As much as I try to tell people, "Muscle Activation Techniques™ is about getting muscles to contract better, not relieving your pain," a large percentage of my clients initially come to see me because they are experiencing some type of pain or discomfort. Inevitably questions arise when they tell me they are experiencing discomfort in one area of their body and I begin assessing another area. Then when I begin explaining any limitations or asymmetries I may see they get a case of the "Yabuts".
"Yabut my pain is in my shoulder."
"Yabut it's my other knee that's killing me."
"Yabut I have a lot of discomfort in my low back."
More times than not, this leads to a discussion about pain, cars, and their check engine light.
Pain is often analogous to your check engine light illuminating on the dashboard of your car. When it comes on, what do you do? Do you immediately pull the car over, grab the random tool set out of the trunk, and beat the dashboard in with the hammer until the light no longer lights up? That would get rid of the bright light, right?
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| Image courtesy of frugalyankee.com |
So what do you do? You take your car into the mechanic and let them assess and figure out what's going on.
That's what MAT™ allows its practitioners to do--assess your neuromuscular system and try to figure out if the "check engine" light of your body (pain) can be dimmed or shut off by improving the way your muscles contract.
Does MAT™ get rid of the pain every time? Nope. Does it have the potential to? Maybe. Is that the main goal of MAT™? Nope.
Your "check engine" light might be illuminated for many reasons, one of which is inefficient contractile abilities of your muscles. Which muscles need the most attention may not have any relation to where the light is shining brightest. Remember, the "check engine" light is just an indication of an issue and is not necessarily specific to issue that needs attention. Muscle Activation Techniques™ is a modality that can assess and improve how your muscles contract, potentially dimming that "check engine" light or shutting it off all together.
Is the "check engine" light of your body shining? Contact your local MAT™ specialist for a tune up!
Interested in finding out more? Check out the Muscle Activation Techniques™ page!
Interested in setting up an assessment or discussing this subject further? Leave a comment below or e-mail Charlie at charlie@selfmadefitness.com!
Your body. Your training.
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