Julie Cates

Julie Cates is an experienced, certified, and insured National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Certified Personal Trainer and mastery level Muscle Activation Techniques® (MAT®) Rx Specialist (MATRx). She is one of 88 certified mastery level Resistance Training Specialists® (RTSm) in the world. This combination makes her style of training impactful and still preventative and restorative of joint and muscle issues and pain that are common with exercise. Julie specializes working with women 50 and over. Specifically, her main focus is working with women with bone density loss, muscle loss, Osteopenia, and Osteoporosis. Julie has incredible experience working with brand new exercisers. Very specific types and styles of exercises are needed for restoring and maintaining bone density, and Julie guides her clients through these in a pain-free way. She is also well experienced in helping women exercise even with various joint, bone, systemic, and neurological diagnoses. Julie is definitely your go-to personal trainer for women with Osteoporosis! Julie graduated cum laude from the University of Florida. She earned her degree in Applied Physiology and Kinesiology with a specialization in Exercise Physiology. Julie is the co-owner of Muscle Activation Schaumburg in Schaumburg, IL. She is a wife and mother of two. Julie can be reached via e-mail at julie@matschaumburg.com. Follow her on Instagram at @julcates!

How to work on your health without changing your lifestyle

The least appealing thing a personal trainer can say to you is that to be healthy you have to change your lifestyle.  Really, I should take that back.  This is only unappealing if you are not up for changing or ready for big changes.

Today I am writing to those people that are in this boat.  I am going to highlight 4 things you can do that are SO SIMPLE and will change your health for the better without completely inconveniencing yourself.

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By Julie Cates, ago

Client Testimonial – Sue Koril

Check out this fantastic testimonial below from one of Julie’s rock star MAT™ clients, Sue!  Sue had been suffering from leg and knee issues when her friend reccomended she look into Muscle Activation Techniques™ at Muscle Activation Schaumburg.

As an avid tennis player, Sue wanted to get back to playing the game she loves on a regular basis.  Julie started working with her to improve her muscular system through the Muscle Activation Techniques™ process in addition to specific resistance training for her hips and knees.

After seeing Julie consistently for a number of months, she has been able to not only return to the tennis court, but keep her body tuned up and feeling great with homework exercises to compliment her maintenance MAT™ sessions at Muscle Activation Schaumburg.

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By Julie Cates, ago

3 Secrets of Working with a Personal Trainer

Imagine this.  You meet a new friend and this friend has never eaten a strawberry.  As you hear about this craziness, you realize that you must describe to this person what it is like to eat a nice, juicy strawberry.

Think about that for a moment.  How would you fully describe to someone what it is like to eat a strawberry?  

When I think about this, my ending thought every time is “well, you really just need to try it yourself.”  Were you thinking the same thing?  Probably.

This is because eating something as simple as a strawberry is an experience.  It’s not something that can be fully experienced by another person through a description of it.  You actually must experience the experience of eating a strawberry to fully understand and to fully relate.

Working with a personal trainer is like this.  It is an experience indescribable with words.  BUT, I am writing this blog post to share parts of the personal training experience that individuals that have never worked with a personal trainer may not consider…. Since they have never worked with a personal trainer.

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By Julie Cates, ago

Client Testimonial – Sadie Stark

Check out this awesome testimonial from one of Julie’s amazing MAT™ clients, Sadie!  Sadie had been suffering from an IT band issue as well as a knee issue for a year and a half before she found Julie.  She had tried everything she could find to help with her issue, but it wasn’t until she tried MAT™ that she noticed significant improvement.  Now she is back to running over three miles and is running faster than ever!


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By Julie Cates, ago

Client Testimonial – Kaili Harding-Kaminski

Check out this awesome testimonial from one of Julie’s rockstar personal training clients, Kaili Harding-Kaminski!  Kaili and Julie have been working together for over four months now and Kaili has seen some awesome results.  Kaili describes the changes with how she looks and feels throughout the day as well as while she is working out.  She also speaks to the importance of the accountability that Julie provides for her on a regular basis and how that impacts her decisions when she is not at Muscle Activation Schaumburg.

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By Julie Cates, ago

The Gold Standard Of Exercise

When my personal training clients start working with me on exercise related tasks, they quickly realize that I am always preaching about moving slowly, moving with control, using as much support as possible, and lifting with significant weight. There almost always becomes a time when a client will ask, “Will we always train like this?”.  This is such a legitimate question for two main reasons.  1) I don’t know of any other fitness professionals (except my colleagues from my path of study) or gyms that endorse this, and 2) people always want to know that they are doing the best thing for their body to help with their goals.

Here is my answer: We will always have a significant portion of your training be like this (slow, controlled, lots of support, and significant weight).  Why?  This is the Gold Standard of exercise, in my opinion.  Let me tell you why. (more…)

By Julie Cates, ago

Client Testimonial – Cindy Chabowski

Check out this fantastic testimonial from Cindy, one of Julie’s rock star personal training clients!  Cindy has been working with Julie for the past three months and has noticed some drastic changes in her body.  She describes the challenges she faced while trying to exercise once she turned 50 and how Julie has helped her with those.  She speaks to the importance of lifting weights in a mindful manner and not just doing cardio to support her health.  She also talks about how the strength training she has done with Julie has helped her joints feel better and has improved her self-confidence.

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By Julie Cates, ago

Client Testimonial – Dave Wilson

Check out this wonderful testimonial from Julie’s personal training and Muscle Activation Techniques™ (MAT™) client, Dave, about his experience working with Julie at Muscle Activation Schaumburg!  Dave describes the changes he has noticed over the past few months of regularly exercising with Julie, as well as his progression with strengthening the muscles of his legs and feet using MAT™.  He talks about how regular daily activities became easier as his body started functioning better with MAT™ and personal training, as well as the many benefits he experienced by making sure the exercises he was doing were appropriate for his body. (more…)

By Julie Cates, ago

5 Non-Medical Tips to Help Improve Plantar Fasciitis

I remember when I started taping and wrapping my feet.  I would wrap the tape so tightly that I either had to sit or, if I stood, I had to deal with the fact that my toes would be blue. This all started before the age of ten.  I remember my feet hurting so badly that I told my mother that I was scared that the bottom arch of my foot was going to literally rip and snap.   

I remember my mother putting each of my feet into hard plastic boots before tucking me into my youthful, flower-power pink sheets at night.  I remember having to wear the ugliest and clunkiest “pronator” shoes in 3rd grade when all my friends wore pink light-up shoes.  I remember hating the 1-mile run day at school because it meant that I wouldn’t be able to participate in dance class later that night. (more…)

By Julie Cates, ago