From Pain Relief to Performance: Clinical Insights with Dr. Gabriel Williams
At Kingdom Strength, we believe great patient care is more than symptom relief. It’s about helping people move better, build capacity, and return to life with confidence and doing it with clarity, professionalism, and genuine care.
In this episode of the Kingdom Strength Podcast, Dr. Troy Briscoe sits down with Dr. Gabriel Williams, DC, CSCS, a chiropractor and longtime strength coach, to discuss real-world clinical decision-making, efficient assessment, and how to bridge the gap between the treatment room and the training floor.
Whether you’re a clinician, coach, or someone working through an injury, this conversation delivers practical takeaways you can apply immediately.
Meet Dr. Gabriel Williams: Clinician, Coach, and Man of Faith
Dr. Williams grew up in a Christian home, came to faith at a young age, and credits consistent time in the Word as foundational to his life and calling. Academically, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science from Liberty University, obtained his CSCS, and later completed his Doctorate of Chiropractic along with a Master’s in Human Strength & Performance from Parker University.
Before entering practice, Gabriel spent meaningful time in an integrated sports clinic setting—an experience that helped shape how he thinks about clinical care: not as a “single modality” profession, but as a process that blends assessment, education, hands-on treatment, and progressive loading. Dr. Williams is currently practicing at Carolina Sports Clinic.
The Reality of Practice: Time, Clarity, and Communication
One of the most valuable parts of this conversation was an honest look at the transition from school to real-world practice.
In Dr. Williams’ current setting:
New patient exams: ~40 minutes
Follow-up visits: ~20 minutes
That may sound like plenty of time—until you’re managing multiple complaints, educating the patient, delivering care, and building a home plan that actually gets done.
His biggest early lessons:
Time management matters.
Communication matters even more.
You must decide what will create the highest impact in the limited time you have.
A key theme emerges: patients don’t just need treatment—they need understanding. Clear explanations, shared goals, and simple action steps increase buy-in and long-term outcomes.
A Practical Clinical Approach: Systems, Screening, and Strategy
Rather than relying on one technique for every case, Dr. Williams uses a blended approach built around:
Thorough history and red flag screening
Orthopedic and neurologic exam components
Global movement assessment (influenced by SFMA principles)
Treatment systems chosen based on the individual presentation
From there, he commonly draws from:
McKenzie Mechanical Diagnosis & Therapy (MDT) principles
DNS-informed stability strategies
Dry needling (with and without e-stim) depending on the goal
The emphasis isn’t “more tools = better care.”
It’s: select the right tool, at the right time, for the right person.
McKenzie in the Real World: A Case Example Clinicians Will Recognize
A major clinical segment of the episode focused on how McKenzie principles can be used effectively—not as a buzzword, but as a structured process.
Dr. Williams describes a classic case:
Low back pain “band-like” across the back
Worse with slumped sitting and forward bending
Minimal to no distal symptoms
Immediate improvement with repeated extension
Through a sequence of progressions:
Standing extension
Sustained extension
Prone press-ups
Clinician overpressure
He observes a hallmark McKenzie finding: centralization—pain moving from the left side toward the midline of the spine, alongside improved flexion tolerance.
Why does this matter? Because centralization is often associated with better prognosis and helps guide both home programming and next steps.
What is a “derangement” in McKenzie terms?
Dr. Williams explains that McKenzie uses classifications (often involving suspected disc-related mechanics), but clinically the priority isn’t obsessing over the exact tissue structure—it’s identifying what changes symptoms and improves function.
In other words: the model is heavily outcomes-driven.
Find the movement direction that helps
Reduce symptoms
Restore motion
Progress toward function and resilience
After Pain Relief: What Comes Next?
A key clinical point: desensitizing pain is only phase one.
The next step is restoring function and building capacity so the issue doesn’t keep returning.
After directional preference reduces symptoms, Dr. Williams shifts focus to:
Biomechanics (especially hip hinge patterns)
Trunk, hip, and pelvic stability
Glute function and posterior chain contribution
Gradual reintroduction of the previously aggravating movement (often flexion)
This is where treatment becomes training-informed. Instead of avoiding a movement forever, the goal is to:
Reintroduce it intelligently
Build tolerance progressively
Restore confidence through exposure and strength
This approach reduces fear and supports durable recovery.
Fear Avoidance Is Real—And It Changes Outcomes
Dr. Williams and Dr. Briscoe discuss a common clinical reality: even when pain is gone, patients may still move like they’re injured.
Fear avoidance can show up after:
Back pain episodes
Repeated ankle sprains
Traumatic injury events
Chronic pain histories
One strategy Dr. Williams uses, especially in return-to-sport transitions, is shifting attention away from the “injured” tissue through reactive drills.
Example: an athlete performing depth drops while responding to verbal cues (“left,” “right,” “stick,” “forward”). This creates:
Faster motor decisions
Less overthinking
More authentic movement exposure
Confidence under real-world demands
This matters because resilience is not only tissue capacity—it’s trust in the capacity.
Bridging the Gap: The Treatment Room to the Training Floor
Dr. Williams strongly recommends that future clinicians gain experience in personal training or strength coaching. Why?
Because it builds skills that translate directly into better care:
One-on-one coaching and rapport
Reading movement patterns quickly
Cueing and progression strategies
Understanding training stress and load thresholds
Communicating in practical terms patients understand
Today, he works with clients primarily in the rehab-to-performance transition—helping individuals move from “not hurting” to “fully capable.”
Home Programs and Buy-In: Making It a Team Effort
One of the most important clinical takeaways is how Dr. Williams frames care from the very beginning:
“This is a team effort.”
He tells patients:
He can calm symptoms down in the clinic
But long-term adaptation requires home work
The plan must be followed consistently to build tissue capacity
Practically, that looks like:
Teaching a small set of exercises in session
Sending clear sets/reps
Asking at every follow-up: “How are the exercises going—better, same, or worse?”
Adjusting based on response (progress/regress/pivot)
And when patients aren’t doing the work, he offers clear pathways:
More supervised sessions
Referral to a trusted coach
Collaboration with trainers when they already have one
The goal is sustainable improvement, not repeated flare-up cycles.
A Higher View of Care: Whole-Person Healing
Dr. Williams closes the conversation with a meaningful reminder: patients are not just bodies—they are people.
He expands the classic biopsychosocial model to include the spiritual dimension, emphasizing:
Listening deeply
Not rushing conversations
Building trust
Praying with patients when appropriate
Remembering that true healing is not ultimately in the clinician’s hands
Regardless of a patient’s background, being present, compassionate, and attentive can be a form of care that is rare in modern healthcare—and often deeply impactful.
Key Takeaways
If you only take a few points from this episode, let them be these:
Pain relief is the start—not the finish.
McKenzie principles can provide fast clarity when applied correctly.
Function and load tolerance must be rebuilt to prevent recurrence.
Fear avoidance is a real limiting factor—even after tissues are “healed.”
Strong coaching skills create better clinicians.
Care works best when the patient has a team behind them.
