Meet Dr. Mikayla Jansen, DPT: Physical Therapist for Mountain Bikers

Physical Therapy and Strength Coaching for Mountain Bikers, From a PT Who Rides.

Hi, I’m Mikayla. I’m a Doctor of Physical Therapy trained at the University of Colorado, a former collegiate runner, and a mountain biker based in Bellingham, WA. I help riders get out of pain, get stronger than before, and leave with a plan to stay that way, with in-home sessions in Bellingham and virtual rehab coaching in most US states.

Why I Do This: The Whole Rider, Not One Body Part

Maybe you’ve been to PT before. You got a printout of clamshells and bridges, a few sessions working on the one spot that hurt, and a discharge once the pain calmed down. Nobody asked about your riding. Nobody understood what a long climb or a rough descent actually asks of your body. A few weeks later, the pain was back, because your body was never prepped for riding.

I hear that story all the time, and it’s the reason I built Achieve Your Peak Physio.

Pain usually shows up in one spot, but the cause is almost always somewhere else in the chain. A weak hip loads your back. A stiff upper back overworks your shoulders. An unstable ankle throws off your knee. Treat only the sore spot and the problem comes back.

Your body doesn’t work one part at a time on the trail, so your rehab shouldn’t either. I look at how your whole body works together on the bike, from your hips and core to your upper back and shoulders, then build up the weak links. The goal isn’t to get you back to where you were. It’s to get you riding stronger than before, with a plan you can carry forward on your own.

From Endurance Runner to Mountain Biker

I started as an endurance athlete. As a collegiate runner, I learned what it takes to train for the long haul, and what happens when your body can’t keep up with the miles.

Mountain biking hooked me in a different way. It demands a blend of strength, stability, and endurance that no other sport quite matches. You need power for the climbs, stability through rough terrain, and enough endurance to stay strong at the end of a big day. Training for that blend is what I love, and it’s exactly what I build into every rider’s plan.

I’ve also been on the injured side. Multiple shoulder surgeries, a hip labral tear, a meniscus tear, and a tibial stress fracture taught me how much one weak link can throw off everything else, and how much it matters to work with someone who actually gets it.

What I Help Riders With

I work with the whole rider, not one body part. Pain usually shows up in one spot, but the cause is almost always somewhere else in the chain: a weak hip loading your back, a stiff upper back overworking your shoulders, an unstable ankle throwing off your knee. So I look at how everything works together and build up the weak links.

Riders come to me for:

Low back and SI joint pain
Shoulder, upper back, and neck pain
Hip and knee pain
Ankle strength and stability
Recovering from crashes and returning to riding after injury
Getting stronger and more durable, even with no pain at all

How We Can Work Together

Rehab Coaching (In-home in Bellingham or Virtual)

For riders in pain, working through an injury, or whose body just isn’t moving right. We’ll find what’s actually driving it, build a full-body plan around your goals, and I’ll coach you through it directly, with messaging between sessions and video form feedback. You’ll finish with a strength plan to carry forward.

Rehab Coaching

App Strength Training

DPT-designed strength and injury prevention programs, organized by body area so you can go straight to what you need. Choose Self-Guided, or Coached, where I check your form and adjust your training along the way. It’s built for riders who want to get stronger overall, prevent injuries, or keep an old one from coming back, for less than most gym memberships.

Try the App Free

My goal isn’t to get you back to baseline and call it done. It’s to build you a body that’s stronger and more durable than before, and to give you the plan to keep it that way.