Sports & performance
CrossFit Chiropractor in Perth's Northern Suburbs
Dr Corey Williams spent more than ten years in CrossFit, strength and conditioning before and alongside chiropractic. You will not need to explain what a kipping pull-up is, why you cannot just skip the open, or what happened in the third round.
Do I need to stop CrossFit if my back hurts?
Usually not. Most CrossFit-related back pain responds better to modified training than to complete rest — scaling the movements that provoke it while keeping the rest. Assessment at Northern Beaches Chiropractic in Currambine works out which is which, and what needs to change in your programming.
Where the load actually comes from
CrossFit stacks three quite different demands on top of each other. Olympic lifting asks for speed and position under a moving bar. Squatting and deadlifting ask for absolute load. Gymnastics asks the shoulders and trunk to control body weight, often at high rep counts and often when tired.
Individually those are all manageable. It is the combination — plus a metcon that rewards you for going faster as your positions get worse — that produces most of what walks through the door.
Kipping is the one that gets blamed most, and usually unfairly. Kipping is not inherently damaging; kipping at volumes your shoulder has not been prepared for is a different matter. The same is true of overhead work generally: the position is fine, the jump in exposure is what causes trouble.
Thoracic mobility is the quiet limiter behind a lot of it. If the upper back will not extend and rotate, the shoulders and lower back make up the difference — in overhead position, in the front rack, and in the catch.
Where people commonly feel it
These are the areas that come up most with CrossFit. Each links through to a fuller explanation of that presentation.
Shoulders
The most common one. Overhead volume, kipping and ring work, usually after a jump in exposure rather than a single bad rep.
Lower back
Deadlift and clean volume, or a position that degrades late in a metcon. Rarely as serious as it feels.
Hips
Squat depth, catch position and high-volume lunging. Often a rotation-range problem rather than a strength one.
Thoracic stiffness
Limits overhead and front rack positions, and quietly loads everything above and below it.
Knees
Squat and lunge volume, especially through a heavy cycle or after time away.
How we approach it
Assessment covers the movement, not just the sore part. If your shoulder hurts overhead, we look at what the thoracic spine and shoulder blade are contributing before deciding the shoulder is the problem.
We will also go through your training week honestly — volume, intensity, what changed, and what you are unwilling to give up. That last one matters. A plan built around what you will actually do beats a better plan you abandon.
Hands-on treatment and dry needling settle the irritable tissue. Loading rebuilds the capacity. Scaling keeps you in the gym while both happen.
Who you will see
Someone who has done the training, not just read about it
Dr Corey Williams spent more than ten years in CrossFit, strength and conditioning — coaching, programming and competing — before and alongside chiropractic. He holds a double bachelor qualification in chiropractic from Murdoch University and is advanced dry needling certified.
He has also spent time around AFL and elite sporting environments, where return to play is decided on criteria rather than optimism. That shapes how these plans are built.
It also means a conversation about CrossFit starts at what the activity actually demands, rather than at a diagram.
- Double bachelor, Murdoch University
- Advanced dry needling certified
- 10+ years strength & conditioning
- Experience in elite sporting environments
Getting back to full WODs
Scaling is a tool, not a demotion. Most people can keep training through a CrossFit injury with sensible substitutions — strict work in place of kipping, a different bar path, a reduced range, a lighter cycle.
The return runs on criteria rather than dates: restore range and settle irritability, rebuild strength in the position that failed, reintroduce speed and volume, then go back to the full movement.
If you have an Open or a competition in the diary, say so at the first appointment. It changes what we prioritise and what we are prepared to defer.
What care may involve
Getting to the clinic
The clinic is at 1244 Marmion Avenue in Currambine, opposite Milky Lane, a short drive from Currambine, Joondalup, Kinross and the surrounding northern suburbs.
Frequently asked questions
Is kipping bad for your shoulders?
Not inherently. Kipping is a skill with a real strength requirement behind it, and problems come from doing volume the shoulder has not been prepared for rather than from the movement itself. Building strict capacity underneath the kip is usually what changes the picture.
Why does my shoulder hurt during overhead lifting?
Common contributors are rotator cuff related irritation from a jump in overhead volume, limited thoracic extension forcing the shoulder to find range it does not have, and shoulder blade control that falls away when you fatigue. Assessment identifies which is in play, because they need different work.
Can I train around a CrossFit injury?
In most cases yes. Complete rest is rarely necessary and often slows things down. The usual approach is keeping what does not aggravate it, scaling what does, and reintroducing the rest in order.
Does Dr Corey do CrossFit himself?
He spent more than ten years in CrossFit, strength and conditioning, including coaching. Rehab here is written in the language and movements you already use, not adapted from a generic handout.
Last reviewed by Dr Corey Williams, Chiropractor. General information, not individual health advice.
Training through something?
Book an assessment at the Currambine clinic and get a plan that keeps you moving.