FAQ
Q: What is MAT?
Muscle Activation Techniques is bodywork that is designed:
to seek out and correct muscle imbalances that cause joint instabilities by educating and engaging all supporting muscles around a joint motion = creating stability and allowing safe and efficient movement.
view tightness as a symptom secondary to muscular weaknesses and a sign of joint movement instability.
as a process of checks and balances that allow the specialist and the client to see how the treatments progress to results.
Q: How does one “activate the muscles”?
By determining whether a muscle is weak through a muscle test, a MAT Specialist then palpates the attachment sites of that muscle. The palpation stimulates a re-associate or link of communication between the brain and the muscle to reestablish that muscle’s functional role(s).
Q: How does activation of the muscle help muscle movement?
Tightness causes a limited range of motion (ROM) with joint movement. When the weaker muscles are engaged and activated, clear communication between the brain and the muscles allows for the following to occur: stability in the joint, tight muscles relax because all muscles are doing what they should be, an increase in ROM, joint motion is more balanced, limits of wear and tear on joint surfaces, passive structures such as ligaments are at less risk of strain, fewer injuries and setbacks occur.
Q: What do I wear to an appointment for MAT?
For more accessible assessment and motion during the treatment, wear comfortable clothing similar to what you would wear during a workout session.
Q: How is MAT different from Active Release Techniques (A.R.T.) that my Chiropractor does?
A.R.T. treatments focus on addressing the belly of the muscle that is tight or painful. The chiropractor will apply pressure to the belly of the tight muscle while you move through the range of motion that the muscle offers, which relaxes the tense muscles.
The MAT process works with the weak muscles and at the attachment sites where the communication between the Central Nervous System (CNS) and the muscular system is the greatest. This introduces new input, which re-educates the weaker muscles with the movement role(s), eliminates movement compensations, instills a safe range of motion, and allows tight muscles to relax naturally.
Q: Should I do MAT instead of chiropractic or massage?
Every modality has a place in the ongoing process of caring for and healing our bodies. Additionally, everybody responds differently to all modalities. MAT is an excellent adjunct to any Chiropractic work because a MAT Specialist can assist in re-educating the muscular system, allowing the muscles around the adjusted joint(s) to be more responsive and stable in the new alignment. This increases the longevity of the adjustments and increases the joint’s threshold for stress. You should find out what your body responds best to MAT and massage, chiropractic and acupuncture, or any combination of treatments.
Q: Does it hurt?
A palpation or touch at the attachment site of a weak muscle can be tender. At times of dysfunction, our pain receptors, or Nociceptors, are engaged more quickly. These receptors tell us when something is wrong by causing pain sensations, usually felt with joint movements.
An example of heightened Nociceptor activity: during an activity, for instance, if your knees begin to hurt, this pain might cause you to slow down or stop for a while and relax, and allow the joints to ache to subside.
As the weak muscles are addressed and stability and mobility are gained, the pain sensation of the palpations and movement subsides.
Q: How long does it last, or how many sessions does it take?
There is no clear answer that can honestly be given to these questions. It depends on many factors: how long you have been experiencing the imbalances in your body, chronic v. acute, the integrity of your nervous system, and many more.
I like to explain our body as an onion in that there may be many layers to what is in our body, and we only see the surface, yet we deal with every layer giving shape to what we see. The other layers can be addressed only when you take care of the most asymmetrical range of motion.
In the case of an individual who has just sustained an injury, it is relatively more straightforward to intervene in the healing process. However, if it is an injury of a “chronic” nature, the process of treatments to address all that is affected and has no doubt been compensating can make the procedure take longer.
It comes down to being efficient. If you have an issue and are treated once, you may feel “fixed,” but other instabilities cause the problem you may not realize. You are vulnerable to re-injuries and setbacks unless these unforeseen issues are corrected.
Q: How is MAT different than massage?
Most massages tend to focus on alleviating the symptoms of muscle tightness and deal primarily with the belly of the muscle. Massage also tends to be a more broad treatment. There are different forms of massage, such as Myofascial Release, Shiatsu, deep tissue, Swedish, and even energy work, such as Reiki, all beneficial in treating muscular ailments.
MAT treatments are based on seeking out movement difficulties and are specific to one area. For instance, if a client were to complain of hip pain, I would not necessarily go to the hip; I would check the range of motion (ROM) in the trunk as well as the hip and the quality of movement at the knee and foot to determine the most asymmetrical ROM.
The treatment may be specifically on all the muscles that contribute to trunk rotation to the left or on a limited foot motion, which may contribute to hip issues. Also, MAT addresses the attachment sites on the bones and fascia.
Like I said before, everyone responds differently; please find what works best for you.