FAQs About MAT (Part 3)

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Part 1  Part 2

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I came to you because my shoulder is bothering me.  Why are you looking at my feet?

Sometimes the area of discomfort is not the root cause of the discomfort, but rather just a symptom of the cause.  This is why the initial range of motion exam will almost always cover the entire body regardless of what your initial complaint is.  Speaking from both a mechanical and neurological perspective, it is very plausible that by getting the muscles in your foot (or other area of the body) contracting properly other tissues in completely different areas of the body will begin to contract better, as well.  This, in part, leads to the difficulty of answering the question "How long will this take?" as there are numerous mechanical, neurological, biochemical, and physiological factors to take into consideration with each session.

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Is there anything I can do on my own to help speed up the process?
Yes.  When you are asked to take time off from exercise and movement in general, oblige.

As the sessions progress, "homework" will be given for you to do between sessions.  These will be various exercises that you can add in to your current exercise and daily routines.  Consider these like tutoring sessions for specific muscles that may have been inhibited for a while.  They are trying to catch back up with the rest of the class and therefore need a little (keyword little) extra attention until they do.

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We are scheduled for a 60-minute session.  Why are you stopping it after 40 minutes?

There may come a time when a session has to end earlier than expected.  This is always done in your best interest.  If it appears you are no longer responding to the cross-friction palpations or the graded-intensity isometrics, that is often a sign that a threshold has been crossed and it is best to end there rather than continuing to push forward and risk a potentially very serious condition.  In these cases where a response to the stimulation seems to be diminishing it will almost always be recommended that you take the rest of the day to just rest and relax.  You will certainly want to avoid stressful situations and stimuli.

What other ques­tions do you have about Mus­cle Acti­va­tion Tech­niques™?  Drop a com­ment below so I can address them in future posts!

Inter­ested in find­ing out more? Check out the “Mus­cle Acti­va­tion Tech­niques™” page.

Inter­ested in set­ting up an assess­ment time or dis­cussing this sub­ject fur­ther? E-mail Char­lie at charlie@selfmadefitness.com.

Your body.  Your training.

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