Participating in sports? You have to keep this one thing in mind.

A couple weeks back I was having a conversation with a client when the topic of sports came up.  This client was talking to me about some of the moves her sport was requiring and how she was finding it difficult to do the moves.  While we discussed the role that Muscle Activation Techniques® (MAT®) and personal training at Muscle Activation Schaumburg can play in helping her achieve her goals, we also had to discuss some of the realities that her anatomy may be applying to the situation, as well.  The great thing about this discussion is that it is applicable to everybody who plays sports, not just her. So, if you participate in sports, take heed. This post is for you.

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Injury Risk – Three things you can do to decrease this

When the topic of “how to decrease injury” is discussed, oftentimes ideas such as stretching, joint mobility, and core training come up.  While these are all fine and well, an idea this is often not thrown around is that of improving how well your muscles function.  However, improving this aspect of your health could be the missing link that you have been looking for to help you prevent injuries.

Before we talk about how improving muscle function could reduce your risk for injury, we have to answer a few other questions.  First, we need to identify what muscles actually do.  Second, we need to discuss how they do that thing they do.  Third, we need to talk about how doing that thing will actually help you reduce your risk for injury.  And finally, we need to leave you with some practical application steps of things you can do to start taking action now.

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3 Ways MAT® Helps to Boost Your Performance

Oftentimes, when we think of performance we think of athletes, musicians, actors and actresses, or anybody else that we may see on stage or on screen.  But, the truth of the matter is that each of us has to perform every single day.  We have to wake up and perform the various roles and responsibilities of our daily life.  We need to exercise, take care of our family, attend to our tasks at work, and fulfill social obligations.  From the boardroom to the ballfield, we all need to be able to perform, but we may often feel as if we are only surviving instead of thriving.  Fortunately, Muscle Activation Techniques® (MAT®) can help us boost our physical performance so we can do the things we love to do as well as we would like to do them for the foreseeable future.  Here’s how.

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How muscles saved me from blowing out my knee

When I was 24 years old, I thought I had blown out my knee.  I was playing in a basketball game in a rec league at DePaul University.  During one play, I went up to dunk the ball and got hit in the chest by a defender.  I reached to grab the rib to regain my balance, but the hit knocked me hard enough that I couldn’t hang on.  I slipped, fell backwards, and stuck my leg out to land.  The problem was that I stuck my leg out completely straight and my body was falling overtop of it at a weird angle.

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