Studies in the spring of 2020.