Muscle Activation Techniques®

Personal Training and MAT® – What’s the difference?

A question we often get at Muscle Activation Schaumburg is, “What’s the difference between Muscle Activation Techniques® (MAT®) and personal training?”.  As personal trainers and MAT® practitioners, this is an important clarification for us to help our clients and prospective clients with.

For us at Muscle Activation Schaumburg, personal training and MAT® go hand in hand.  While there are distinct differences between the two, there are a lot of similarities, as well.

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By Charlie Cates, ago

Client Testimonial – Laurie Dring

Check out this awesome testimonial from Charlie and Julie’s client, Laurie!  Laurie has been coming to Muscle Activation Schaumburg since the beginning of 2017 and has been participating in both Muscle Activation Techniques™ (MAT™) and customized personal training sessions.  While her initial concern was improving the function and strength of her shoulder, she has now progressed to maintaining her strength and mobility through infrequent but consistent muscle tune ups.  Laurie is now a consistent exerciser on her own and continues to utilize Muscle Activation Techniques™ to make sure her body is firing on all cylinders.  This ensures that she is able to get the most out of her workouts and progressively improve her health and physical function.

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By Team MAS, ago

What makes a Muscle Activation Techniques™ practitioner unique?

When people think of muscles, they usually don’t immediately think of a Muscle Activation Techniques™ (MAT™) practitioner, but they should.  Similar to how somebody might think of a dentist after hearing “teeth”, or a chiropractor after hearing “back” or “spine”, Muscle Activation Techniques™ may one day have that same relationship when somebody hears “muscle”.  For the time being, though, that typically isn’t the case, and here’s why — many people aren’t sure of 1) what MAT™ is, and 2) what makes MAT™ unique.  In that case, let’s discuss both of these. 

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By Charlie Cates, ago

Considering Adding MAT™ To Your Professional Toolbox? Read This.

As a personal trainer or fitness professional, adding the Muscle Activation Techniques™ (MAT™) skillset to your professional toolbox can be one of the best decisions you make.  Not only can it serve as a differentiator from your competitors, but it can allow you to help your clients in ways you did not think were possible, both as a result of the MAT™ process as well as because of the information the MAT™ process provides you.

When I first started personal training, I was completely unsure how to assess my clients.  Coming from a sports performance background, assessments had always involved some kind of one-rep-max bench press and squat.  But what kind of information would that really provide me about my clients?

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By Charlie Cates, ago

How To Integrate MAT™ Into Personal Training

As personal trainers in Schaumburg, we strive to provide our clients with the most up to date exercise approaches to health, strength, and mobility.  This, undoubtedly, involves an integration of Muscle Activation Techniques™ with more traditional exercise.  We are often asked how we are able to blend the two–MAT™ and regular exercise–within a single personal training session and what information we are able to gather from the MAT™ assessment to help us make exercise decisions.  Well, MAT™ Headquarters just released a post giving a nice overview of how the two can blend.  And if you watch the associated videos below, you may or may not recognize the face on screen 😉

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By Team MAS, ago

MAT™ Jumpstart Courses – Schaumburg, IL

The Greg Roskopf’s Muscle Activation Techniques™ Jumpstart Program is coming to Muscle Activation Schaumburg!  The Chicago area’s first series of MAT™ Jumpstart courses in 2017 will be hosted at Schaumburg, IL’s premier destination for Muscle Activation Techniques™ and personal training. Enter the code MAS before checking out to receive 5% off the cost of the course! Read more…

By Team MAS, ago

Can’t feel the exercises you are doing? Read this.

Check out a snippet from Charlie’s most recent article on FitnessProfessionalOnline.com, titled “Why Your Clients May Not Be Able To Feel The Exercises You Are Doing With Them“!

“Have you ever had a client that just couldn’t feel the exercise where you wanted them to?  Every time you would do a chest press, all they could feel were their deltoids.  Or if you did deadlifts, they only felt their hamstrings, never their glutes.  You tried cueing them differently or changing how they would do the exercise, but still, they just couldn’t feel the muscles you were trying to work.

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By Charlie Cates, ago

Testimonial: Justin Ehrhardt – Head Trainer at CrossFit Rise

Justin Ehrhardt, head trainer at CrossFit Rise in Schaumburg, describes his experience with Muscle Activation Techniques™ (MAT™) and MATRx™ with Charlie Cates at Muscle Activation Schaumburg.  Justin gives details about the PR’s he has hit since beginning his MATRx™ sessions, and the suprising increases in strength, performance, and mobility that he has noticed. (more…)

By Charlie Cates, ago

Healthy Feet (Part One): Why Your Feet NEED To Move

As a certified personal trainer and Muscle Activation Techniques™ specialist in Schaumburg, I understand the importance of having healthy feet.  In fact, making sure my clients have healthy feet is of great importance to me because of how often we use our feet.  Nearly every physical activity is heavily dependent on your feet being healthy, stable, and functioning well.  Furthermore, issues that begin in the feet can quickly impact the health and function of the rest of the body. (more…)

By Charlie Cates, ago