Personal Training and Physical Therapy: A Team on Your Side
Partners In Health
Personal Training and Physical Therapy: A Team on Your Side
How personal training and physical therapy work together to help you keep doing what you love.
We live in an Amazon world. We're used to getting what we want with a few clicks and having it show up at our door. Dr. Michael Murphy of Divergent Rehab and Wellness sees that mindset carry over when people are hurting: "Why can't my pain be the same way?" It's a fair question, and it's where personal training and physical therapy start to make sense together.
Why can't we go somewhere, get it fixed, and move on? Sometimes a little more is involved: finding what's behind the pain, then building strength so you can get back to what you love.
Watch the full discussion between Mark and Dr. Murphy on the Body Outfitters Youtube page.
The short answer to personal training vs physical therapy is that they're different jobs with one shared goal. A physical therapist looks for the source of what's limiting you, and a personal trainer builds the strength, control, and confidence that come next. Together they make a great team.
We recently sat down with Dr. Murphy (PT, DPT, OCS, CIDN) and Mark Moreland, owner of Body Outfitters, who has more than 25 years of personal training experience, to talk about how the two fit together.
Personal Training and Physical Therapy: Two Different Jobs, One Shared Goal
The clearest way to see the difference is to look at where each job stops. Mark's name for Dr. Murphy and his team is "source finders," and he's clear about where a trainer's lane ends: even if a trainer can spot where a problem starts, that doesn't mean the trainer knows how to solve the pain.
Dr. Murphy draws the same line from his side. He tells people he's their movement expert, not their personal trainer.
Our trainers don't diagnose or treat injuries, which is why we value a partner who does that work every day. When something falls outside our lane, we say so and recommend someone who can help.
What Happens When Pain Gets in the Way of Your Training
Most people who train long enough run into something, like a hip that won't loosen up or a shoulder that complains overhead. Here's how we approach it at Body Outfitters.
We slow down. We train using Position, Control, and Load. Can you get into a good position for the movement? Can you control it? Only then do we add load, and once we do, your trainer watches whether position or control starts to break down. If a pattern shows up that we can't explain, like hips that shift to one side every time you squat, we don't keep loading it, even when nothing hurts, because that only reinforces it, which can result in injury
We point you to the source finders. If range of motion, discomfort, or pain are limiting your progress, your trainer may suggest talking with Dr. Murphy or his team, because bringing in someone who can zoom in early saves a lot of time. Dr. Murphy and his staff often come to our studio to do free screenings, a chance to get an early look at what the first step could be. We recommend Divergent because we trust their work. But whoever you choose as a physical therapist, we can partner with them for your care.
Your team stays in touch. You can choose to remove yourself
as the middleman by signing an authorization form that will allow the Divergent staff to communicate directly with your trainer. Avoiding the breakdown of the telephone game, allows your caregivers to develop the most specific and successful plan for you: here's what we'll do and how, here's what we need to hold off on. Mark loves it when his client walk-in and say "Did you talk to Dr. Murphy?"
Personal Training After Physical Therapy: The Next Chapter
When the clinic work wraps up, the partnership matters even more, because physical therapy isn't always the finish line. Dr. Murphy's goal isn't only results in the clinic. It's a smooth transition into personal training, and getting people living well, not just feeling well. Feeling well means the pain has quieted down. Living well means you're back on the trail, the course, or the court.
Strength training after physical therapy builds on the
work you've already done, with a plan designed around your history and your goals, whether you're looking at personal training after an injury or picking your routine back up after time away. In Dr. Murphy's words, the point is getting back to the things you thought you couldn't do, or finally doing the things you've always thought about doing.
Training for the Life You Want
Which raises a better question than how much you can lift: what do you want your body to be able to do?
Dr. Murphy puts it this way: the point of working out isn't to do more than you did last time. It's to train yourself to live the life you want.
His own goal is being active with his kids, and he wants to be able to say:
"I don't want to," but never "I can't."
Mark has a version of this at home. Every Christmas, one of his six kids gets lifted up to put the star on the tree, and they take turns in order. Last year it was his 19-year-old daughter's turn, and the story goes that she was not a fan. Lifting a nearly grown kid takes real control, and the tradition only works if Mark can keep doing it. He says he can still do it, but he admits his 4-year-old is a little easier.
Whatever your version is, we build the plan backward from there. Sometimes the next step is physical therapy. Sometimes it's training. Sometimes it's another kind of care. What matters is that everyone is working toward the same thing: you, moving well for a long time.
Frequently Asked Questions about Personal Training alongside Physical Therapy
Start With a Consultation Workout
Not sure where personal training and physical therapy fit into your plan? Start here. In your consultation workout, one of our trainers will get to know your history and goals, walk you through a movement assessment, and show you what a plan could look like. If you're working with Divergent, your trainer and Dr. Murphy stay in touch.
Body Outfitters is a private personal training studio in Carmel, Zionsville, and Keystone at the Crossing, working with active adults who want to keep doing what they love.
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Written by a Body Outfitters Trainer · October 2026 · 10 min read