Just A Physio

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Just A Physio

No declarable conflicts of interests. Just bit about how I got to this point. How can I do exercise based on my genetics to resolve my diabetes? Az

Our Goal: Provide a forum for helpful evidence based opinion on a range of different treatments & approaches to allow for informed decision making for consumers & professionals within the health & fitness sectors. During my time as a Physiotherapy student, I worked as a Personal Trainer and Gym Instructor at a very large Auckland gym. Training for Athletics (Hammer & Discuss) under the guidance of one of New Zealand’s top coaches and qualifications in coaching had set me in good stead for training others – and I loved the effect that could be gained. I started my clinical career as most Physiotherapists would, I qualified and realised that I really didn’t know as much as I thought that I did. This was brought home to me in my first 8 months of working in a rural South Island practice where we saw literally every kind of condition a Physiotherapist could be asked to treat. After this I moved to Auckland and took on a number of more senior roles in private practice there. After a significant injury, I ended up off of work with a reconstructed thumb (a big deal for a manual therapist) and so focused more on Sports & Exercise Physiotherapy, working with rugby teams, basketball teams, individual athletes and patients with Chronic Pain disorders. It was during this time that I was approached to work for New Zealand’s national level funder of accident injury rehabilitation. My time there was split between; considering if treatment requests were for appropriate treatment modalities given a specific patient’s needs and stage in rehab, providing comments on Medico-Legal issues, providing education to providers on how to deal with the funder, providing education to Medical and Clinical providers on causation and the role of trauma, being a representative on professional body panels and educating/training new clinical advisors in the role. Throughout this time I saw a huge variance in what treatments were being provided, by allied health as well as medical and even surgical providers. Some of these were new and cutting edge, some were just complex ways of charging more money for less effective treatment. I also realised, while I have colleagues out there with significant post-grad qualifications, critical thinking was not always present in those clinicians. Sometimes, all a critical thinker would need to be was someone with the ability and background understanding – perhaps, JUST A PHYSIO would do? When I left this role I returned to my home town in Rural Tasman Region at the top of the South Island (NZ) and wanted to provide some evidence based treatment in a region littered with alternative practitioners. Part of this included trying to collaborate with other exercise professionals in the area, which inevitably lead me to starting this journey. After investing a huge amount of time (and money) into a registered Personal Trainer, I was approached and asked to look into a “Scientific” programme that answered all of the questions of exercise and health – you know, like; Why is this client not losing weight but my other similar one is? How can I use measurements to determine my genetics and then use that to decide where I should go on holiday to improve my health? What does my body type tell me my career should be? – so just the every day questions…

Needless to say, given two of the “Sciences” were Traditional Chinese Medicine (not a science) and Ayurvedic Medicine (sooo not a science), I recommended against getting involved with it. The response from the Personal Trainer was – “But it is what I want to do with my career!”. This really was a turning point for me, I realised that people were engaging “Professionals” who were acting in anything but a professional manner and the waves of sciency sounding misinformation were achieving only one thing – the removal of money from their (sometimes ill affording) bank accounts. It was time to put some good information out there to balance the scales. I then met a PhD Exercise physiologist (based in Australia) and one thing lead to another – after putting off starting this page, doing some collaborative work meant I needed to take the plunge – and here we are! Hopefully, at the very least, you get to hear a reasoned response/counter to some of the information out there. I intend to review the good information & articles as well as the bad, so please let me know if there is something that you would like me to turn the lens on and I will do my best. I won’t promise to say what you want to hear all of the time, but if I do the job right, you’ll understand more and be able to form your own reasoned opinion – so handy when discussing the misinformation so prevalent today. Wishing you all a well-educated/informed Health & Fitness experience.

16/11/2025

In case people think I am only hard on other professions, here’s a great reminder of the rubbish physios promote too.

See, we are all susceptible to our biases people!

11/11/2025

Great video.

This info is true for Physio manipulation too!

Don’t let em crack your neck!!

08/11/2025

Here is a great comment on manipulation as a treatment.

Great to see more practitioners fighting the good fight!

SPINAL MANIPULATION – WHAT’S REALLY HAPPENING

There’s this ridiculous idea floating around that a simple thrust can “realign” your bones. Let’s be clear — that’s not what’s happening. You cannot push vertebrae back into place with your hands. The spine isn’t dislocating and relocating every time someone cracks your back. If it were actually misaligned the way some claim, you’d be in hospital, not on a treatment table.

When a practitioner performs a spinal manipulation, the movement is extremely small — a few millimetres at most. The joint surfaces briefly separate, creating a rapid change in pressure within the synovial joint. That change causes gas (mostly CO₂ and nitrogen) to form and collapse inside the joint fluid — the audible “pop.” That’s all the noise is. It’s not bones moving back into place. It’s cavitation — a pressure change in the joint capsule.

Physiological Effects

Manipulation affects the body mainly through neurophysiological responses, not through physical repositioning of bones. The quick stretch activates mechanoreceptors within the joint capsule and surrounding tissues. These receptors send a flood of sensory input to the spinal cord and brain. This temporary barrage can reduce the sensitivity of nociceptive pathways (pain signalling) and alter muscle tone via reflex mechanisms. That’s why after a manipulation, patients often feel “looser,” “lighter,” or notice an improved range of motion — it’s not because their bones were realigned; it’s because their nervous system has momentarily adjusted how it’s interpreting movement and pain.

The effect can also increase local blood flow and help restore normal joint motion if it’s been restricted by protective muscle guarding. Again — that’s a functional change, not a structural one.

Why the Realignment Myth Persists

The “realignment” myth continues because it sounds dramatic and easy to sell. It gives people the impression something was out of place and the practitioner fixed it. It’s a neat story — but it’s nonsense. The vertebrae are held in place by strong ligaments, discs, and deep stabilising muscles. A single thrust cannot overcome that structure and magically shift things back.

30/10/2025

Totally!

17/10/2025

Incase you all need a timely reminder.

01/08/2025

Just a reminder, not all physios are as uneducated about spinal health and strength as this guy.

Cheers to The Sports Physio for shooting down the rubbish yet again!

31/07/2025

Every profession has its issues with quality in research. But even some of the poor research can have some level of value.

Check out this post - I might just try the high percentage 1RM, high volume training…. What do YOU think? 🤔

27/07/2025

The struggle is real!!

03/07/2025

Myotomes just being cultural like myotomes do!

25/06/2025

In case this needs to be reiterated - it’s not a good thing and here in NZ chiropractors and even personal trainers lay claim to this approach.

A 56-year-old university professor with psoriatic arthritis goes to see a doctor because his condition is worsening. Psoriatic arthritis is a disease where your immune system rebels against you, creating patches of abnormal skin and aching joints. Does the man leave the doctor’s office with a pres...

25/02/2025

A great example of an evidence based approach being used, within scope of practice, to help a needy population.

Great work team!

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The Story of Just A Physio

During my time as a Physiotherapy student, I worked as a Personal Trainer and Gym Instructor at a very large Auckland gym. Training for Athletics (Hammer & Discuss) under the guidance of one of New Zealand’s top coaches and qualifications in coaching had set me in good stead for training others – and I loved the effect that could be gained.

I started my clinical career as most Physiotherapists would, I qualified and realised that I really didn’t know as much as I thought that I did. This was brought home to me in my first 8 months of working in a rural South Island practice where we saw literally every kind of condition a Physiotherapist could be asked to treat. After this I moved to Auckland and took on a number of more senior roles in private practice there.

After a significant injury, I ended up off of work with a reconstructed thumb (a big deal for a manual therapist) and so focused more on Sports & Exercise Physiotherapy, working with rugby teams, basketball teams, individual athletes and patients with Chronic Pain disorders. It was during this time that I was approached to work for New Zealand’s national level funder of accident injury rehabilitation.

My time there was split between; considering if treatment requests were for appropriate treatment modalities given a specific patient’s needs and stage in rehab, providing comments on Medico-Legal issues, providing education to providers on how to deal with the funder, providing education to Medical and Clinical providers on causation and the role of trauma, being a representative on professional body panels and educating/training new clinical advisors in the role.

Throughout this time I saw a huge variance in what treatments were being provided, by allied health as well as medical and even surgical providers. Some of these were new and cutting edge, some were just complex ways of charging more money for less effective treatment. I also realised, while I have colleagues out there with significant post-grad qualifications, critical thinking was not always present in those clinicians. Sometimes, all a critical thinker would need to be was someone with the ability and background understanding – perhaps, Just A Physio would do?

When I left this role I returned to my home town in Rural Tasman Region at the top of the South Island (NZ) and wanted to provide some evidence based treatment in a region littered with alternative practitioners. Part of this included trying to collaborate with other exercise professionals in the area, which inevitably lead me to starting this journey.

After investing a huge amount of time (and money) into a registered Personal Trainer, I was approached and asked to look into a “Scientific” programme that answered all of the questions of exercise and health – you know, like; Why is this client not losing weight but my other similar one is? How can I do exercise based on my genetics to resolve my diabetes? How can I use measurements to determine my genetics and then use that to decide where I should go on holiday to improve my health? What does my body type tell me my career should be? – so just the every day questions…

Needless to say, given two of the “Sciences” were Traditional Chinese Medicine (not a science) and Ayurvedic Medicine (sooo not a science), I recommended against getting involved with it. The response from the Personal Trainer was – “But it is what I want to do with my career!”.

This really was a turning point for me, I realised that people were engaging “Professionals” who were acting in anything but a professional manner and the waves of sciency sounding misinformation were achieving only one thing – the removal of money from their (sometimes ill affording) bank accounts. It was time to put some good information out there to balance the scales. I then met a PhD Exercise physiologist (based in Australia) and one thing lead to another – after putting off starting this page, doing some collaborative work meant I needed to take the plunge – and here we are!

Hopefully, at the very least, you get to hear a reasoned response/counter to some of the information out there. I intend to review the good information & articles as well as the bad, so please let me know if there is something that you would like me to turn the lens on and I will do my best. I won’t promise to say what you want to hear all of the time, but if I do the job right, you’ll understand more and be able to form your own reasoned opinion – so handy when discussing the misinformation so prevalent today.

Wishing you all a well-educated/informed Health & Fitness experience.