Katherine Schindler
APA Titled Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist
Katherine graduated from the University of Queensland in 2009 with a Master of Physiotherapy Studies and has since completed a Master of Sports and Exercise Physiotherapy at ACU in 2025.
That degree is what qualified her for the APA Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist title, awarded through the Australian College of Physiotherapists to physiotherapists who can demonstrate advanced competence in a defined field. It’s the same title required of physiotherapists working with Australian Olympic teams, and it sits one step below specialisation, which is the highest credential in Australian physiotherapy.
Her own background in sport
Katherine grew up in gymnastics and sport aerobics, and she has kept competing as an adult. She represented Australia at the 2017 World Championships in China as part of the Masters dragon boat team, and after moving into weightlifting and CrossFit she made the Masters quarterfinals at the 2023 CrossFit Open. She still trains and competes now.
It matters clinically more than it sounds. Knowing what a hard training block does to a body, and what it takes to keep showing up to one in your forties and fifties, changes the advice you give. Katherine has been through the same load management problems she treats.
Who she works with
Much of Katherine’s caseload is women in midlife and beyond who have lost strength and confidence through injury, illness or years away from exercise. Some have never lifted a weight and are nervous about starting. Some were strong once and have watched it go. The work is the same either way, which is finding out what the body will currently tolerate, loading it just above that, and moving the line week by week until they can do what they came in wanting to do.
She also treats tendon and overuse injuries, running problems, and athletes returning to sport after injury.
How she treats
Katherine uses hands-on treatment to settle symptoms and get a joint or a muscle moving again, but she doesn’t stop there, because pain relief without a change in capacity tends not to hold. Once things have calmed down the work moves into the clinic gym, where she can load a tendon properly, watch you squat or press or hinge, and progress you against something measurable rather than asking how it felt at home. The Pilates equipment and the free weights area both get used, depending on what the person needs and where they’re starting from.
Her strength and conditioning background shapes how she programs. Sets, reps and rest periods are chosen deliberately, and you’ll know why you’re doing what you’re doing.
Special interests
Tendinopathy and overuse injuries
Strength training for women over 40
Return to sport and return to training after injury
Persistent pain and building capacity in deconditioned patients
Weightlifting and CrossFit injuries
Load management for masters athletes
Bone density maintenence