What Is Athletic Therapy?

Athletic therapy is a hands-on, exercise-based approach designed to help your body recover from injuries, prevent future problems, and improve overall movement and performance. At Dr. Notley’s clinic, care is tailored for everyone—whether you are an active adult, weekend warrior, or competitive athlete.

Through detailed assessments of muscles, joints, and movement patterns, Dr. Notley identifies areas of weakness, imbalance, or injury risk. Treatment may include targeted soft tissue techniques, corrective exercises, and functional training to address the root causes of pain and limited mobility. By combining hands-on care with guided exercises, athletic therapy helps you recover efficiently, safely, and with lasting results.

Athletic therapy often works alongside chiropractic care, creating a hybrid approach that maximizes recovery, restores movement, and supports long-term function. This combination is particularly effective for those who want to reduce pain, regain confidence in their body, and return to sports, exercise, or daily activities without limitations.

How Athletic Therapy Helps Pain and Injury

Pain and injury rarely come from a single factor. Symptoms often appear when strength, joint mobility, and tissue tolerance no longer match the demands placed on your body. This mismatch can cause discomfort, stiffness, reduced performance, or recurring injuries.

Restricted joint motion, reduced strength, poor movement control, and deconditioning are commonly observed in people with musculoskeletal pain. Current evidence shows that most pain conditions are influenced by a combination of physical capacity, movement patterns, tissue health, and nervous system sensitivity, rather than a single structural issue. Athletic therapy addresses these contributors by gradually restoring movement options and improving tolerance to activity.

Assessment is a key part of care. Dr. Notley evaluates how you move, how your joints and muscles respond to load, and how your symptoms behave during activity. This allows treatment to focus on restoring function, rather than chasing a specific diagnosis or imaging finding.

Interventions commonly include:

• Joint mobilizations to improve range of motion
• Soft tissue therapy to reduce sensitivity and improve tolerance to movement
• Progressive exercises to rebuild strength, endurance, and coordination

Athletic therapy is not about eliminating all discomfort. Instead, it improves how your body handles stress and movement over time. Research consistently shows that active rehabilitation strategies, including strength training, mobility work, and graded exposure to activity, are associated with improved pain outcomes, better function, and reduced recurrence for many musculoskeletal conditions.

By improving movement confidence and physical capacity, athletic therapy helps patients return to activity in a way that is sustainable. The focus is on long-term function, so improvements carry over into daily life, training, and work.

Techniques We Use

Athletic therapy combines hands-on treatment with active rehabilitation to help you move better, build strength, and restore confidence.

Soft tissue therapy is used to reduce muscle tension, improve tissue tolerance, and support recovery. Techniques target local movement, circulation, and comfort so that exercises and retraining can be performed more effectively.

Joint mobilizations are gentle, controlled movements applied to restricted joints. These improve usable range of motion without forcing change, reduce strain on surrounding tissues, and allow more efficient movement patterns.

Active rehabilitation is central to care. Therapeutic exercises are selected to address strength deficits, endurance, coordination, and movement control. Exercises are progressed over time and tailored to your sport, training demands, or daily activities.

Because Dr. Notley is both a chiropractor and athletic therapist, additional techniques may occasionally include chiropractic adjustments to improve joint motion or reduce limiting symptoms. These are always discussed in advance, used only when appropriate, incorporated into a comprehensive active rehabilitation plan, and performed with your consent.

Every technique is chosen based on how it supports your overall recovery, not because it fits a preset protocol. Care is collaborative, adaptable, and focused on helping you move with confidence again.

Expected Outcomes

Athletic therapy is designed to help you move with less pain, greater confidence, and improved function.

Early benefits often include:

• Reduced pain and discomfort with daily movement
• Improved joint motion and tissue tolerance
• Easier, more manageable activity participation

With continued care, outcomes shift to:

• Enhanced mobility, strength, and movement control
• Greater confidence returning to training, sports, or exercise
• Reduced recurrence of injury through improved load management

Longer-term goals focus on building resilience. Patients gain practical strategies, targeted exercises, and a clear understanding of how to manage their body under stress, ensuring progress is maintained independently.

Care is guided by your personal goals—whether that means returning to sport, training consistently, or moving through daily life without pain. Each plan is tailored to what matters most to you.