How do you know if your body needs Muscle Activation Techniques®?
MAT® is an extremely powerful system to help your muscles contract better and help your joints move well, but how do you know if it is for you?
There are a number of telltale signs that you need MAT®, but in this post we are going to highlight five of the most common.
1. You Are Losing Range of Motion
Think back over the last 10 to 15 years… how is your flexibility now versus then?
Have you become more flexible or less? Are your joints moving easier than they once did, or does it feel like they need to be “oiled up” for you to live your life?
If you are noticing your body has become less flexible and mobile over the past decade or two, that is a telltale sign you need Muscle Activation Techniques®.
When your muscles stop working well, your joints stop moving well. This often doesn’t happen all at once, although it can certainly feel that way. Instead, your muscles gradually become weaker and less functional over time, until one day you wake up and realize you don’t move nearly as well as you used to.
Fortunately, the MAT® process can help identify and address the muscles in your body that have become dysfunctional. Once those muscles start working better, your joints can go back to moving like they always did!
2. Your Muscles Feel Tight
Do your hamstrings, back, shoulders, or hips always feel tight?
Maybe you stretch consistently every day, only to wake up each morning feeling like you need to stretch again…
Or perhaps you feel great after a massage for a day or so, but then the tightness returns like it never left to begin with…
If your muscles are constantly feeling tight, that is a telltale sign you need Muscle Activation Techniques®.
When your muscles stop working well, your body tries to protect itself by tightening up. It limits how much you can move and puts excessive tension through certain muscles in order to try to compensate for other muscles not working properly.
With MAT®, once your muscles start working better, the tightness you are experiencing can start to go away, and stay away. By addressing the underlying reason why the tightness is there (i.e. muscle weakness), the symptom of tightness does not have a need to come back.
In other words, take away the reason your body was protecting you with muscle tightness and your body won’t need to tighten up.
The MAT® process is specifically designed to identify where these weak and dysfunctional muscles are within your body, get them stronger and working better, and help keep them working that way.
3. You Are Getting Injured Frequently
Do you get injured multiple times a year?
Maybe you pull something in your back… or you strain your hamstring… or you roll your ankle… or you have a pinch in your neck or shoulder…
All of these seemingly random injuries are likely part of a much larger picture of muscle dysfunction throughout your entire body.
Even though the symptoms may be specific to one area of your body, there are likely many contributing weaknesses that led to the one area getting injured.
Your muscles are supposed to protect your body from injury. They are designed to support your joints, ligaments, cartilage, fascia, discs, and tendons.
When these tissues get injured, it is often because your muscles were not doing a good job of protecting them.
With the Muscle Activation Techniques® process, we can identify exactly what muscles are not working properly and get them working better.
Not only will this help your joints, ligaments, discs, etc. get more support and protection, it can also help aid in the healing process by taking stress off of these areas.
4. You Have Random Aches or Pains
Have you ever woken up one morning, tried to get out of bed, and thought, “Wow… why does my body feel so awful? I didn’t even do anything…”
This is a telltale sign that you need Muscle Activation Techniques®.
As your muscles become more dysfunctional, your body will naturally limit what you can do, often by making you feel aches or pains.
Many people say this is the feeling of “getting old”, but really it is the feeling of your muscles becoming dysfunctional.
Fortunately, with the MAT® process, the weak and dysfunctional muscles in your body can be addressed, helping you to wake up every morning feeling recharged and energized instead of beat up and broken down.
5. Your Normal Activities Are Becoming More Difficult
Think about many of the activities you used to do five to ten years ago… could you still do those now?
Sometimes it is not being able to do the big things that catches your attention, but oftentimes it is the not being able to do the little things that become most noticeable.
Opening jars or bags of chips is more difficult than it used to be.
Carrying your luggage through the airport or up stairs is no longer feasible.
The run you used to go on is getting more and more taxing on your body.
You are taking longer to recover from the workout class you’ve been doing for years.
You are thinking about hiring a lawn care service because mowing and doing the trimming is getting to be more uncomfortable than you’d like.
These are all examples of your muscles losing strength and function, and they are a telltale sign that you need Muscle Activation Techniques®.
With MAT®, we can identify where in your body your biggest problem areas are from a muscle strength and function standpoint. Then we can create a specific plan to strengthen those areas directly.
As your muscle strength and function improves, the everyday activities you enjoy will start feeling easier again.
There are many signs that you need Muscle Activation Techniques®, but these are five of the most common that we see.
If you are noticing any of these signs or symptoms, it is time to schedule with your local MAT® practitioner.
We are two of the most highly trained practitioners in the Chicago area and worldwide, certified in the highest levels of Muscle Activation Techniques®, including MATRx, MATRx Stim, and MAT® Athlete.
MAT® is the most powerful system we have seen to identify and address muscle weakness and dysfunction. Get started today to get your muscles working back at 100%!
Julie & Charlie