Dr Russell Jensen, Chiropractor (AHPRA CHI0001927257), is the principal chiropractor at Southside Spine and Sport in Bicton. He has been practising since 2015 and trained in Integrative Diagnosis in the United States, with a particular interest in nerve entrapment conditions.
A Slightly More Personal Blog: Why Now?
I recently watched a video documentary about Australian swimmer Cameron McEvoy on how he broke the world record for 50m freestyle in March 2026.
It was fascinating.
McEvoy's training is quite different from what you'd expect from an Olympic athlete. Rather than training the typical massive volumes that are standard in swimming, he had success in training less, training mobility and using data to guide his training.
Relevant to us, the video explored some of the work he'd done with Matt Smith, and I was intrigued by his philosophy toward flexibility and mobility and wanted to know more.
My initial thought was that I should write an article reviewing it.
Why I Went Deeper
One of the things that interested me about Matt Smith was how systematised and assessment-driven it was.
Instead of stretching and giving single protocols, his idea is to assess someone's movement, identify where they're limited, and then work on improving those specific limitations.
Sometimes that means stretching. Sometimes it means strengthening a muscle or improving control.
That sat really well with me.
At one stage in the video there was a fleeting mention of soft tissue therapy and adhesions. That was it, you got me.
Treating adhesions is a significant part of what I do in practice. Identifying and treating soft tissue restrictions is something I've spent years learning about and refining.
I've treated thousands of patients over the years. Some have made a full recovery. Others have improved significantly but never quite returned to full mobility. Often, there was a small functional limitation, sometimes one they weren't even aware of.
They were happy with the results and trying to chase the movement deficit that was left was going to take time and results were not guaranteed. Often we just left it there.
So the video got me thinking, could Matt Smith’s framework help me break through with these patients?
I thought it was worth investigating.
But the more I looked into it, the more I realised.
Hold up. I think I need this myself.
Managing My Pain Is One Thing. Improving My Capacity Is Another.
I'm reasonably active.
I play volleyball once a week, ride my bike, and spend my working days doing a fairly physical job.
Most of the time, I'm comfortable. And when something does go wrong, I'm fortunate to have excellent colleagues who can help me get things sorted out.
But I've noticed a pattern over the last few years.
Whenever I try to increase my activity beyond what I'm conditioned for, there's a reasonable chance something will flare up.
Sound familiar?
And strangely enough, it rarely happens during the exercise itself.
I'll finish exercise or a day of work feeling perfectly fine, only to aggravate something later doing something completely trivial.
Over the last twelve months, I've also noticed that these flare-ups haven't necessarily been the same.
That made me wonder whether something was changing.
I've always believed in addressing problems early before they become major issues. It's something I encourage my patients to do, and I practise what I preach.
But I've found myself in an interesting position.
I can generally manage these problems when they occur. With treatment and some adjustments to my activity, I can usually get things settled down and get back in action.
The difficult part has been progressing beyond that.
I've tried graded return to exercise, reducing intensity, changing activities, and allowing more time to recover.
All the sensible things I tell my patients to do.
But even then, I've run into trouble.
And after enough experiences like that, you start becoming conservative.
I've certainly postponed returning to the gym or starting new activities because I couldn't be bothered dealing with another setback.
When you've got young kids, a business to run, and everything else that comes with life, another neck or back flare-up isn't particularly convenient.
At some point, you start wondering just how far back you need to go before you can move forward.
Managing my pain has been the easier part. Improving my functional capacity, that's hard.
You can get comfortable again, return to your usual activities, and feel like you've recovered.
But that doesn't automatically mean you're better equipped to tolerate more demanding exercise.
Maybe, I've Just ‘Reached That Age’
When I was younger, I never really understood why men's health magazines spent so much time talking about longevity, mobility and resilience.
Young men want to be stronger, go faster, get bigger and look better. Worry about the future later.
Honestly, longevity advice was pretty boring at the time. So what’s changed?
Well, I've got young kids, a business to run, and a body that I need to keep working. I'm not interested in pushing big numbers in the gym anymore. I just want to be able to do the things I enjoy without having to think twice.
Nowadays, being physically capable, staying out of pain, and being able to keep doing those things is way more appealing.
I’ve Never Been Particularly Flexible
I’ve always had terribly tight ‘hamstrings’.
I was one of those people who was hopeless at the sit-and-reach test, and for most of my life I've just accepted it.
For roughly the last six months, I've had this persistent, low-grade discomfort around my lower thoracic spine.
Most of the time, it's barely a one out of ten.
It's also been uncomfortable in the mornings, and takes about an hour to ‘warm up’.
Now, I don't know whether any of this has anything to do with my mobility restrictions.
But after watching through some of Matt Smith’s exercises to improve the pike (touching your toes), I did two exercises to improve sciatic nerve mobility.
Wouldn’t you know it, the next morning I woke up without my thoracic spine symptoms. I tested it out during the day and the stiffness and pain still weren't there.
Now, I can't say for certain that those exercises were responsible, but it was enough to grab my attention.
That was the final green light I needed to take the plunge. Maybe there is something to this.
So I decided to give Matt Smith's mobility and flexibility toolkit a go.
Sometimes You Need To Go Back, Before You Go Forward
I purchased the toolkit and completed my initial movement assessments.
And my results were pretty jarring.
One assessment involved standing with my back against a wall and lifting one leg in front of me while keeping my knee straight.
Full range was 90 degrees.
I managed barely 40.
I remember thinking, "I swear I'm not that bad."
Apparently, I was.
The next assessment involved placing a straight leg on an elevated box and leaning forward.
I couldn't even comfortably get into the starting position. Forget leaning forward.
My body immediately rotated away to open the hips and when I tried to lean forward and pull my foot upwards, the tension through the back of my leg was extraordinary.
I couldn't believe how restricted I was.
Now, these tests don't necessarily tell me exactly what's causing those limitations.
Strength, flexibility, motor control and neural sensitivity can all influence how well you tolerate stretch.
But they certainly highlighted some areas where I have room for improvement.
So, What's Next?
I'm going to work through the program and see what happens. I’ll share my journey here and maybe it can inspire you too.
I'm interested in whether I can improve some of these movements and see if they last.
And from a professional perspective, will there be any lessons that I can integrate into my practice to help my patients?
I've always found that experiencing a treatment or exercise myself gives me better insights to help patients when they experience bumps in the road.
I'll document the process and share what I find. Hopefully, there'll be a few useful lessons along the way.
Dr Russ
Or call us on 08 6317 9897
Reviewed by Dr Russell Jensen, Chiropractor, AHPRA CHI0001927257.
