Three Reasons for MAT™ for the Post-Physical Therapy Individual

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Three reasons why you should consider checking out Muscle Activation Techniques™:

1. You want to continue progressing the great results you achieved during your physical therapy.

2. You are looking for the next step in improving how you move.

3. You feel like your rehab didn't get you to the exact point you need to be and want to explore additional options.

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Do any of these sound like something you want?

Interested in finding out more?  Check out the Muscle Activation Techniques™ page!

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

Your body.  Your training.

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Are Your Muscles Ready?

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What activities do you like to do?  Are your muscles ready for those activities?

What does your daily life consist of?  Are your muscles ready for those events?

What do you have in store for today's workout?  Are your muscles ready to take on that challenge?

How do you know??

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If you didn't sleep completely well, ate something that your body doesn't totally agree with, have some kind of mental/emotional stress going on, or any of a number of other factors, your muscles may not be absolutely ready to do what you want to do or do what you are asking or requiring them to do.

Muscle Activation Techniques™ can check in on your muscles and nervous system and assess that.

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This is one of the greatest benefits of MAT and one that I utilize with all of my clients before we get into the meat of their workout for the day.  Similar to what I discussed last week, performing CAMs and AMC&S tests before we head to the fitness floor gives me an idea of the state of their system at that moment in time.  And this feedback isn't always the same as the verbal feedback I receive from them regarding how they are feeling, which, to me, makes it a vital aspect to keep tabs on.

Think of it kind of like a diagnostics check for your car.  A brief assessment can unveil if something you were planning on doing should be momentarily put on pause because your body just isn't quite ready at this point in time.  While that's not always pleasing to hear, it certainly is more enjoyable than suffering an injury because you didn't take the time to check things out beforehand.

Additionally, you may not be receiving the full benefit of your physical activity if everything isn't up to par before you begin.  How much more could you achieve if your body was completely ready for what you were going to do?

While I check in on my clients' muscles every time we meet, having an assessment done every other week or even once a month can still be of great benefit.  This little bit of time spent asking some questions can turn up some very powerful answers that may lead to a huge boost in the results you are currently getting through your exercise as well how you feel during your everyday chores and activities.

Are your muscles ready for your life?

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.

Want to use this arti­cle in your blog, newslet­ter, or other plat­form? You may, but be sure to include all of the bio­graph­i­cal infor­ma­tion found in the yellow box below!

Blending the Table and Floor

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Something I have been having a lot of fun playing with more recently is taking the information I gather on the table about a client and then bringing that out on the floor to challenge it and actually making significant improvements in their ability to hold positions on the table.

Beginning with Muscle Activation Techniques™ CAMs, I look for their greatest bilateral asymmetry and then test it positionally, as taught in the MAT Jumpstart courses.  If they are unable to hold that position and, depending on a bunch of other variables, if it is appropriate to do so, I have been taking them out on the fitness floor and challenging these positions with what appears to be more traditional forms of exercise as part of their "warm-up".

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Then we head back to the table to retest the position and, if they are able to hold it, move on to the rest of their workout.  Sometimes that's all I will do to try to challenge it for that day while other times I will try to challenge it in multiple ways throughout the remainder of their session.  Sometimes we head back to the table between sets to retest or drop down on a mat to check it right there and then adjustments are made accordingly.

This concept of blending the table and floor was first shown to me by Charlie McMillin during the MAT Jumpstart courses and it was quite the demonstration as he showed how it was possible to apply force in order to challenge tissue with more "traditional" forms of exercise and still get the response on the table that we are looking for when we do the positional tests or AMC&S tests.  Since then, a lot of time has been spent practicing this concept and coming up with new and creative ways to apply force during the PHP study groups ran by Michelle Amore.

The value I see in this is, first, it brings another level of individualization to my clients' workouts.  It isn't remotely feasible to do the same thing with two different people when taking this approach.  Second, if the client is hesitant to spend a lot of time on the table because of their expectations of what they are coming to you for, this can be a very useful skill so as to stay within your ethical guidelines but yet give them what they want.  It can also be a nice transition into getting them to see the benefit of spending a little bit more time on the table now and then.  And, it is a good check to see if what you are doing on the floor is too much for the tissue controlling that position.  Additionally, if you as the trainer enjoy more puzzle-like brain stimulation, this is an excellent way to stay thoroughly entertained and excited throughout your day.

The other thing it helps with is the separation in the client's mind between you performing some type of therapy and you prescribing exercises.  The less they see you as a therapist, the less they may come to you with the expectation that you relieve pain, and instead see you as somebody who makes muscles stronger.

It took me a while to really feel comfortable making that transfer from the information gathered on the table to applying force on the floor, but through continual practice, study, and re-view I now have a better ability to blend the two.  I am by no sense of the word great at it, but I am getting better, and it sure is a heck of a lot fun to practice.

If you are interested in being presented with the tools to start conducting your training sessions in this manner, take RTS™ and take the MAT Jumpstart courses.

What techniques or thought processes do you use to individualize your clients' workouts?

Your body.  Your training.

Want to use this article in your blog, newsletter, or other platform?  You may, but be sure to include all of the biographical information found in the yellow box below!

Where's Your Lever?

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Last week I was fortunate to be able to participate in a couple really great study groups ran by Michelle Amore at Precision Human Performance.  We spent a while going over the AMC&S positions for multiple tests and really tried to dial in on the precision of those.  One thing I had made the mistake of when I first started learning MAT™ and have been trying to be more conscientious of the past number of months is making sure that the force I apply in the testing position is 90 degrees to the lever I am trying to test.  With a lot of upper extremity and lower extremity tests, this lever is easier to see.  But with trunk and spine AMC&S tests, it has often proven to be more difficult.

When I first started, the force I applied in a lot of my tests was 90 degrees to the body, which is distinctly different than 90 degrees to the lever.  Reason being, the body has some amount of thickness, which tilts the lever created to such an angle that my force was no longer being applied perpendicular to that lever, and as such was less efficient at causing motion around the axis (technically axes) created by the tissue I was trying to bias towards.

In order to apply my force in a direction that was most efficient at causing motion around said axis, I needed to understand some things in greater detail.  Because historically I have found these things most difficult for myself to find in the trunk and spine, I will frame this list in that context.

First, I needed to understand where exactly the tissue I was trying to bias my force towards attached.  Which vertebrae did this muscle cross?

Second, I needed to understand the opportunities for motion that were allowed by the structure of the involved vertebrae.  For example, understanding what the structure that the tissue crossed actually allowed for lateral flexion compared to the position of the AMC&S test.

Third, after I located the tissue and understood the structure, I needed to figure out where the axis was that is created by the tissue and the given structure relative to the force that was to be applied for the AMC&S test.

Fourth, after the axis was determined, I needed to find which point of application for my force would give me the greatest mechanical ability to create motion around this axis in the plane required by the AMC&S test.

Finally, after finding that point, I could find the lever that was created between the axis and the point of application of my force, and then apply my force at a 90 degree force angle to that lever.

Similar to what I discussed last week with the CAMs, taking the time to precisely set up the AMC&S tests has made a big difference in the responses I get from my clients' bodies.  Understand that the force you apply during the test will be 90 degrees to some lever, but it is important to make sure it is 90 degrees to the lever you are trying to test.  If a position is unable to be held but your force was not applied in the appropriate direction, two issues have been created: 1) you have a designed a test that doesn't necessarily bias towards the desired tissue, and 2) you have designed a test that may not be recreated exactly during the retest.  Both of these issues may lead to false information that may be affecting the types of response you are getting from your clients.

If any of this discussion was unclear or didn't make sense, drop a comment below and let me know!  Additionally, if you are having difficulty understanding the axis, lever, etc. concepts, take RTS™!

How precise are you with setting up your AMC&S tests and your force application during these tests?

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.

Want to use this arti­cle in your blog, newslet­ter, or other plat­form? You may, but be sure to include all of the bio­graph­i­cal infor­ma­tion found in the yellow box below!

What Is Balance? (Wrapping Up)

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About a month ago I began a discussion on balance, making an argument that exercises which are traditionally considered "balance exercises" are challenging a skill set more than one specific tissue and therefore questioning their use early on in the rehabilitation process.  Two weeks later I dove into COM and BOS and last week I went into orchestration.  Now it's time to tie it all together.

As I talked about in my COM and BOS post, physics dictates the need to keep your COM over your BOS in order to remain "balanced" or upright.  Then last week the relevant point to this discussion was that orchestration is happening constantly and it is a subconscious response of the brain to a given demand, a process of deciding which muscles not to use to solve a particular problem or complete a particular task based on, among other things, which muscles do not have the mechanical and/or physiological capability to help out, leaving only the ones that do.

So, if keeping your COM over your BOS is the demand that is placed on your system, your brain will find a way to go about solving this.  Which means if this challenge is presented to the system at a time when there is injured tissue or tissue that is not contracting particularly efficiently, the brain will still do its best to figure out a way to keep COM over BOS.  If it is successful in doing so, I don't think it is too far of a leap to question the extent to which the tissue that is injured or not contracting efficiently was used in the process of solving this COM over BOS problem, if it was at all.

Which leads me to question whether these balance exercises, when used in a post-injury setting, are actually training or helping the injured tissue recover and heal or if they are just simply reinforcing a compensatory pattern where you are learning to use all of the other muscles to get the job done.

You can see the potential snowball effect this can create where now, not only is this injured tissue potentially not participating in the recovery process as much as was originally thought, but the body is being trained in a "weak stay weak, strong get stronger" manner, as well.

If an assessment and exercise process was applied that allowed the practitioner to determine which tissue was not participating fully and then prescribe a specific force application to that tissue, that to me seems like a more reasonable way to focus on the tissue that you are trying to heal.

Muscle Activation Techniques™ is one potential way to go about this, but, as always, there needs to be caution used when prescribing force as you may be imposing a demand in an attempt to create a response that the body really doesn't want created at this particular moment in time.  Additionally, being able to understand the principles of exercise design and force application as presented in the RTS™ courses would be highly useful, especially in terms of progressing someone to the point of being able to use that tissue as much as their body will allow.

Looking back on this post as well as the previous three in this series, what information was left out that would have been useful to discuss or present?  Let me know below!

Inter­ested in find­ing out more? Check out the “Mus­cle Acti­va­tion Tech­niques™” page or sign up to take RTS™.

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

Your body.  Your training.

Want to use this arti­cle in your blog, newslet­ter, or other plat­form? You may, but be sure to include all of the bio­graph­i­cal infor­ma­tion found in the yellow box below!

"Organic" Exercise

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Many people understand that in order for their body to work as best as it can, they should not be eating a diet based around Doritos and cupcakes.  However, when it comes to the forces they decide to apply to their structure through exercise, it seems as if most are stuck on a metaphorical dessert-heavy diet.While what they are currently doing may seem more fun or entertaining than its "organic" counterpart, understand that if you only eat the foods that are high in sugar or highly processed, eventually you are probably not going to feel too well.  Likewise, only doing the high-intensity, made-for-tv-esque exercise may be appropriate for your body from time to time, but if that's all you are doing, eventually you are probably not going to feel too well.

Like the stomach ache that comes from eating too much pizza telling you to eat something different if you are going to eat that much (and remember you can't have ice cream unless you finish all of your pizza), the little muscle twinges and soreness that leads to the little joint aches and pains is your body saying, "Hey, if you want to keep exercising that's cool, but you have to give me something different."

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One way to be able to keep doing your Krispy Kreme exercises--the ones that may make you feel pretty good in the immediate and short term but if that's all you are doing you may start to feel pretty crappy--is to balance it out with some "organic" exercise, something like Muscle Activation Techniques™, something that is designed to kind of give your body what it may be needing at that moment and may allow you to continue to participate in everything else you want to do for longer with fewer negative consequences.

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I like cheesecake.  Now, I haven't had cheesecake in years, but if that was all I ate every day, and, more importantly, if that cheesecake was not giving my body what it needed to work optimally, I would have to start eating something else to make sure I could keep eating my cheesecake for years to come.  And, just like eating a garden-fresh salad with grass-fed/grass-finished sirloin doesn't have to taste terrible, participating in "organic" exercise doesn't have to be boring.  In fact, with the proper guidance and consultation, it can be really fun and allow you to feel sensations you haven't ever felt before while exercising.

Are you making sure to consume some "organic" exercise so you can keep consuming your Krispy Kreme workouts?

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.

Want to use this arti­cle in your blog, newslet­ter, or other plat­form? You may, but be sure to include all of the bio­graph­i­cal infor­ma­tion found in the yellow box below!

MAT and Aging

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Last Monday I talked about raising the set point of the neuromuscular system in terms of its ability to have greater magnitudes of force placed upon it without having a decrease in its contractile efficiency.

One thing you tend to see with people as they age is the set point of their neuromuscular system begins to get lower and lower.  Activities that they used to be able to do day after day may now cause them to feel sore or achy.  They are not able to recover as quickly from these activities, which in turn may lead them to doing them less often or stopping altogether.  If enough of their physical activities are ceased, the opportunities to have appropriate forces placed upon their system in order to provide a positive stimulus may become infrequent enough that their set point begins to lower at a more rapid rate.  This, in turn, may feed the cycle of doing less than they previously could.In other words:

• As your body ages and is able to tolerate less physical activity, you may do less in order to keep feeling good

• As you do less, you may end up exposing yourself to lower amounts of appropriate and positive stimuli

• Less exposure may mean less positive responses and, ultimately, fewer positive adaptations gleaned

• If these responses and adaptations become few enough and infrequent enough, your physical decline may become more rapid

As discussed last week, one way to possibly raise your set point and potentially combat this regressive neruomuscular process is by participating in Muscle Activation Techniques™ sessions.  Since your body tends to physically regress as you age, having a means by which to not only potentially slow this regression, but also possibly improve upon your current status, can be a valuable asset in allowing you to:

• Continue doing the activities you enjoy

• Slow down the feeling of "getting old"

• Feel less "beat up", tired, sore, or achy on a day to day basis

• Return to activities you haven't done in years

Do you want to continue to engage in physical activities that feel good and that you enjoy as you age?

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.

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!

MAT is a Process

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One of the biggest challenges I have faced so far as a Muscle Activation Techniques™ Specialist is getting the clients I work with to buy into the fact that MAT is a process.  I am certainly to blame for most of this difficulty as I think early on I may have been promoting it as something else.  So let me take this opportunity to say that MAT is not a quick fix, one and done type of modality.  It is not a form of treatment or therapy or healing intervention.  It is a form of exercise; an applied stimulus--force into tissue--attempting to create a response and adaptation--improved contractile efficiency and increased set point.*

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Just like any other form of exercise, the adaptations that are created will not be maintained if an appropriate stimulus is not provided at appropriate time intervals.  Let's say you build your squat up so you can lift 4oo pounds.  After you hit that weight once, you get to keep those strength levels forever without lifting again, right?  Not likely.

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Or let's say you are a runner and you run a sub five minute mile.  After you do that once you don't ever have to exercise again and can continue to maintain that level of conditioning, right?  Improbable.

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Or what about in terms of weight loss?  After you work really hard to drop twenty pounds you don't ever have to exercise again in order to keep that weight off, correct?  Eh, not exactly.

The same holds true for MAT.  You expose yourself to a stimulus, which may create a response.  If you expose yourself to that stimulus frequently enough, an adaptation may occur.  If that initial response does not hold or last forever, does it mean MAT didn't work?  Well, if you lose the weight you want to but don't continue with the process and put the weight back on, does it mean exercise didn't work? (Idea courtesy of Matthew Bernier)

There may be some relief of discomfort that comes from participating in a Muscle Activation Techniques™ session.  If so, awesome, but that doesn't mean anything has been "fixed".  Fixing implies a level of permanency, which is not exactly the case when dealing with a tissue or material that is able to adapt.  Additionally, as explained by Jacques Taylor, there may be some adaptations that have occurred to the tissue in question over the period of time when it was not contracting as efficiently.  Despite any relief of discomfort or change in sensation, there is still a process that may have to occur of providing a greater and greater stimulus in order to condition the tissue to contract efficiently after being exposed to higher intensities and/or greater volumes of force.

If this process is not allowed to occur, potentially because somebody experiences initial relief of discomfort from MAT and then does not return to it, there may be a greater likelihood that the initial discomfort is experienced at a later point in time.  Just like the examples of more traditional forms of exercise given above, this does not mean that the stimulus was not effective at creating a response, but rather that continued exposure to that stimulus (or other stimuli) may be necessary in order to create an adaptation that lasts a bit longer.

MAT is a form of exercise that does not look like traditional exercise.  If you stopped exercising forever, would you be upset that exercise didn't work because all of the positive adaptations that were created started to diminish?

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.

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!

*I'll expand on these ideas in future posts.