Michelle Kao

 **Background** Michelle is a registered kinesiologist in Burnaby with education and experiences working in the field of sports, ergonomics and with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) children. Michelle has worked with individuals of all ages and all fitness levels. Being a national athlete, Michelle has an extensive background in the field of sports. She has worked as a sports coach for over 8 years. Michelle has designed strength and conditioning programs for the national netball team and been an athletic trainer and physiotherapist assistant for NCAA athletes. **Professional Training and experience** Throughout completing her degree in kinesiology at SFU, Michelle has coached sports to children in elementary and high schools. She progressed to training children with ASD and worked as an ergonomist specialist. Upon completion of her degree, Michelle has attended courses and training to improve her skills and understanding of the body. Her fascination with working with the human body came through interactions with her sport team’s physiotherapist. Noticing that it aligned with her goals of helping those around her while pertaining to her passion in the field of sports, meshed with her desire to help her grandfather who had stroke, compelled her to undertake the study of kinesiology in hopes to help individuals regain and strengthen their movements and to cherish their own body. **Treatment Approach** Working with different conditions, Michelle likes to look at the body as a whole. A framework comprising various systems that are all interconnected. Her technique encompasses analyzing posture, gait and functional movements of the body to identify any imbalances that may be causing some dysfunctions and pain. Instead of treating the pain or condition, Michelle likes to work with her clients to identify and treat the root cause of the condition. She teaches her clients how to take an active role in their health and healing, to learn from and to care for their body. Her approach to treatments is a combination of active rehabilitation, patient education and health coaching. As a kinesiologist that believes in holistic health, Michelle is looking forward to collaborating with other practitioners to deliver the best care for her clients. **Sports** Michelle enjoys spending time learning about new sports and creating programs designed to keep athletes off the bench, away from injury and enhancing their performance on court. Michelle utilizes her knowledge in anatomy, physiology, and movement assessments along with her personal experiences in getting athletes to improve their functional capabilities. **Personal** Outside of the clinic, you can find her spending her free time volunteering at the Red Cross or at a neighbourhood house. However, if there’s anything you can find Michelle doing that occupies her weeks, eight out of ten times, you’d find her days filled with various sports. Some of the activities that you can find her participating in are netball, volleyball, ultimate frisbee, spike ball, tennis, dance lift, and perhaps some acroyoga. Being quite the active individual, there’s also a creative side to her where she enjoys spending time creating art. Whether that be drawing and turning them into stickers and/or cards, she one day hopes to expand it into a small side hustle [For More Info On Michelle, Burnaby Kinesiologist](https://www.cedarhealth.ca/team/michelle-kao/)