Q. What is MAT®?

A. Muscle Activation Techniques, (MAT) is a systematic muscular assessment system that analyzes and corrects muscular imbalances. These muscular imbalances can lead to chronic pain, muscle tightness, muscle fatigue, joint instability, and decreased performance in the gym and in sports. MAT specialists are extensively trained to locate and manually correct these muscle imbalances so that one can see an improvement in muscle function immediately.

Q. What Makes MAT®  unique?

A. MAT is unlike any other treatment modality. Most therapies (massage, physical therapy, stretching) focus on alleviating the symptom of muscle tightness, where MAT gets to the root of pain or injury by addressing muscle weakness rather than muscle tightness. The MAT specialist looks at tightness as a protective mechanism created by the body when the central nervous system detects instability at a specific joint. This tightness is caused by weak or inhibited muscles that stiffen in order to bring stabilization to the joint. MAT addresses the cause of tension by finding and correcting the problem muscles. Once the root problem is resolved, the tension is no longer necessary. If tight muscles are stretched, massaged or “released” without finding out what the problem was in the first place, then the body’s protective mechanism and temporary stability is removed leaving the system vunerable to further injury or creating compensation elsewhere. When we increase range of motion through other therapies, we must make sure that we give the body its original preferred form of stability – activated muscles. (last paragraph paraphrased from MATaustin.com)

Q. How can MAT® effect the aging process?

A. MAT can slow down or even reverse the aging process.  Many times, due to factors such as stress, trauma or overuse, the neurological connections may become altered creating a reaction in the body, similar to that of loose battery cables in your car. When the brain sends a message for a muscle to contract, the muscle does not respond immediately, creating increased demand on other muscles to perform the desired movement. The result becomes what we know as compensation. Over time, these compensation patterns create altered alignment in the joint, leading to joint instability and abnormal wear on the joint surfaces. The end result becomes pain and eventually osteoarthritis. This progressive degeneration has been correlated with aging. If identified and properly addressed, it does not have to occur.

MAT can slow down or even reverse the aging process. If it is recognized that muscles are designed to stabilize and support the joints naturally; it must be understood that arthritic conditions and joint instability can be helped or prevented when muscles are prepared to function properly. All that is needed is to create proper connections between the brain and the muscles. Muscle Activation Techniques does this. It provides the ability for the body to function the way it was designed to function. Just like with a dead battery, the muscles must be jumpstarted and the cables must be tightened before the muscle will function properly. In simplistic terms, through Muscle Activation Techniques, muscles that have improper neurological connections are identified, then jumpstarted; creating the ability for the muscles to stabilize the joints and reduce the joint stresses that lead to arthritic conditions. That is when the body becomes efficient and the related aches and pains are deterred. (Information from last two paragraphs from www.muscleactivation.com)

Q. How can MAT® effect strength training?

A. MAT can have dramatic effects on the quality and performance of strength training exercises. If an individual has inhibited muscles in a specific region of the body and that region is asked to generate force (ex: one or more of the quadriceps muscles are inhibited and the individual is performing a squat) then the quality of that movement and the amount of load lifted would become limited. Furthermore, what will happen over time is that the muscles that have to take up the slack for the inhibited muscles will continue to improve in strength while the inhibited muscles will continue to get weaker.   

Q. What happens during an MAT®  treatment session?

A. MAT treatments take place on a massage table. The treatment begins with a range of motion assessment to determine where the body has limitations and which muscles are the causing the limitations. Once the area of limitation is discovered then specific muscle tests are performed to determine if the muscles are working properly. Muscles that are not working properly are then jumpstarted with either manual pressure at the muscle’s attachment points or an isometric exercise. Muscles that were once inhibited that are treated will immediately begin to work much better. The more muscles that are treated for a given issue the more stability one will gain in that specific area of the body. Once stability is regained the patient can expect an increase in range of motion, a decrease in pain, and an increase of the functional ability of the once limited muscles.  

Q. Who created MAT®?

A. This unique method was developed by Greg Roskopf, a biomechanics expert who has worked as a consultant for the Denver Broncos, Denver Nuggets and the Utah Jazz. For more information, please watch the brief video above.