THE BOB JOHNSTON PODCAST
By Bob Johnston
September 1, 2020
SEASON
3
EPISODE
4

Mobility & Movement – LA Clippers Head Chiropractor – Dr. Joey Mattina

My guest today is Dr. Joey Mattina who, at the age of 33, is the head chiropractor for the LA Clippers. He also works with legendary chiropractor, Dr. Dennis Colonello, at Peak Wellness in Los Angeles. Their patients include athletes from the NBA to the NFL. Joey has a sixth sense for how to heal the body, whether you're a professional athlete or you've simply been sitting too much like most of us nowadays.

The podcast is split into two sections – in the first half, Joey and I hit on muscle soreness and tightness issues (and how to fix them with simple yet highly effective movements). We also discuss how sitting too much results in short (and tight) hip flexors, which can be resolved quickly and easily. Joey also shares how calming your nervous system will help resolve tightness in the abdomen, as well as gut issues.

Joey addresses movement faults, too. He tells us why there is no such thing as 'perfect' symmetry when doing a particular movement – such as touching your toes or doing a squat – and why we should (sometimes) embrace our own unique ways of moving. As a side note, tightness is subjective (just because you can't touch your toes doesn't mean that you're inflexible). Finally, we cover how each of us can find our optimal minimum viable dose of cardio, resistance training and flexibility work.

In the second half of the podcast, we show you mobility and stretching exercises – with me as the guinea pig – that you can do at home to maximize your flexibility and feel better on the spot.

Joey graduated from Southern California University of Health Sciences where he earned his Doctorate of Chiropractic. Joey has worked for  seven years with Dr. Colonello, founder of Peak Wellness. Joey is the author of The Sit Secret: Your Chiropractor’s Guide to Healthy Sitting. He has been the traveling chiropractor for the Los Angeles Clippers since the 2018-2019 season.

Enjoy!

SELECTED QUOTES
Everyone’s got a unique way to move...you can’t group everybody into one ideal paradigm
On the importance of following the unique movements of your own body
Many people come in, they show us their MRI [of their spine] and we look at it and say, "This isn’t that bad. What are you scared about?’ And that alone them feel better
On the psychology involved with healing the body
EPISODE MARKERS

The importance of feet [2:12]

Stress and its effect on rest and digestion [7:13]

Tight hamstrings or just my anatomy? [13.45]

The relationship between flexibility and strength [15.40]

Dr. John Sarno’s book, Healing Back Pain [21.50]

Disc bulges on MRI means I’m injured? [24.24]

Exercises: [30.25]

Lunging psoas stretch

Standing single-leg hamstring stretch

Seated pigeon stretch

Pigeon stretch on floor

Standing pigeon stretch

Standing hip hinge

Hip hinge w arms overhead

Seated self-diaphragm release

Self-diaphragm release with ball