Meet Donald Ryan Hodge

We were lucky to catch up with Donald Ryan Hodge recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Donald Ryan, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

Growing up I was a very over weight kid. When I got to high school I found the sport of water polo and knew I wanted to play at the collegiate level. During my high school career I realized how passionate I was about strength and conditioning, and I began to plan how I could make a living coaching people in that field. In college while playing water polo I continued to cultivate my skills as a strength and conditioning coach by assisting with the water polo team as a player and a trainer. Then during my senor year of college my father unexpectedly passed away. That event further solidified my purpose to not only help people become better athletes, but also help others be as healthy as possible and live longer better quality lives.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I help my clients move better, reach their goals as efficiently as possible, and live longer high quality lives. The majority of my clients come to me with some form of musculoskeletal pain that they have been unable to resolve with the help of other coaches/clinicians. I use my skillset to help my clients regain normal human function with a multidisciplinary approach, and then use strength & conditioning to help them achieve their goals. Whether they have goals specific to sports, hobbies, or just tasks of day to day life I will create programs that deliver the outcomes they want to achieve. For almost 15 years I’ve worked hands on with various demographics from high level athletes, to youth, to geriatric populations and I am now beginning to also venture to online services to I can help more people find freedom in their lives.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I begin working with all of my clients with a very comprehensive assessment. The tests and assessments I have learned at various schools, courses, and skilled coaches/clinicians have created the foundation of my skillset to help people. Secondly my toolkit as a manual therapist has become invaluable as my career has evolved from just being a strength and conditioning coach to a multidisciplinary clinician. I’ve studied massage therapy, joint mobilization, taping, cupping, etc. as specific interventions to use to help people move better when my assessment shows which strategies to specifically implement. Third, my ability to coach people through exercise and the vast library of available exercises I’ve learned over my career allow me to safely and efficiently progress clients from wherever their starting point is to the desired goals they have with their body.
My best advice to people who are early in their journey in this field is to find successful mentors, never stop learning, and to work with as many people as possible early on in your career. There are so many niches to coach people in this field, and figuring out who and how you want to help people will allow you to more quickly get to the highest levels of coaching.

How would you describe your ideal client?

My ideal client is someone who is looking to achieve a specific goal with their body, and someone who is willing to follow a process rather than looking for a quick fix. There is no one sized fits all solution to helping people in my field. My most successful clients understand that if we trust the process and use the systems that I have acquired over the years then it is only a matter of time until we find success and reach their goals.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kinectionla.com
• Instagram: drh.kinection
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drhkinection
• Youtube: @kinection1418