- Image courtesy of gigisfitnesscenters.com
All of my personal training clients start on the MAT table so I can get an overview of how their body is doing at that moment in time. While I ask for verbal feedback regarding how they are feeling that day, many of my clients are unable to provide an accurate assessment of themselves.
A great example of this is when clients come in and their responses to my questions of, "How are you feeling today? How did you feel after our last training session? Did you have any soreness or any discomfort after?" are, "Fine. Fine. No." Perhaps they want to move on to the "workout" as quickly as possible or perhaps I haven't effectively communicated to them the importance of providing me with an accurate assessment, or maybe to them that is an accurate assessment of themselves. Regardless, the bottom line is I'm not getting much information from them at those moments in time.
So we head to the table and there are some asymmetries that show up in the range of motion assessment. We move into testing different positions and then to stimulating specific muscle fibers or groups of muscle fibers, in this case it is usually through positional isoangular contractions as it is before they are about to workout. We go back to the positional tests and they are unable to hold the position. I retest the position and they are still unable to hold it. Maybe I move on to another position to see if they can hold that one in hopes that by improving the contractile capabilities of fibers that share a mechanical ability relative to the range of motion assessed the contractile capabilities of the fibers that were unable to hold the previous position will improve. Maybe I DFAMAT the attachments of the fibers in question. Regardless, the outcome is the same: they are unable to hold the testing positions even after treatment.
Now it is very plausible that my tests were not performed properly and therefore I was getting false negatives. But, for the sake of my point, let's say that everything was on point on my end but they just weren't responding as expected to the stimuli. I start to question them a little further and find out that they didn't sleep well the night before or they were out drinking or have been very stressed, etc. Essentially, the response I received at the beginning when they walked in that they were doing "fine" was not even remotely indicative of the state of their neuromuscular system. Because of the results from the table, anything I may have considered doing with them that day in terms of applying forces to their body will more than likely change in some regard.
This is a great aspect of MAT that can really differentiate it from other modalities. The tests can give you immediate feedback about the state of a person's neuromuscular system, which you can use to dictate their exercise program for that day. All the positions seem to be holding? They can probably handle more stress on that day. Positions not holding so well? Maybe you take it easier or not try to stress out that tissue further during their workout by training predominantly upper body instead of lower body, for example.
Additionally, I bring my clients back to the table after the session to see the effect the collective exercises had on them that day. Sometimes I test positions in between sets or exercises, but to be honest I haven't really gotten into the habit of doing this or having this on my mind while I am training them so this option hasn't been as used to the extent of the other two (before and after their resistance training session).
Takeaways:
So we head to the table and there are some asymmetries that show up in the range of motion assessment. We move into testing different positions and then to stimulating specific muscle fibers or groups of muscle fibers, in this case it is usually through positional isoangular contractions as it is before they are about to workout. We go back to the positional tests and they are unable to hold the position. I retest the position and they are still unable to hold it. Maybe I move on to another position to see if they can hold that one in hopes that by improving the contractile capabilities of fibers that share a mechanical ability relative to the range of motion assessed the contractile capabilities of the fibers that were unable to hold the previous position will improve. Maybe I DFAMAT the attachments of the fibers in question. Regardless, the outcome is the same: they are unable to hold the testing positions even after treatment.
Now it is very plausible that my tests were not performed properly and therefore I was getting false negatives. But, for the sake of my point, let's say that everything was on point on my end but they just weren't responding as expected to the stimuli. I start to question them a little further and find out that they didn't sleep well the night before or they were out drinking or have been very stressed, etc. Essentially, the response I received at the beginning when they walked in that they were doing "fine" was not even remotely indicative of the state of their neuromuscular system. Because of the results from the table, anything I may have considered doing with them that day in terms of applying forces to their body will more than likely change in some regard.
This is a great aspect of MAT that can really differentiate it from other modalities. The tests can give you immediate feedback about the state of a person's neuromuscular system, which you can use to dictate their exercise program for that day. All the positions seem to be holding? They can probably handle more stress on that day. Positions not holding so well? Maybe you take it easier or not try to stress out that tissue further during their workout by training predominantly upper body instead of lower body, for example.
Additionally, I bring my clients back to the table after the session to see the effect the collective exercises had on them that day. Sometimes I test positions in between sets or exercises, but to be honest I haven't really gotten into the habit of doing this or having this on my mind while I am training them so this option hasn't been as used to the extent of the other two (before and after their resistance training session).
Takeaways:
- The verbal feedback from your clients about themselves may not be completely accurate. You may need additional assessments in order to effectively apply force to their body that day.
- MAT delivers immediate feedback regarding the state of a person's neuromuscular system, which can and should be used to dictate their training for that day.
- MAT can also be used to assess the effect of an individual rep/set/exercise or their entire workout on their neuromuscular system. This information can be used to dictate future training sessions and exercises.
What assessment tools do you use to gather information about your clients?
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.
Want to use this article in your blog, newsletter, or other platform? You can, but be sure to include all of the biographical information found in the yellow box below!
No comments:
Post a Comment