Most PTs Won’t Tell You This…
At Vital Movement, meaningful rehab is more than just a recovery plan; it's a performance-driven process designed for active people who want real results. Whether you're bouncing back from a sports injury, navigating chronic pain, or just want to train with more intention, having a physical therapist who gets it can make all the difference.
We sat down with Dan Manas, PT and founder of Vital Movement, to talk about his philosophy on meaningful rehab, why traditional physical therapy often misses the mark, and how his sports PT approach helps clients build strength, trust, and long-term confidence in their bodies.
Why did you start Vital Movement?
Honestly, because I got tired of watching people settle. Settle for rushed care – getting tossed on a bike to 'warm up' then forgotten about, or laying with a heating pad on so the PT could double up on patients. Settle for kind of shitty advice – like being told to get surgery prematurely or to stop running or lift heavy after a single MRI.
I hated watching people settle for just "getting through" pain and thinking they were good to go because pain went away after doing one or two sessions only to find themselves back in the rehab saddle a couple months later for the same issue. I wanted to help people actually understanding what’s going on and feel like they have someone in the trench navigating with them.
Vital Movement was started because I wanted to create a space where people could actually feel seen and heard in the rehab process—where progress wasn’t just measured by how quickly you could get out the door, but by how confident and capable you felt leaving it.
For active people, athletes, weekend warriors, or whoever – it's not about fixing you. It's about helping you realize you're not broken in the first place. I mean, if you've got an actual fracture or your ACL is completely toast, okay, something may need fixing. But then, once the healing happens, the mental side of getting back to full capacity is just as important as the physical rebuilding. That whole approach applies whether you're recovering from an actual sports injury or dealing with pain that nobody can seem to explain.
That definitely sounds different. Can you explain more about your approach?
A major difference-maker in my approach begins with digging into their story and then listening. Like, really listening. Not just, “Where does it hurt?” but, “What do you believe this pain means for you?” Because how someone perceives their injury means more than you might think—from how they move to how they recover.
A lot of traditional PT can feel like a checklist: do these three things, come back next week, and we’ll see where you’re at. I take a much more individualized, adaptive approach. Some days it’s heavy strength work. Other days it’s diving into what fear or belief might be holding someone back. It’s all fair game.
And no—this isn’t about finding perfect posture or avoiding “bad” movements. It’s about helping people actually understand their body again, trust it, and stop feeling like they need a new drill or treatment every time something feels off.
Because at the end of the day, the goal isn’t just seeing pain go from 7 to 0/10—it’s a meaningful experience. Something that actually sticks with people long after they leave. That’s the difference between surface-level rehab and something more like sports PT, where the outcome isn’t just pain relief, but performance and resilience.
So what makes rehab meaningful?
Rehab starts to feel meaningful when it shifts from “I just want this pain gone” to “I actually understand what this pain means and I can handle it.”
For some people, it’s the first time they’ve felt strong again. For others, it’s the first time someone’s helped them make sense of why their body feels the way it does. It’s no longer about chasing symptom relief—it’s about actually owning their process.
A lot of people come in expecting rehab to be this annoying chore they have to check off daily and report back on. But when you give someone the tools, the context, and a real say in the process, it flips.
They start to understand their system. They begin to recognize the difference between hurt and harm. When pain shows up, they don’t spiral—they pause, regulate, and (the real turning point is when) they’re willing to try the thing that hurt again. And they do that because they’ve built trust—in their body and in the process.
This is part of the reason I refer to the people I work with as clients—not patients.
It’s not just semantics. “Patient” often implies something is being done to you—like your job is to show up, follow instructions, and hope it works out. But that’s not how I operate.
Rehab isn’t passive. It’s something I do with you. Your voice carries weight in how we move forward. There’s collaboration, feedback, and ongoing decisions we make together. You’re not just getting treated—you’re being coached, guided, and challenged with intention.
When people feel like they’re part of the process—not just subject to it—that’s when things really start to change. That’s when rehab stops being a to-do list and starts becoming sports PT in the truest sense: a long-term investment in your body’s capacity, not just its pain.
Who tends to get the most out of working with you?
The people who get the most out of this work are the ones who are ready to get in the trenches a bit—not just physically, but mentally and emotionally too.
Getting in the trenches means you’re not just here for symptom relief. You’re willing to be honest about the frustration, the doubts, the fear of doing too much or not enough. You’re open to conversations about your sleep, your stress, your beliefs about pain—not just what your squat looks like. It’s not about being perfect; it’s about showing up and being in it—especially when things get uncomfortable.
You don’t need to be an athlete. You just need to care. Care about moving better, performing better, and actually understanding what your body is trying to say instead of shutting it down or outsourcing the responsibility to someone else.
The people who thrive here ask questions. They want to understand the why. They value being coached. They’re not looking for someone to fix them—they’re looking for a guide who can walk alongside them, challenge them, and help them make sense of it all.
If that’s you, we’ll get along just fine.
How does rehab change based on someone’s goals… like say your high school athlete vs a mom/dad that just wants to be able to play with their kids?
The core principles stay the same—load, progression, context—but the way we apply them shifts depending on what someone’s trying to get back to.
For athletes chasing performance, rehab needs to mimic the demands of their sport. We’re not just getting them out of pain—we’re rebuilding their capacity to handle volume, intensity, and unpredictability. That means programming that looks a lot like training: targeted strength work, speed, power, and a clear return-to-sport progression. For some of the more severe injuries like your ACL tears, Achilles ruptures and more significant muscle strains, getting them exposed to game speed is key to building confidence.
For the everyday active person, the goals might sound more like “I want to walk without pain,” or “I just want to feel like myself again.” But that doesn’t mean we water things down. We still use progressive training principles, often helping the person achieve higher levels of strength and activity than they had or thought they could achieve before.
Another factor that overlaps both of these populations is how we prioritize enjoyment. Because no matter the goal, rehab shouldn’t feel like a chore. When someone’s having fun, feeling strong, and seeing progress, they’re way more likely to stick with it—and that’s when real change happens.
You mentioned rehab not being a one-and-done thing. What’s wrong with that?
Look, I love a quick win as much as the next guy. One-and-done sessions and quick fixes can be helpful. And let’s be honest—they’re sexy. Usually it's a slick technique or a wild mobility drill that gets you a little short-term relief. But most of the people who get the most out of rehab? They’ve probably been down that road. They’ve done the Instagram or Youtube drills, seen a bunch of different providers, maybe even gotten some short-term relief—but they still feel stuck.
These are the people who are finally ready to look at pain as a process, not as a marker that they are broken. They’re open to the idea that pain might not mean damage—and that change takes time. They’re willing to give their body a real chance to adapt, not just chase symptom relief.
That’s where rehab gets real. Not just about cracking the code on pain, but giving someone tools and trust in their body they haven’t felt in years. That’s the kind of clarity and support that true sports PT offers—whether you’re recovering from a sports injury or trying to stay one step ahead of it.
Side note: Hero treatments can be a big trap for clinicians themselves. For all the times the sexy technique works, there’s going to be plenty of times that it doesn’t. This leaves the clinician chasing the next best thing or worse, questioning their expertise.
If someone’s been to PT before and didn’t get results, what do you think went wrong?
Too often, rehab gets reduced to a sheet of exercises that feel like they were pulled from a template. And worse, they’re usually movements that make people wonder why they’re so hard. Bird dogs, clamshells, banded side steps—it’s the “this shouldn’t be that hard, but somehow is” routine.
And just to be clear—if that was your plan in the past, it’s not your fault. That’s what a lot of people get handed. It’s what the system is set up to deliver.
But rehab shouldn’t feel like that. If that’s the entire plan, we’re missing the mark.
Those exercises aren’t bad—but they rarely drive the kind of change most people actually need. What moves the needle? Load. Intensity. Progression. The same principles that apply to real training also apply to rehab. Rehab is training in the presence of injury.
And this isn’t just about everyday aches and pains. I work with a lot of athletes—former college players, CrossFitters, weekend competitors—who’ve been told to scale everything way back until they’re pain-free. But if all we do is underdose them and wait for the pain to disappear, we’re not preparing them for anything close to the demands of their sport.
That’s where sports PT bridges the gap. We train for life and sport, not just for temporary relief.
We also have to zoom out. If I’m spending more time obsessing over whether someone’s pulling their belly button toward their spine or their knee doesn’t move even an inch inward during a step down, but that same person is sleeping poorly, getting <5,000 steps a day, and thinks strength training is their gateway to arthritis and beyond—and I don’t address any of that? That’s a big whiff.
I’m not here to micromanage movement to perfection. I’m here to help people get their life back. And for a lot of the people I work with, that life includes competition, performance, and pushing the limits of what their body can do. That means looking at the entire picture of health—strength, capacity, mindset, daily habits, stress/lifestyle—and creating a plan that rebuilds confidence, not fear.
When someone doesn’t get results from PT, it’s usually not because they’re broken—it’s because their rehab never actually addressed what they needed. It wasn’t built around them—their goals, their struggles, their sports injury, their life.
That’s where I come in. My job is to help them make sense of what’s going on, meet them where they are, and create a clear, safe entry point that gets them moving toward what matters most. Whether that’s lifting, running, or competing at a high level—without second-guessing every movement.
At the end of the day, Dan’s approach to sports PT is rooted in connection to your body, your goals and your story. It’s not about doing more reps or finding the perfect exercise. It’s about doing what matters most, in a way that actually sticks.
If you’ve dealt with a sports injury, felt frustrated with past PT experiences or want support that goes deeper than a printout of exercises, you’re not alone. Vital Movement is here to help you get back to moving well, training hard, and feeling stronger than ever — without having to settle.
Want to learn more or work with Dan? Click here.
