I Wanted to Be the Physio Who "Does It All"

Long before I became a physiotherapist, I was an athlete.

Growing up, I loved sports. Almost any sport you could name, I wanted to try. I was always moving, competing, experimenting and trying to understand what my body could do.

Looking back, I think that shaped the kind of physiotherapist I wanted to become.

I never wanted to be the physio who only understood an injury from a textbook.

I wanted to be the physio who could understand what it felt like to be in the athlete's shoes.

I Wanted to Be the Physio Who "Does It All"

During my school years, I gravitated towards sprinting and jumping.

Those sports introduced me to structured training at a relatively young age, and naturally, I eventually found my way into the gym.

At first, the gym was simply another part of being an athlete.

But after high school, bodybuilding became much more serious.

Training evolved from something I enjoyed into something I dedicated a significant part of my life to. I learned what it meant to train consistently, push through difficult sessions, manage fatigue, pay attention to nutrition and chase performance goals.

Eventually, that journey took me into competitive bodybuilding, where I had the opportunity to earn my Mr. KL and Mr. Universe titles.

Those experiences gave me something that I don't think I could have learned from studying alone:

I learned what it feels like to have your body become your sport.

I understood the obsession with improving one more kilogram, one more repetition, one more competition preparation.

I understood what it feels like when your body doesn't cooperate with what your mind wants it to do.

And I understood the frustration of being told to stop training when training is such a large part of your identity.

Those experiences became incredibly valuable when I eventually started my career as a physiotherapist.

Becoming a Physiotherapist

When I entered physiotherapy, I already knew that I wanted to work with athletes.

But I also knew that I didn't want to limit myself to one particular type of athlete.

My goal was always to become a physio who could "do it all."

A physio who could understand the sprinter.

The weightlifter.

The bodybuilder.

The weekend warrior.

The CrossFit athlete.

The person who just wants to get back to playing their favourite sport.

I wanted to understand what it was like to be in their shoes.

Because I believe there is something different about treating an athlete when you understand what their sport means to them.

Then CrossFit Entered the Picture

As I started building my career in physiotherapy, I noticed that I was seeing more and more CrossFit athletes.

At the time, I understood exercise and strength training well, but I realised there was a gap in my knowledge.

I knew what an overhead press was.

I knew how to squat.

I understood strength training and bodybuilding.

But CrossFit was different.

There were Olympic lifts, gymnastics, kipping movements, high-volume conditioning, running, rowing, jumping and combinations of movements performed under fatigue.

I could treat the injury.

But I wanted to understand the sport.

I wanted to understand why they were doing these movements, what made them difficult, what fatigue did to their technique and what it meant to complete a workout at maximal intensity.

So I decided to do something that, in hindsight, became one of the most important decisions in my professional career.

I put myself in their shoes.

Finding My Home Box

I joined CrossFit Pahlawan, which eventually became my home box.

I wasn't interested in simply learning enough CrossFit terminology to communicate with my clients.

I wanted to experience it.

I wanted to know what it felt like to walk into a box, look at the workout on the board and wonder how badly it was going to hurt.

I wanted to experience the fatigue.

The frustration.

The excitement of hitting a new personal best.

The feeling of finishing a brutal WOD.

The competitiveness.

The community.

And, of course, the occasional DOMS that makes you question your life choices.

That was eight years ago.

And I'm still here.

From Training to Competing

Over the years, CrossFit became more than something I did to understand my patients.

I started competing as well.

I have consistently taken part in CrossFit competitions, and that experience has added another layer to how I understand the athletes I work with.

Competition is different from training.

In training, you can stop when something doesn't feel right. You can reduce the weight, take a longer rest or simply call it a day.

Competition changes the equation.

You have a clock running.

You have other athletes beside you.

You have a score to chase.

And sometimes, you have to perform movements at a level of fatigue that you simply don't experience during normal training.

I've experienced the nerves before a workout, the adrenaline when the clock starts, the pressure to push harder, and the disappointment when your body doesn't perform the way you expected it to.

I've also experienced the satisfaction of finishing a difficult workout and knowing that you gave everything you had.

Those experiences have given me an appreciation for the competitive side of CrossFit that I don't think I could have gained from treating athletes alone.

It has also changed the way I think about performance.

When an athlete comes to me preparing for a competition, I'm not only thinking about whether they are pain-free.

I'm thinking about whether they are competition-ready.

Can their body tolerate the volume?

Can they repeat high-skill movements under fatigue?

Can they recover between events?

Can they handle the demands of several days of competition?

And perhaps most importantly, can we get them there without unnecessarily compromising their long-term health?

That is where my experience as both a physiotherapist and a competitor becomes particularly valuable.

I'm not standing on the outside simply telling an athlete what they should do.

I've been in the same environment.

I've trained the same movements.

I've competed under the same clock.

I've experienced the same fatigue.

I'm still learning, just like every other athlete.

And I think that is important.

Because being a CrossFit physio isn't about pretending to know everything.

It's about continuously putting yourself in the athlete's shoes.

Eight Years Later

Eight years of CrossFit has completely changed the way I approach sports physiotherapy.

The biggest lesson has been that treating a CrossFit athlete isn't simply about treating a body part.

A shoulder isn't just a shoulder.

It's a shoulder that may need to tolerate kipping pull-ups, toes-to-bar, handstand push-ups, snatches, jerks, muscle-ups and hundreds of repetitions under fatigue.

A knee isn't simply a knee.

It's a knee that may need to tolerate squats, running, box jumps, Olympic lifting and repeated high-intensity efforts.

The clinical question therefore becomes much bigger than:

"What's causing your pain?"

I also want to know:

"What does your sport demand from you?"

"What can your body currently tolerate?"

"What do we need your body to tolerate?"

That difference is fundamental to how I approach rehabilitation.

Pain Is Information, Not Always the Enemy

One of the biggest things I've learned as a physio is that pain does not always equal damage.

This is particularly important in athletes.

If we tell every athlete to stop whenever something hurts, we can sometimes create a cycle where the athlete becomes afraid of movement, loses capacity and becomes even less tolerant of training.

That does not mean pain should be ignored.

It means pain needs to be interpreted in context.

What happens during the movement?

What happens afterwards?

Does the pain progressively worsen?

Is strength changing?

Is there loss of function?

Is the athlete recovering between sessions?

What is their current training load?

These questions often tell me much more than simply asking someone to rate their pain from 0 to 10.

Rehabilitation Should Look Like the Sport

Another major lesson for me was that rehabilitation should gradually start resembling the activity we are trying to return an athlete to.

If someone wants to return to CrossFit, simply getting them pain-free on a treatment table isn't enough.

• They need capacity.
• They need strength.
• They need endurance.
• They need coordination.
• They need confidence.

And eventually, they need exposure to the specific movements and workloads that CrossFit demands.

For example, someone returning from a shoulder injury may progress from controlled strengthening exercises to pressing, then overhead loading, then more complex movements, and eventually higher-volume training.

The exact progression depends on the individual and the injury.

But the principle remains the same:

You cannot fully prepare an athlete for sport without eventually training the qualities required by that sport.

From Treating Injuries to Building Resilience

This is probably the biggest change in my philosophy.

I don't want rehabilitation to simply make an athlete feel better.

I want it to make them more capable.

If an athlete develops pain while performing a particular movement, the goal isn't necessarily to make sure they never feel discomfort during that movement again.

The goal is to understand why their current capacity doesn't match the demand, then gradually close that gap.

That might mean getting stronger.

It might mean improving technique.

It might mean increasing exposure to volume.

It might mean improving recovery.

Or it might mean changing the way they train.

Sometimes it is a combination of all of these.

Working With Coaches

One thing I have come to appreciate more and more is that a CrossFit physio cannot work effectively in isolation.

The coach plays a huge role.

A physio may understand the injury and rehabilitation process, while the coach understands the athlete's training, goals, technique and programming.

When those two perspectives come together, the athlete benefits.

Sometimes the answer isn't to completely stop training.

It might be modifying the movement.

Reducing the load.

Changing the volume.

Adjusting the range of motion.

Or temporarily replacing one movement with another that provides a similar training stimulus without aggravating the problem.

That allows the athlete to continue training while we gradually rebuild their capacity.

To me, that is one of the biggest differences between simply treating an injury and actually managing an athlete.

Eight Years of CrossFit Open Content

One of the things I still look forward to every year is the CrossFit Open.

Every year, when the workouts are announced, I enjoy breaking them down from a physiotherapy and performance perspective.

What movements are likely to challenge athletes?

Where might fatigue change mechanics?

What should athletes be thinking about before they start?

How can they warm up properly?

What mistakes might increase their risk of injury?

And perhaps most importantly:

How can we help athletes perform better without unnecessarily putting themselves at risk?

For me, the Open has become more than just a competition.

It is an opportunity to educate.

Every year, I get to take what I've learned through physiotherapy, sport and eight years of doing CrossFit myself and turn it into something that hopefully helps another athlete.

Why I Chose This Path

Looking back, I think the biggest shift in my career happened when I stopped viewing CrossFit simply as another sport that produces injuries.

I started seeing it as a training system with its own demands, culture and community.

And I started seeing the athlete as more than their injury.

They are someone with goals.

They have competitions they want to prepare for.

They have movements they want to master.

They have numbers they want to improve.

And sometimes, they simply want to finish the workout with their friends.

My job is not to take those goals away from them.

My job is to help them achieve those goals while managing the risks along the way.

That is what being a CrossFit physio means to me.

Not just treating injuries.

Understanding the athlete. Understanding the sport. Understanding the demands. And building the capacity to meet them.

Eight years later, CrossFit Pahlawan is still my home box.

I still train.

I still compete.

I still learn.

I still enjoy the CrossFit Open.

And I still enjoy helping CrossFitters and athletes stay away from injuries, improve their performance and continue doing the sport they love.

Because ultimately, that's what I think being a sports physio should be about.

Not simply understanding an injury.

Understanding the person behind it.

Not simply asking, "Where does it hurt?"

But asking:

"What do you want your body to be able to do?"

And then helping you get there.

That has always been the kind of physio I wanted to be.

And eight years into my CrossFit journey, I'm still working towards becoming that physio.

• Jo The CrossFit Physio