Muscle Activation Technique
MATâ„¢ is a technique which was initially developed to help high performance athletes recover from competitive stress quickly and help them prevent future injuries, but the program and its principles are just as useful to non-athletes: from those who suffer from arthritis or chronic back pain, to fourth floor dwellers and daily commuters. The goal of MATâ„¢ is to address the weakness before an injury happens, but it is also employed in countering injuries quickly after they occur. The MATâ„¢ process aims to be preventive, proactive, and restorative; it is beneficial to anyone who wants to improve their everyday performance and lead a healthier life.
Why Muscle Activation Technique
Imagine your muscular system as a suspension bridge that hosts thousands of pedestrians, bicyclists, and cars daily. The structure is supported by steel wires, each one of which has been carefully calibrated to hold a certain amount of the bridge’s weight. If fifty of those wires were to suddenly snap off, what would happen to the remaining ones?
The existing wires must now compensate for those missing supports, taking on increased weight that they were not designed to carry. As a result, these wires will most likely get tighter or stretch out from the strain. Even if it is not immediately apparent, this tension over time will wear down the overall integrity of the bridge.
If the two main options are either to (1) stretch out the existing wires to further compensate for the lost ones, or (2) to replace the missing ones entirely, what would best stabilize the bridge and keep it safe in the long run? Which would you choose for the sake of health and longevity?
In a sense, the muscular system is not that different from the bridge example; when certain muscles are over-stressed, their ability to function becomes compromised, and other muscles tighten up to compensate. This can lead to muscular imbalances, which is often the cause of joint pain, instability, and limited range of motion. Instead of just stretching the tight muscles, at MAD we employ Muscle Activation Techniquesâ„¢ (MAT), a manually applied neuromuscular therapy, to assess and correct the muscular imbalances that led to the tightness in the first place. MAT targets and works to treat the cause of the issue, rather than just the symptoms, of muscle weakness.