Hugo Santibanez
Head Trainer
Hugo is from Chile, where he studied physiotherapy at Universidad Autónoma de Chile, graduating in 2016. He is enthusiastic about helping people recover from physical problems in order to improve their quality of life. He has experience in musculoskeletal rehabilitation and physio treatment for hospitalized patients back in Chile. After finishing his degree, Hugo wanted to travel and came to New Zealand, where he studied English, and then a Diploma in Health Services Management, Level 7.
His goals are to validate his Chilean degree to work in New Zealand as a registered Physiotherapist.
His clinical areas of interest are Sports Physiotherapy, Injury Prevention, Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy, Exercise Rehabilitation and Acute and Chronic Pain Management.
Hugo is passionate about almost every sport on two wheels, especially mountain biking, which he has been doing for more than 10 years. He enjoys riding every weekend, as well as travelling to new places with friends
Teariki Sword
Trainer
Teariki has a Bachelor’s Degree in Sport from Unitec, majoring in Physical Education. Before joining MedStrength in 2021, he spent three years in his home country of Rarotonga working as the Strength & Conditioning coach for the Cook Island National Rugby 7s team and the Sports Development Manager for the Cook Island Sport National Olympic Committee. Although Teariki is interested in strength and conditioning and high-performance exercise for athletes in general, working with people of all ages to help improve their wellbeing and quality of life is what he finds most rewarding.
During his school years he played for Kings College 1st XV and represented the Cook Islands in age group and national honours for rugby 7’s. He enjoyed working with the Ponsonby Filles (Womens Premier) rugby team in 2021, assisting with team management and training needs.
When he is not in the gym or at rugby trainings, he is usually spending quality time with his young family or making music.
Liam Stone
Trainer
Liam first found MedStrength as a Functional Physio patient. Through the assistance of some of our machines, Liam overcame a severe back injury and was able to return to his athletic career of diving. Liam began diving at the age of 7, and has had a successful career competing in three Commonwealth Games and 6 World Championships. He is now training for the 2024 Olympics.
Liam has a passion for health, wellness and performance. After receiving a scholarship he studied at the University of Tennessee gaining a Bachelor of Science in Education, majoring in Kinesiology. Liam holds great interest in optimising human performance as well as injury prevention and rehabilitation. He has a passion for helping others, particularly when it comes to health.
Joe Spark
Trainer
Joe was involved in school and club football in the UK for most of his school years. After leaving school he started weight training and going to the gym. At 21 Joe joined the British Army and spent 7 years in the Royal Logistic Corps as a driver/communications specialist. He had the opportunity to learn to box and represented his unit at the Royal Logistic Corps Championships, which he won, and he continued to box for five years, representing 29 regiment RLC, 7 regiment RLC, The Royal Logistic Corps and the British Army boxing teams.
Joe became an assistant coach and then a full level 2 English boxing instructor. He also had the opportunity to become a qualified instructor in various adventure training activities such as rock climbing and mountain biking. After leaving the army he worked in construction and factories until he retraining as a personal trainer and leaving the UK pursue a career in the fitness industry in New Zealand.
Lucy Clark
Trainer
Lucy is originally from the UK where she grew up loving anything sport related and outdoorsy. Growing up her passion was football where she played in the county league for Kent. From a young age she struggled with her own mental health issues which lead her to a huge weight gain and a loss of all confidence and passions. Over the past 5 years she has been on her own fitness journey with a loss of 36kg and a gain of her self confidence, beliefs and a passion for health and fitness. Since then she has become a certified personal trainer from the National Academy of Sports Medicine to learn the skills, tools and knowledge to be able to help other individuals strengthen their bodies and reach their own goals both mentally and physically, especially for women.
Cartier Tilsley-Matthews
Trainer
Cartier is studying a Bachelor of Exercise Science and Psychology at the University of Auckland. She has a particular interest in sports psychology and hopes to one day help people with mental skills training for both sport and everyday life.
Cartier is passionate about the value of sport and exercise in all aspects of one’s life. She has been playing hockey for 10 years and umpiring for four. She loves being involved in the hockey community and has been pleased to give back by coaching younger athletes from her club and old school. She is a cheerleader and has been competing off and on for 7 years. She was a keen runner as a child and competed in several half marathons around NZ.
Cartier loves the camaraderie, trust and unity in playing team sports. Sport has given her a strong sense of belonging and she hopes that in the future she continues to have opportunities to work with athletes and in the sporting community.
Ryan Woodbridge
Trainer
Ryan is currently studying sports and exercise science at AUT. He is very fond of strength and hypertrophy training, as well as taking daily walks with his dad. He has been playing basketball for the past 6 years and has been coaching the sport for the past 2 years. He has played nationally around New Zealand and internationally in Australia and America. Ryan has also competed in a number of athletic competitions for discus and shot put.
In the future, he would love to be able to play basketball professionally or semi-professionally, or at least help professional athletes in their sport. He also wants to be able to help people reach their fitness and health goals through physical activity, especially the youth of New Zealand.