You Don’t Need Therapy
You don’t need therapy—you need to put in the work and figure out what’s actually causing your problem. The best therapist in the world isn’t going to manipulate, massage, or realign you enough to fix it for good. If you really want to get rid of your pain, you’ll need to make some changes. That could mean strength training, active relaxation, or restructuring parts of your life. But the key is: you have to take responsibility for your body.
My Story
I grew up playing all kinds of sports—martial arts, swimming, soccer, BMX, snowboarding, you name it. At 16, I picked up ice hockey and became a goaltender. Even though I started late, my diverse athletic background gave me a solid foundation. I was obsessed—training up to three times a day and eight times a week.
About a year in, I hurt my back for the first time. It felt like my back just locked up. I could still play, but it affected my performance. Luckily, my dad was seeing one of the best physios in the country—he worked with the national ballet and Olympic rowing team. I got an appointment, and he told me my spine was “misaligned.” He did a few manipulations, and suddenly I could move pain-free. I thought I was cured.
But the pain kept coming back. Throughout my 16-year hockey career, I dealt with recurring back pain. Some injuries were from hard hits, but others just showed up out of nowhere.
In 2011, at 23 years old, I’d had enough. I enrolled in physical therapy school at HVA (Hogeschool van Amsterdam). When I told my physio, he offered to take me on for my final internship. Working with him shaped my career—he taught me how to pattern movement and use a system that could quickly relieve pain in the back, knees, elbows, and shoulders.
But over time, I noticed a pattern. I kept seeing the same people with the same issues over and over. We were helping them temporarily, but not fixing the problem. The same thing was happening to me. I was getting stronger and better on the ice, but my back still hurt.
The Shift
In 2017, I decided to change how I trained. I stopped doing small corrective exercises and “core activation” drills. Instead, I focused on lifting heavy—squats, deadlifts, bench presses, and other compound lifts. Under heavy weight, I could feel where the tension was and, strangely enough, relax the tightest part of my body.
At the same time, I started practicing mindfulness and breathing exercises. I remembered some techniques from a course I took in my early 20s and started doing them consistently—just 5 to 10 minutes a day. Learning how to relax separately from training helped me stay more relaxed during intense sessions.
Then, during my Master’s in Manual Therapy, I had a massive realization: there’s no evidence that a spine can be misaligned and realigned by someone else. Yes, some people have conditions like scoliosis, but for most of us, the idea of “misalignment” is nonsense. Pain isn’t a sign of damage—it’s a warning signal from your body. That realization changed everything about how I approached therapy.
The Solution
The real solution isn’t in passive therapy—it’s in learning how to move, getting stronger, and knowing how to relax. Strength training teaches your body how to handle stress. Relaxation teaches your body how to recover from it.
You don’t need to train five days a week to get results. One or two smart sessions per week, focused on compound lifts and proper form, is enough to make a massive difference. If you’re not balancing strength with recovery, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Conclusion
Learning to understand your body—to know when you’re tense and when you’re relaxed—is a skill. Strength training builds resilience, and relaxation lets you recover. Most people don’t need ongoing therapy—they need to put in the work. You don’t have to be a pro athlete to figure this out. Start small, stay consistent, and stop looking for quick fixes.
