Robin Thorpe - From Isolation to Integration: Unifying Rehab
Nov 17, 2025
Episode 206: In this episode, Andy McDonald is joined by Dr. Robin Thorpe, one of the most influential performance scientists of the modern era.
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Robin spent a decade at Manchester United (2009–2019) as a Senior Performance Scientist and Conditioning Coach, working across multiple managerial eras — from Sir Alex Ferguson through to Ole Gunnar Solskjær. As Head of Recovery & Regeneration, he supported the First Team through 10 national and international titles, developing systems to maximise player availability, manage fatigue, and reduce injury and illness risk.
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Alongside his applied PhD with Liverpool John Moores University, Robin has worked with elite athletes across football, golf, boxing, track & field, and national teams — including the Mexican National Team for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. His career spans leadership roles in the EPL, NBA, MLB, MLS, PGA Tour, and most recently as Director of Performance at Red Bull, supporting global high-performance environments.
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In this conversation, Robin shares how he translates first-principles thinking into real-world decision making, how teams can collaborate more effectively, and why strategic performance leadership is the future of high-performance sport.
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Topics Discussed:
- Interdisciplinary team dynamics
- Converting first principles into practical application
- Specialist vs. generalist roles in elite sport
- Decision-making frameworks for practitioners
- Monitoring & measuring rehab outcomes
- Outcome-based, process-guided, & adaptation-focused rehab
Key Points:
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Specialist Proliferation and Integration:
Modern professional sport faces significant integration challenges due to the increasing number and specialization of backroom staff, resulting in the risk of fragmented athlete management as each expert brings separate training and biases. A pragmatic solution is to intentionally structure teams so that each member’s role is defined by collective outcomes rather than fixed job titles, and to build multidisciplinary groups that focus on shared, explicitly stated goals rather than discipline-centered routines. By making “outcomes before job titles” the philosophy, departments can ensure integrated management that truly centers on the athlete. -
Structured Team Communication:
Achieving true rehab integration requires an active and systematic communication strategy, not just one-off collaboration or vague intent. Robin recommends implementing scheduled, recurring meetings for both the full team and smaller sub-groups that are solely dedicated to discussing athlete progression, outcome success, and rehabilitation handovers. These meetings should focus specifically on reviewing current athlete needs, clarifying primary outcome priorities, and deciding who is best placed to lead or support at each rehab phase, reinforcing that role priority is fluid and responsive to the athlete’s stage of recovery. -
Outcome-Based Decision Frameworks:
The inherent complexity of multidisciplinary environments can only be navigated with a simple, outcome-based framework that collects and synthesizes evidence from all relevant specialists. Robin recommends creating a process that begins with the identification of the key outcome (e.g., strength, hypertrophy, pain reduction), follows by analyzing which factors and team members most influence this outcome, and consciously aligns interventions from all fields rather than relying on discipline-driven default protocols. Such a framework should be transparent, repeatable, and centered around what the athlete needs, not what disciplines usually provide. -
Defining Objectivity and Meaningful Change:
Large gaps in objectivity arise when teams fail to collectively define what they are measuring, why they are measuring it, and what meaningful progress looks like. Robin highlights the importance of explicit, pre-rehabilitation agreement on which outcomes, metrics, and targets will be used, and stresses that teams should gather only the data that will directly inform decision thresholds. Arriving at a group consensus for “what counts as meaningful change” ensures all team members can act quickly, collectively, and with clarity throughout the process. -
Breaking Down Siloed Thinking:
Using terms like ‘medical’ versus ‘performance’ or categorizing athletes as ‘injured’ or ‘non-injured’ reinforces siloed, waterfall-style workflows that delay integration. Robin suggests overcoming this by co-creating a shared language within the department, developing explicit workflow diagrams or checklists that organize phases of rehab and corresponding responsibilities by outcome rather than discipline, and making these tools visible and routinely referenced in discussions and planning. -
Shared Definitions and Cross-Disciplinary Learning:
Effective integration flourishes when teams invest in shared definitions for core concepts, such as what 'interdisciplinary working' and 'trust' mean in their specific environment. Robin recommends regular group workshops where all roles—even those typically peripheral to rehab—participate in refining terminology and are given structured time to present their discipline’s perspective on cases. This practice broadens understanding and fosters an ongoing climate of mutual respect and skill enhancement within the team. -
Managing Ultra-Specialist Roles:
With the rise of externally-sourced ultra-specialists (such as speed or biomechanics experts), the risk grows that core team members are excluded or conflicting perspectives arise. Robin’s solution is to manage these specialists by incorporating them into structured communication plans and clearly defined onboarding frameworks. This ensures their expertise is leveraged within the athlete-centered, outcome-driven workflow, rather than causing added confusion or competition for influence within the process. -
Adaptive, Athlete-Specific Progression:
Rehab progression should be governed by objective and adaptive measurements that can be flexed according to individual response rather than rigid, time-based milestones. Robin’s pragmatic advice is to base decision points on bespoke, athlete-specific outcomes—such as force generation or functional capacity—continuously monitoring and adjusting interventions to match how the athlete is responding, rather than defaulting to standard timelines or phases. -
Standardizing Subjective Assessments:
Subjective metrics like pain are complicated by sampling inconsistencies and context shifts, undermining their reliability for monitoring progress or guiding decisions. Robin recommends standardizing assessment timing, conditions, and rating scales across the entire team, limiting oversampling of subjective data to maintain its value, and ensuring all self-reports occur under the same, well-defined circumstances for meaningful longitudinal comparison. -
Triangulated Team Planning:
True integration only happens if the pursuit of outcome clarity, process rigor, and real-time adaptation is made a routine and visible cycle in all team operations. Robin’s final suggestion is to embed continuous reviews of objectives, invite all disciplines to every planning and feedback session, and require any external or specialist staff to embed themselves into these departmental routines. This keeps adaptation central and ensures all practitioners contribute toward a unified, athlete-first process.
Where to Find Dr. Thorpe:
Sponsors
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