Javier Garcia, MS, LAT, ATC

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Get to know Athletic Trainer and Performance Coach Dr. Javier Garcia, who serves athletes in Florida.

An exceptional sports medicine clinician and performance coach, Dr. Garcia specializes in corrective exercise, rehabilitation, dry needling, and assisting athletes in transitioning from injury to sports performance training. He serves as a Doctoral Athletic Trainer and as a Clinical Preceptor at Florida International University (FIU).

He joined FIU in 2022 to pursue a Doctorate in Athletic Training, meanwhile working as the athletic trainer for both the track & field and indoor volleyball programs during the 2022-2023 season. He also works as a Sports Performance Coach at Athletix Rehab & Recovery in Davie, FL where he assists in training collegiate, youth, NFL and NBA athletes during their offseason. Javier a once intern with the organization continues to work with the New York Jets during certain regular season games. 

Focusing on athletic development, Dr. Garcia helps athletes enhance their overall athletic ability by training speed, agility, strength, and power. His advanced exercise programing takes into account an athlete’s muscle imbalances and injury history to allow for improvements toward optimal movement and overall function. 

As a certified athletic trainer, Dr. Garcia can treat multiple acute and chronic conditions with the use of therapeutic exercises, instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization, ultrasound, electrical stimulation, joint mobilization, heat, ice, manual therapy, laser or light therapy, dry needling, and more. He will create a treatment/rehab plan and strength and conditioning program based on the individual’s specific injury, condition, and baseline measures to target a specific body part or body system.

A native of North Bergen, New Jersey, Dr. Garcia earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science, and a Master of Science degree in Athletic Training, both from Montclair State University (MSU). He served as a graduate teaching assistant for a cardiac rehabilitation course at MSU while completing his educational track and was also selected to represent the student body and speak at the 2022 convocation ceremony for the College of Education and Human Services. 

During his time as a graduate assistant at MSU, Dr. Garcia presented his Capstone Research project, “Effects of Concurrent Neuromuscular-Electrical-Stimulation Cueing on Postural Stability During a Non-dominant Single Leg Balance Protocol In Healthy Individuals”, at the 2022 MARC ACSM annual meeting.

Prior to arriving at FIU, Dr. Garcia completed a series of medical and sports performance internships, one of them with the NFL’s New York Jets, held positions as both a trainer and coach, and served as an adjunct professor in the Department of Exercise Science at his alma mater, MSU.

Continuously advancing his efforts, he is an active member of the National Athletic Trainers Association, the National Academy of Sports Medicine, the American College of Sports Medicine, and the National Strength & Conditioning Association.

Athletic training is housed within the sports medicine discipline and is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of injuries due to athletic activity. Sports medicine clinicians are health care professionals who collaborate with physicians to optimize activity and quality of life for patients both of the physically active and sedentary population. Athletic training encompasses the prevention, diagnosis and intervention of emergency, acute and chronic medical conditions involving impairment, functional limitations and disabilities. Atheltic trainers are trained to recognize and refer out issues to physicians associated with orthopedic injuries, nutrition, and sports psychology. They mostly consult with athletes on injury prevention, injury rehabilitation, and are trained to respond to health emergencies on and off the field. 

Dr. Garcia attributes his success to his education, his passion, hard work, God, and his natural ability to leave an impact in every room he has stepped in.  He has made strides in his career because of his knack to build relationships with his patients and mentors. He credits his triumphs to the support  his family and friends provide him unconditionally as well as the patients/athletes who trust him with their bodies on a daily basis. The fact that, as a kid, he didn’t have access to what he now provides is actually what pushes him to be a difference maker for someone else! Alrhough he will continue in his current roles he aspires to continue to impact athlete’s lives on a professional basketball organization. 

Outside of work, Dr. Garcia enjoys playing basketball, training in the gym and on the beach, and writing spoken word. His favorite place to vacation is anywhere in the Caribbean, and his favorite professional publications are the British Journal of Sports Medicine and the Journal of Athletic Training.

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