Healing Through Movement, Curiosity, and Hard Truths with Mike stella
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Pain isn’t the enemy — it’s information.
Instead of treating pain as a stop sign, learn to read it as feedback so you can address the real issue and move better, longer, and stronger.Movement is medicine — not punishment.
Rest has its place, but most people need smart, progressive movement to truly heal, build resilience, and prevent future injury.Healing is more than tissue — it’s mindset.
Recovering from pain isn’t just physical; it requires emotional awareness, stress management, belief in your body, and a willingness to do the work even when it’s uncomfortable.
Catch the full episode of the Choose Hard Podcast with Mike Stella here:
There are guests who come on the show and instantly blend in — then there are guests like Mike Stella, who walk into a room full of New Yorkers, crack a Bigfoot joke, give your bulldog a compliment, and immediately feel like someone you’ve known for years.
Mike is one of those rare people who somehow balances deep technical knowledge, real-world experience, emotional intelligence, genuine empathy, and zero-ego humility — all while carrying the energy of someone who’s both seen some sh*t and is still hungry to keep learning more.
And that’s exactly why I wanted him on the Choose Hard Podcast.
He’s a practitioner who cares, not just clinically — but personally. He feels it when someone’s hurting. He doesn’t just treat your shoulder or your ankle… he listens to your life. He sees the person, not the pathology. And in a world obsessed with quick fixes, scans, machines, and trendy recovery tools — Mike stays rooted in something much more powerful:
Movement is medicine. Pain is information. Your body isn’t broken — it’s trying to talk to you.
This episode is a deep dive into what it really means to be resilient, to move well, to heal, and to take ownership of your health in a world that loves shortcuts and rest prescriptions.
Who Is Mike Stella?
Mike's background mirrors what a lot of the best coaches and clinicians have in common — he lived the athletic life, then transitioned into helping athletes perform and recover, and eventually evolved into educator, therapist, and movement specialist.
He’s worked with athletes across levels, dealt with his own injuries and performance battles, and like so many of us who dedicate our careers to coaching, he found meaning through adversity.
His approach isn’t “traditional PT,” or just strength coaching, or just manual therapy — it’s holistic, integrated, and human-driven. He’s constantly asking deeper questions:
Why is this happening?
What’s influencing this compensation?
How is stress showing up physically?
What beliefs are holding this person back from healing?
Mike’s not looking for what hurts.
He’s looking for why it hurts.
And that’s what makes him different.
From Athlete to Therapist — And Why the Evolution Mattered
Something we dug into that resonated hard: Mike didn’t start out trying to be a therapist. He became one because the path revealed itself through experience, not ego.
He was an athlete first.
Then a coach.
Then a therapist.
Each phase forced him to level up, look at movement differently, and understand the human body from multiple angles.
That evolution matters because the best coaches and clinicians don’t box themselves in. They aren’t loyal to a modality — they’re loyal to results. And results require openness, humility, and a willingness to constantly evolve.
If your ONLY tool is manual therapy, everyone becomes a soft-tissue problem.
If your ONLY strategy is strength, everyone becomes weak.
Mike isn’t married to a method.
He’s committed to what works.
Pain Isn't the Enemy — It’s a Messenger
One of the most powerful messages Mike shared was his perspective on pain.
Most people experience pain and think:
“Something’s wrong. I need to stop.”
Mike’s approach?
Pain isn’t the enemy — it’s information.
Pain is feedback. It’s your body raising its hand saying:
“Hey, we need attention over here.”
“Something’s overloaded.”
“We need a new strategy.”
Pain doesn’t always mean injury.
And no pain doesn’t always mean you’re healed.
This mindset shift matters because if you treat every sensation as danger, you get stuck in fear. And fear is paralyzing. It keeps people weak, immobile, dependent on passive treatments, and afraid of movement.
The truth?
Rest doesn't fix movement problems. Movement fixes movement problems.
The key is distinguishing between the pain that signals adaptation or tightness and the pain that signals injury.
That’s where guidance, awareness, and a smart, progressive plan come in.
The Rest vs. Movement Debate: When Do You Need Which?
We asked a question almost everyone has had at some point:
“When should I rest, and when should I move?”
Mike’s answer was simple and backed by real experience:
If there's structural damage, inflammation, or acute trauma?
— Rest is appropriate short-term.But if it’s movement dysfunction, compensation, weakness, stiffness, or fear-avoidance?
— Movement is the medicine every time.
This matters because too many people (and too many practitioners) default to:
Stop training
Ice everything
Avoid load
Rest "until it feels better"
And that’s often a road to nowhere.
Yes, icing can blunt pain — but it also limits inflammation… which is part of the healing process.
Yes, rest may reduce discomfort — but it can also decondition tissue, weaken neuromuscular pathways, and reinforce avoidance.
Therapy isn't just relief.
It’s re-education.
It’s nervous system training.
It’s correction, not comfort.
Treat the Human, Not the Joint
One of the reasons I’ve always respected Mike’s approach is that he doesn’t isolate the problem.
If your ankle hurts?
He’s looking at your hips, your core, your gait, your sleep, your stress, your training volume, your habits.
Why?
Because pain lives in systems, not joints.
Most people think:
“My knee hurts, so it must be my knee.”
Often?
It’s how your hips load.
It’s how your core stabilizes.
It’s how you move under fatigue.
It’s stress that changed your breathing and posture.
It’s fear of movement causing guarding.
The body isn't a collection of parts — it’s a network.
Mike sees the whole map.
And that’s a lesson we can all use — not just in movement, but in life:
Look at the full picture. The surface is never the whole story.
The Emotional Side of Pain, Setbacks, and Healing
We also touched on something most therapists avoid talking about:
The emotional weight of pain.
Pain isn’t just physical sensation — it's frustration, identity crisis, fear of regression, loss of control, panic about “what if this never goes away.”
Mike acknowledges that because he’s lived it. He’s seen how people break mentally when their body betrays them.
And that’s where empathy matters.
Science helps someone rehab.
Human connection helps them rebuild.
Mike brings both.
Why This Episode Matters
So why should you care about this conversation?
Because this episode isn’t just about rehab — it’s about ownership.
It's about understanding your body instead of fearing it.
It's about learning how pain works so you can move through it — not hide from it.
It's about choosing the hard path — the patient, disciplined path of rebuilding and reclaiming strength — instead of chasing shortcuts.
Mike embodies the principle:
Do the work, don’t fear the signal, and don’t quit when it gets uncomfortable.
Isn't that the same mindset required to grow in anything?
Fitness.
Business.
Relationships.
Life.
Pain shows up.
Hard moments find you.
Avoidance never works. Movement — action — always wins.
Final Thoughts: Choose Hard, Choose Healing, Choose Ownership
This episode was a reminder that healing — real healing — is a skill, a mindset, and a commitment.
Mike Stella doesn’t just rehab bodies — he empowers people. He gives them tools, knowledge, confidence, and a reminder that the body is resilient, adaptable, and capable of healing when we give it the right inputs.
He’s the type of practitioner who doesn’t sell comfort.
He coaches capability.
He coaches agency.
He coaches belief.
And that’s what Choose Hard is all about.
Stop waiting for someone to fix you.
Stop outsourcing your resilience.
Listen to your body — then MOVE with intention, with humility, with patience, and with grit.
And as always —
Follow Choose Hard on Instagram @choosehardpodcast
Grab Choose Hard merch at www.choose-hard.com
Because healing, strength, discipline, and resilience aren’t given to you — you build them. One rep, one choice, one hard thing at a time.