Health & exercise disclaimer

01The short version

02General information only

The training ideas, loading suggestions, mobility work, pack-weight guidance, recovery advice and injury discussion on this site are written for a general audience of healthy adults. They are not tailored to you.

Reading this site, watching a film, joining a mailing list or sending me a message does not create a practitioner–patient relationship between us. No clinical record is created, no assessment is made, and nothing I publish should be treated as a recommendation for your specific situation.

If anything here conflicts with advice from a health professional who has actually assessed you, follow them, not me.

03About my registration

I am registered as a physiotherapist with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) under the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme. My registration is public and can be checked on the Ahpra register of practitioners.

I mention my profession so you know where my perspective comes from, and because I think you should know when someone giving movement advice online has clinical training and when they do not. It is context, not a claim that this website delivers a health service.

I do not hold specialist registration, and I do not describe myself as a specialist in any area. I do not treat patients through this website, and I cannot take you on as a patient through it.

04Before you start anything new

Talk to a doctor or physiotherapist before beginning any new exercise, training load or hiking programme — and especially if any of the following apply to you:

• You have a heart condition, high blood pressure, chest pain, or you get breathless or dizzy on exertion.
• You are pregnant, recently postpartum, or trying to become pregnant.
• You have had surgery, a fracture or a significant injury in the last twelve months.
• You have a joint, bone, muscle or nerve problem that pain or loading could make worse.
• You have diabetes, asthma, epilepsy, a neurological condition or any other chronic condition.
• You take medication that affects your heart rate, balance, blood pressure or hydration.
• You are over 65 and not already active, or you have been inactive for a long stretch.
• You simply are not sure. That is a good enough reason on its own.

05Exercise carries risk

Physical training carries a genuine risk of injury, including muscle and tendon strain, joint injury, falls, heat illness, dehydration and, rarely, serious cardiac events. Loading a body more than it is ready for is one of the most common ways hikers get hurt.

By using the information on this site you accept that risk and take responsibility for your own participation. Start conservatively, progress slowly, and let how you feel override any number on a page.

06Hiking and the outdoors carry their own risk

Routes, trail conditions, weather, river levels, snow, track markers and access rules all change, sometimes fast and sometimes dangerously. Descriptions on this site and in my films reflect the conditions I found on the day I was there, which may be nothing like the day you go.

You are responsible for your own trip: your route planning, your navigation, your fitness, your gear, your food and water, your weather calls, your emergency communications, and your decision to keep going or turn around. Check current conditions with the land manager or park authority, tell someone your plan, and carry the means to call for help.

Turning around is always a legitimate result. No summit, no schedule and nothing I have posted is worth getting hurt for.

07Gear is not a safety guarantee

I test gear personally and I say what I actually found, but a positive review is not a safety certification and it is not a promise that a product will perform for you.

Gear fails. Conditions exceed what equipment was designed for. Always read and follow the manufacturer’s instructions, warnings and weight limits — those override anything I have said. This matters most for anything that keeps you alive: shelters, sleep systems, insulation, stoves, water treatment, navigation devices, emergency beacons and anything load-bearing.

Check and maintain your own equipment, and know how to use it before you need it.

08No promised results

I make no promise about the results you will get. Fitness, comfort on trail, injury risk and recovery depend on your history, your genetics, your sleep, your load management, your terrain and plenty of things neither of us controls.

Where I describe what worked for me or for someone else, that is a description of one experience, not a typical or expected outcome for you.

09Your legal rights

Nothing on this page excludes, restricts or modifies any guarantee, right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law or any other law that cannot legally be excluded.

Subject to that, I am not liable for injury, loss or damage arising from your use of the information on this site, including any training you do, any trip you take or any gear you buy after reading it.

This page is written in plain English and describes how this website actually works. It is general information about my own site, not legal advice for anyone else. If anything here is unclear or looks wrong, email hello@jackbrookes.co and I will fix it.