Neil G King, MPT

Neil King’s reward for helping others through physical therapy is the “feedback” he receives from his satisfied clients.

But had it not been for a chance “rolfing” session back in WHAT YEAR???, the former nationally-ranked cyclist may never have had the opportunity to realize his life’s calling.

At just 21 years old, Neil began bike racing and proved himself as a force to be reckoned with right from the start. That first year, he won all three of the Michigan state championships he participated in, along with the 1,000 meter match sprint and the 10-mile open race he took part in.

Just one year later, in 1967, Neil won two out of the three races before enlisting to serve his country in the Army, where he continued to nurture his passion for cycling as part of the Army team. Six months and one spot short of making the Olympic team later, Neil was ordered to serve in Viet Nam from 1968-1969.

Upon returning to Michigan, Neil completed his BA in Social Science at Michigan State University.

Fast forward to 1973, and Neil could be found still very involved in bicycling, both as a coach of The Oakland Velo Team, and as a racer. He was also busy managing his own bike shop in Rochester, MI.

“Through training in the Velo club, I probably coached 50 people to state championships, 12-15 to national championships, and I coached one world champion,” Neil proudly says. 

Rolfing - Improving Overall Body Balance
But as busy as this nationally-ranked rider was, Neil took a friend’s suggestion to try a “rolfing” session in order to improve on his performance.  At that level, Neil says, a few percentage points can make all the difference in the outcome of a race.

“The goal of the rolfing is to get overall body balance,” he says. “It is kind of like the spokes on a wheel. You are tightening and loosening the spokes to get the wheel aligned. It’s a balance problem. And the rolfing was designed to get overall body balance.”

Neil was so impressed with his experience that he decided to become a rolfer himself and obtained his certification in 1984, followed in 1987 by his advanced certification. He was soon rolfing clients in an office above his bike shop.

“I won the state championships 13 times. And I was second in the national championships twice. Two times I came in third,” Neil says. “So the rolfing really boosted my performance on the bike in that sense.”

It wasn’t long before Neil decided to expand his bike-shop rolfing practice to a more formal setting. But in order to do that, he knew he needed to go back to school. By 1995, Neil had not only completed his basic physical therapy requirements, but had also obtained his Master’s Degree.  At just 50-years-young, Neil was again a college grad.

From there, Neil worked for three years at Providence Hospital before starting his own practice in 1998. Neil King Physical Therapy moved to its current location in 2005. 

Now 63, Neil is the proud father of 28-year-old Kendra and 12-year-old Hannah. His two cats, 17-year-old Tasha and one-year-old Baby, keep him company on the home front, and woodworking, bicycling, and water sports keep him busy when he isn’t hard at work helping his patients.

Rewarding Endeavor
His most rewarding moments come, he says, when working on patients who have tried to seek relief elsewhere. At Neil King Physical Therapy, his patients are made to feel welcome by the friendly front-office staff before finding relief through the skilled physical therapists.

“They are still in a lot of pain and through the combined efforts of all of our therapists, we are able to not only alleviate the pain, but also figure out the root cause,” he says. “It is extremely rewarding. I cannot tell you how many letters we have gotten from our patients telling us that they have their lives back again. It is really a neat feeling.”