Muscle Activation Techniques

Healthy Feet (Part Three): Why your feet MUST be stable.

In Part One of the Healthy Feet series, I wrote about why your feet must absolutely be able to move.  Your feet are made up of 28 bones and over 50 joints, and each one of these need to be able to move in order for the joints to remain healthy.  In Part Two, I wrote about why your muscles need to be strong in order to support the bones and joints of your feet.  I also recommended three different exercises that you can do to help improve the strength of your feet.  Now, we need to talk about why your feet must be stable in order for them to be healthy.

What??  Feet need to be both mobile AND stable?? (more…)

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 Two): Three At-Home Exercises to Help Strengthen Your Feet

In last week’s post, I discussed why your feet need to move.  To recap, your feet are made up of many bones and joints.  In order for each of the joints to stay healthy, they have to be able to move. Performing exercises for the muscles of your feet can help with this.

One of the most effective ways of ensuring that your joints are able to move is to make sure your muscles are working well.  Why?  Because the number one purpose of muscles is to help position and control joints.  In other words, muscles help your joints move, so making sure your muscles are working well will help to make sure your joints are moving well.  As a certified personal trainer and Muscle Activation Techniques™ specialist in Schaumburg, this is a conversation I often have with my clients. (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

Organic Exercise

You likely understand that in order for your body to work as well as it can, you should not be eating a diet based around cookies and cupcakes. However, when it comes to exercising, you may be stuck on a metaphorical dessert-heavy diet. As a Muscle Activation Techniques™ specialist and certified personal trainer in Schaumburg, I often have to discuss with my clients the difference between exercising for health and exercising for entertainment.

While what you are currently doing for exercise may seem more fun and entertaining than it’s healthy “organic” counterpart, understand that if you only eat the foods that are highly processed, eventually you are not going to feel well. Likewise, while the high-intensity, made-for-tv-esque exercises may be appropriate for your body from time to time, if that is your only form of exercise, eventually your body is going to be needing something “healthier”. (more…)

By Charlie Cates, ago

5 Exercise Tips If Your Back Tightens Up In The Car

One of the top physical complaints I hear from prospective clients is that their back tightens up when they drive for longer periods of time.  They often have to change from favoring one hip to another as they shift their body weight back and forth during their trips.  And when they finally arrive at their destination, there can be some difficulty getting out of the car right away because their back and hips feel tight.

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More times than not it has been recommended to them that they need to spend more time stretching their low back and hips so they don’t tighten up so easily.  While there may be some merit to this kind of suggestion, I offer up a different solution that they don’t often hear – they need to find the muscles that are too loose and tighten them up. (more…)

By Charlie Cates, ago