What do a struggling student, a decorated Navy SEAL, and a hospital CEO all have in common? The answer: Jeff Mengenhausen.

In this explosive episode of the Crackin’ Backs Podcast, we sit down with the only Navy SEAL in the country running a hospital—a man who’s rewriting the rules of leadership, resilience, and what healthcare should really be.

Jeff’s story is anything but ordinary. Once labeled a “poor student,” he went on to earn Navy SEAL honors, a Purple Heart, and combat commendations. Today, he’s transforming Montrose Regional Health into one of the most respected community hospitals in the nation. But his mission doesn’t stop there—Jeff is exposing the cracks in America’s hospital culture and challenging the grip Big Pharma and profit-driven systems have on patient care.

Inside this episode, we ask:

• Why isn’t the Navy SEAL ethos of “embrace the suck” translating into healthcare leadership?
• What behind-the-scenes SEAL lessons still drive Jeff’s decisions as a hospital CEO?
• Why are so many hospitals failing their patients—and how is Montrose setting a new standard?
• Has Big Pharma hijacked the direction of care in America?
• And after trillions spent on cancer and chronic disease, why aren’t outcomes improving?

This conversation isn’t just about medicine. It’s about survival, clarity under pressure, and the courage to flip a broken system on its head.

Learn more about Jeff Mengenhausen and Montrose Regional Health:

• Montrose Regional Health

We are two sports chiropractors, seeking knowledge from some of the best resources in the world of health. From our perspective, health is more than just “Crackin Backs” but a deep dive into physical, mental, and nutritional well-being philosophies.

Join us as we talk to some of the greatest minds and discover some of the most incredible gems you can use to maintain a higher level of health. Crackin Backs Podcast

Ever feel your body slam on the brakes at the worst moment—or light up just from someone’s tone of voice? That’s your nervous system running the show. In this episode of the Crackin’ Backs Podcast, polyvagal performance coach Michael Allison (Polyvagal Clinic / The Play Zone) shows us how to find clarity in chaos and silence within the noise—teaching practical tools to shift from stress to calm, from pressure to play right when it counts.

Michael breaks down Polyvagal Theory for non-experts—what it is, why it matters for peak performance, and the top myths he wants coaches and clinicians to retire (looking at you, oversimplified “fight-or-flight” narratives). Then we dive into his frameworks: The Play Zone and Autonomic Agility™—how to read your physiological state, respect its impact on performance, and shift under pressure. You’ll get a crisp 90-second routine Michael uses with athletes and performers (such as high end tennis professionals and golfers) and learn exactly what a coach should observe and what the athlete should feel when it’s working.

Why listen? Michael’s methodology is endorsed by Dr. Stephen W. Porges, developer of Polyvagal Theory, and he trains coaches globally through the Polyvagal Institute—working across MLB, NBA, ATP/WTA, FIFA, NCAA, and more. If you want nervous-system regulation, vagus-nerve-informed performance, and state shifts on demand, this episode is your playbook.

Learn more about Michael Allison

• The Play Zone (programs, coaching, resources): HERE
• Psychology Today column (“The Pressure Paradox”):
• Instagram (updates & clips): HERE

We are two sports chiropractors, seeking knowledge from some of the best resources in the world of health. From our perspective, health is more than just “Crackin Backs” but a deep dive into physical, mental, and nutritional well-being philosophies.

Join us as we talk to some of the greatest minds and discover some of the most incredible gems you can use to maintain a higher level of health. Crackin Backs Podcast

“Why Are We Still Afraid to Talk About the Pelvic Floor?”

We glamorize six-packs, obsess over core strength, and chase the latest fitness hacks—but here’s the shocking truth: the foundation of your health, strength, and even your confidence isn’t your abs, it’s your pelvic floor. And yet, it’s still one of the most ignored, stigmatized, and misunderstood parts of the body.

On this episode of the Crackin’ Backs Podcast, we sit down with the bold and unapologetic Kim Vopni—aka The Vagina Coach—a woman who has built her career tearing down taboos and speaking the truth the fitness and medical industries often avoid.

In this provocative, unfiltered conversation, we dive into:

• Why pelvic floor health is more important than six-pack abs.
• The real cost of ignoring pelvic health—from back pain to sexual dysfunction.
• Why the classic advice to “just do Kegels” is outdated and sometimes harmful.
• The top pelvic floor problems men face in silence—and how they can start healing.
• Whether leakage during workouts should be normalized—or treated as a red flag.
• How constipation, bathroom posture, and daily habits silently sabotage your pelvic floor.
• Which products are fads vs. game-changers in the crowded pelvic health market.
• The intimate connection between pelvic strength, pleasure, and sexual health.
• Kim’s vision for a world where pelvic floor training is as routine as brushing your teeth.

This episode is not just about women, not just about childbirth, and not just about aging—it’s about every body. Whether you’re lifting heavy, sitting at a desk, navigating menopause, or recovering from injury, your pelvic floor is central to how you move, feel, and live.

If you’ve ever felt like this conversation was too taboo, Kim Vopni is here to blow the doors wide open. Prepare to rethink everything you thought you knew about your body.

Learn more about Kim Vopni here:

• Website: The Vagina Coach
• Instagram: HERE
• YouTube: HERE
• Facebook: HERE

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube—and join us in breaking the silence on the most important muscle group you’ve never talked about.

We are two sports chiropractors, seeking knowledge from some of the best resources in the world of health. From our perspective, health is more than just “Crackin Backs” but a deep dive into physical, mental, and nutritional well-being philosophies.

Join us as we talk to some of the greatest minds and discover some of the most incredible gems you can use to maintain a higher level of health. Crackin Backs Podcast

Are you giving more thought to the car you drive than the mattress you sleep on? Think again. We spend nearly a third of our lives in bed, and the quality of your sleep doesn’t just determine whether you wake up groggy or refreshed—it impacts your brain health, mood, recovery, performance, and even how long you live.

On today’s episode of the Crackin’ Backs Podcast, we sit down with Fred Kunke, a veteran in the mattress and sleep industry who’s spent decades helping people transform their nights (and their lives) by finding the right sleep system—without the gimmicks.

In this episode, we cut through the marketing noise and get real about:

• The biggest mistakes people make when buying a mattress—and why they keep repeating them.
• The truth about firm mattresses and back pain (spoiler: it’s not one-size-fits-all).
• What you need to know about toxic fiberglass in mattresses and how to protect yourself.
• Cooling vs. contouring—which is best if you sleep hot or struggle with temperature at night.
• Whether smart mattresses are worth the hype or just another expensive gadget.
• The step-by-step framework Fred uses to match people with the perfect mattress.
• Why your pillow and sheets can make or break your night.
• Simple, low-cost sleep hygiene hacks that dramatically improve rest without spending a dime.

This isn’t another sales pitch—it’s the insider’s guide to better sleep from someone who’s been on the front lines of the sleep industry for years. If you care about your health, performance, and longevity, you can’t afford to miss this one.

Learn more about Fred Kunke and his work here:

• Fred Kunke Website

Tune in now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube, and start sleeping smarter tonight.

We are two sports chiropractors, seeking knowledge from some of the best resources in the world of health. From our perspective, health is more than just “Crackin Backs” but a deep dive into physical, mental, and nutritional well-being philosophies.

Join us as we talk to some of the greatest minds and discover some of the most incredible gems you can use to maintain a higher level of health. Crackin Backs Podcast

What if the fastest way to change your life isn’t more willpower—but a better doorway into your subconscious?
On today’s Crackin’ Backs Podcast, hypnotherapist Dayana Muzinek (Grace Method™ certified) pulls back the curtain on how hypnotherapy works, why it’s more than “stage hypnosis,” and how focused consciousness can help rewire cue–craving–response patterns that drive anxiety, insomnia, IBS/gut issues, chronic pain, vaping, and doom-scrolling. Dayana breaks down her go-to Grace Method flow—from induction to suggestion to post-session homework—and gives listeners a 90-second at-home interrupt (breath + word cue + micro-move) you can use the moment worry blindsides you. (Grace Method training details here.

We also go where the clicks are:

• Sleep hypnosis & insomnia: What a three-step sleep hypnosis stack looks like, where hypnosis helps, and where the evidence is still emerging. (Peer-reviewed reviews/meta-analyses suggest promise but mixed methodology.
• Gut-directed hypnotherapy (IBS): Why clinicians are calling GDH “guideline-adjacent” and how sessions may reset the gut–brain axis; plus a calm-the-gut script outline to try at home for a week. (Multiple meta-analyses and RCTs show improvements in global IBS symptoms.
• Chronic pain: Where hypnosis fits best (often as an adjunct), and which levers matter most—expectations, imagery, and self-hypnosis between visits. (Recent meta-analytic work supports benefits across mental and somatic outcomes.
• Modern habits & identity change: From vaping to doom-scrolling to GLP-1 era weight loss, Dayana explains how hypnosis supports pre/during/post-GLP-1 phases by targeting the two identity shifts that sustain new behavior.
• Safety & ethics: We tackle myths about false memories and outline Dayana’s trauma-sensitive, evidence-based guardrails, including the safe boundary for self-hypnosis at home.

If you’ve ever searched “Does hypnosis really work for anxiety?”, “sleep hypnosis for insomnia,” “hypnotherapy for IBS,” or “how to break bad habits with hypnosis,” this conversation gives you science, structure, and a starter routine you can use tonight.

Learn More / Book with Dayana

• Connect with Dayana Muzinek (LinkedIn): She’s a Grace Method™ Certified Hypnotherapist and active member of IACT. Message her directly for session inquiries and availability.
• About the Grace Method™ (school, approach, app): Training, philosophy, and consumer resources.

We are two sports chiropractors, seeking knowledge from some of the best resources in the world of health. From our perspective, health is more than just “Crackin Backs” but a deep dive into physical, mental, and nutritional well-being philosophies.

Join us as we talk to some of the greatest minds and discover some of the most incredible gems you can use to maintain a higher level of health. Crackin Backs Podcast

Is chronic pain really “in the body”… or in the brain’s predictions about the body?
Today on the Crackin’ Backs Podcast, we sit down with Dr. Jorge Esteves, PhD, DO—an osteopath, educator, and researcher whose work reframes low back pain, sciatica, and other MSK issues through the lens of predictive processing, active inference, and interoception. Dr. Esteves explains why pain is more than a physical signal: it’s shaped by mood, memory, context, and environment—and how the right mix of smart touch, simple movement, precise language, and meaning can rewrite faulty predictions and dial down threat in the nervous system.

We explore what he calls “smart touch”—the affective, well-timed, well-paced contact that improves therapeutic alliance, entrains breath and rhythm, and helps the brain feel safe enough to update its story about the spine. We also unpack fresh imaging work suggesting hands-on care can influence connectivity in pain and interoceptive hubs, including the insula—right where body-signal meaning is made. You’ll leave with a 5-minute daily recalibration (breath cue + one gentle movement + one self-touch drill) to keep predictions aligned with reality—especially during a flare.

What You’ll Learn

• Pain ≠ damage: Why back pain often persists due to over-protective predictions and how to nudge them toward safety.
• Smart touch, real change: How affective touch, pacing, and breath cues shift interoceptive processing and calm threat.
• Therapeutic alliance matters: The first 10 minutes that build trust—and the phrases clinicians should avoid because they raise threat.
• Brains on hands-on care: New imaging insights on how manual therapy may modulate brain connectivity in chronic low back pain.

Learn More / Contact Dr. Esteves

• Official site: Prof Jorge Esteves
• Google Scholar (Atlântica University, Portugal): Google Scholar
• ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jorge-Esteves-3 ResearchGate
• (En)active Inference paper (open-access): Frontiers
• Email (from CV): osteojorge@gmail.com Pro Osteo
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-jorge-esteves-27371522/ Pro Osteo
• Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/JEsteves_osteo Pro Osteo

We are two sports chiropractors, seeking knowledge from some of the best resources in the world of health. From our perspective, health is more than just “Crackin Backs” but a deep dive into physical, mental, and nutritional well-being philosophies.

Join us as we talk to some of the greatest minds and discover some of the most incredible gems you can use to maintain a higher level of health. Crackin Backs Podcast

What happens after you kill to survive?

It was Mother’s Day, 2013.
Tennyson Jacobson was home with her newborn and her mom when a man slipped through an unlocked door. In seconds, her safe world vanished—he grabbed her by the ponytail, robbed her, and disappeared.

The next night, he came back.
There was a fight. A knife.
And by the time it was over, the man who tried to destroy her family was dead on her floor.

Most stories end here. But this is where Tennyson’s begins.

In this raw and deeply honest episode of the Crackin’ Backs Podcast, we go beyond the headlines to ask the real question: How do you heal after surviving the unimaginable?

What does it take to trust again when your nervous system never lets you forget?
How do you reclaim safety in your own skin?
And why did this terrifying night lead her to a journey of resilience, Internal Family Systems therapy, spiritual exploration, and ultimately… her book, Mother of All Days?

This conversation is about what no one talks about: the years after. It’s about the body keeping score, listening to whispers of intuition, and discovering strength you never knew you had.

Do you think you know what happens after trauma? Think again.

Learn more about Tennyson Jacobson and her work:
Facebook Page: HERE
Book: Mother of All Days – Buy on Amazon

We are two sports chiropractors, seeking knowledge from some of the best resources in the world of health. From our perspective, health is more than just “Crackin Backs” but a deep dive into physical, mental, and nutritional well-being philosophies.

Join us as we talk to some of the greatest minds and discover some of the most incredible gems you can use to maintain a higher level of health. Crackin Backs Podcast

How far would you go to reshape medicine?

Dr. Janakan Krishnarajah has led over 100 clinical trials, transitioning from bedside physician to a biotech disruptor. On this episode, he reveals that turning point—and the early challenge that redefined his path.

Next: he developed Wafermine, the world’s first sublingual ketamine wafer for acute pain—a bold alternative in the opioid era. How did he convince skeptics this wasn’t anesthesia or recreational use, but revolutionary pain management? We dig into the story behind the innovation and the FDA and EMA approvals that made Phase 3 trials possible

And then came Xativa, a freeze-dried medicinal cannabis wafer. We explore how iX Biopharma pushed this disruptive therapy into mainstream medicine—despite regulatory headwinds and stigma.

This isn't all success: Dr. Krishnarajah opens up about a major setback when dreaming big went wrong—and the lessons that changed his leadership style. You’ll hear why he lives by “pursue life with your whole heart, without regrets,” and how that mantra shapes innovation and company culture at iX Biopharma.

From the explosive growth of the global medicinal cannabis market to the rise of longevity medicine, this conversation spans the past, present, and future of healthcare. What does sublingual NAD for longevity really hold? Is it breakthrough or overhyped? Only one way to find out.

Want the full story behind modern medicine’s boldest bets? Tune in now.

Learn more about Dr. Janakan Krishnarajah and iX Biopharma:

• Official site: ixbiopharma.com
• Product pipeline & platform WaferiX: HERE

We are two sports chiropractors, seeking knowledge from some of the best resources in the world of health. From our perspective, health is more than just “Crackin Backs” but a deep dive into physical, mental, and nutritional well-being philosophies.

Join us as we talk to some of the greatest minds and discover some of the most incredible gems you can use to maintain a higher level of health. Crackin Backs Podcast