What is Muscle Activation Techniques?
Muscle Activation Techniques w/ Master Level Specialist Kevin Votta
Muscle Activation Techniques
Muscle Activation Techniques w/ Master Level Specialist Kevin Votta
Muscle Activation Techniques by Greg Roskopf is an exercise tool that takes a systematic approach to removing muscle inhibition and weakness from the body. This tool when applied by a skilled practitioner can eliminate pain and completely alter ones muscular efficiency. This is not another modality that provides a band aid solution to your problems!
Here ere are some questions we hear often when people are looking into MAT:
How exactly does it work?
What do I do to reactivate muscles?
What can I expect from a typical session?
What is the purpose MAT?
These are very good questions, especially if it is your first time trying out MAT (Muscle Activation Technique), below we will have your answers!
How Does Muscle Activation Work?
Muscle Activation Techniques is a process that helps maintain your muscles potential strength while correcting muscular imbalances. Personal trainers certified in MAT can identify weak muscle, or muscles that are no longer correctly communicating with the brain. The muscle activation techniques specialist then uses exercises and a very specific palpation techniques to target and strengthen these weak areas.
The basic theory of Muscle Activation Techniques is that muscular tightness is secondary to muscular weakness. This muscular weakness results in tight and restricted ranges of motion as the body tightens up to protect against weakness. By examining where the clients ranges of motion are limited a Master MAT specialist can get to the the root cause of that imbalance. As mentioned earlier this is not a band aid approach to solving your neuromuscular issues and takes a skilled practitioner.
An example of this would be, if your right hamstring is tight, an activation specialist would look at your right quadricep, your hip flexors, and possibly even your core muscles to track down the muscles that had become weak, and therefor causing the right hamstring to remain tight. Muscle tightness is secondary to muscle weakness. This is one of the foundational differences with MAT that separates it from other modalities.
Another main focus of these muscle techniques is the communication between your muscles and brain. In fact, that intricate process is the a major part of how muscle activation techniques works. When a muscle is too weak to stabilize a joint, your brain sends a signal to the other muscles to tighten up keep you from doing long term damage to the joint those weak muscle cross. However, some of your muscles can no longer communicate with your nervous system, usually due to inflammation. This causes the muscles that are properly working to wear down and become chronically inflamed causing lasting joint damage. The the muscles that don't get the signal from the nervous system get weaker and weaker leading to chronic pain.
How do I reactivate my muscles?
Once any of your muscles have become deactivated it is very unlikely that they will start to reactivate with out external intervention.
This is where muscle activation techniques can help you restore your body's function and decrease pain.
Personal Trainers, chiropractors, massage therapist and physical therapist certified in muscle activation techniques walk you through exercises specific to your weakness in order to strengthen those weak muscles. In the event that the brain is having trouble connecting with these weak muscle the specialist and employ a manual palpation technique to activate the receptor in the muscle responsible for communicating with the nervous system. These exercises and or palpations help improve the communication between your muscles and brain. They focus on fixing the way your muscles contract and more evenly distributing work among your muscle groups. Improving all these aspects will help eliminate inflammation and disfunction from body and your muscles. By removing the inflammation and disfunction in your muscles you can expect to have a great increase in your range of motion and over all health.
What to Expect
Now that you know a bit more about how Muscle Activation Technique by Greg Roskopf works, what can you expect from a typical muscle activation session?
In order for MAT to be effective, your Muscle Activation Techniques trainer will need to get a good idea of how your body has been operating. The first session will consist of an extensive discussion about your health history. This usually involves your injury history and training.
The next step is an examination of your current ranges of motion at all the moveable joints in your body. This will involve things like raising your legs, twisting your waist. These tests help identify your biggest limitations so your Master MAT trainer can formulate a proper plan.
The next step involves a manual muscle test in a specific position and direction of force in order to emphasize certain muscle tissue. If your muscle test is strong, you will move on to the next muscle. However if the muscle does not immediately contract and continue to sustain that contraction, you will move to the next step.
Your MAT trainer will then formulate a plan in order to increase your muscles ability to contract. They will constantly retest your muscles to see which method of activation is the most effective for your body. Their ultimate goal is to get all the muscles related to that specific position and range of motion to test strong.
Your Muscle Activation Techniques trainer will then formulate a plan in order to increase your muscles ability to contract. You will constantly have your muscles retested to see which method of activation is the most effective for your body. The ultimate goal during your session is to get all the muscles related to that specific position and range of motion to test strong.
What to Expect After your MAT Session
After your session of there is one of three things that could experience as a result of your muscle being activated.
You will get off the treatment table and experience a euphoric feeling, a feeling of lightness and free of pain. This happens in approximately 35% of the clients I see. This is usually not something that a client who has been experiencing a large deal of pain will experience after their first session and typically shows up in our clients that are looking to gain better body performance in their given area of interest. ie golf, running, working out
You will notice nothing. Muscle Activation Techniques is a process and there for takes time. The clients whom have been dealing with pain for an extended period of time are usually the clients that will have this response. It does not mean Muscle Activation Techniques will not work for them. The amount of inflammation these clients typically have in their body is much higher then most. This inflammation weakens the signal we are looking to reestablish and enhance with Muscle Activation Techniques. Typically after 2 sessions these clients will start to feel an improvement.
You will notice pain show up in an area of your body you had not felt it before. Not to worry this again because this is a process and your body will take time to heal from the years of hidden abuse that have been taking place. This pain is actually a good indicator of how muscle activation techniques is working in your body. As we activate muscles your body will start to move differently, stressing different muscles, and potentially causing this pain. Not to worry as this is usually a short term discomfort as your body become more stable.
In all my years of performing muscle activation techniques with my clients I have yet to work with a client that did not get results. The biggest variable with muscle activation techniques and any type of strengthening is time. Trust the process and your body will thank you!
The Benefits of Muscle Activation Techniques
Now that we know how MAT works and what to expect from a session, let's talk about the benefits of Muscle Activation Techniques a bit. There are many great benefits when it comes to Muscle Activation Technique and training. These benefits can help improve your quality of life and overall health. Some notable benefits:
Increased Strength
Improved Coordination
Improved Flexibility
Lower Risk of Injury
Less Pain
Lower Risk of Injury
Less Inflammation
Weight Loss
Better Sleep
Improved Mood
Increased sports performance
Increased Cardiovascular performance
The benefits of Muscle Activation Techniques do not stop here! I have been working with peoples' bodies for the better part of 20 years and I have seen just about every condition of human come though our doors. This exposure to so many different shapes, sizes and ailments gives me a unique advantage over the competition. Combining my experience with a tool like Muscle Activation Techniques and corrective exercises and you have a WINNING combination that can over come and eliminate any neuromuscular condition you can throw at us!
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Muscle Activation Techniques and Pain
Here are just a few common conditions that we have been able to help with Greg Roskopf's Muscle Activation Techniques :
Back pain
Knee pain
Foot pain
Patella femoral syndrome
Neck stiffness
Shoulder pain
Rotator cuff pain
Plantar pain
Flat feet
Tight hamstrings
Tight hips
Hip pain
Lack of flexibility
Shoulder pain
Hand pain
Wrist pain
Elbo pain
Painful movement
Lack of balance
Increase in muscular system efficiency
Improved range of motion
Get back to doing what you love doing PAIN FREE!
The Takeaway
In the end, Muscle Activation Technique is a revolutionary process meant to strengthen your muscles and improve their communication with the brain, ie your muscular system. Muscle Activation Techniques is extremely effective and comes with many great benefits. If you are looking for a better way to maintain your muscles, improve your day to day function, and live in a relatively pain free body working with a Master Specialist is a great option.
Get back to doing what you love doing PAIN FREE!
Next Steps!
I encourage you to check out our blog 5 benefits MAT has on your body, if you want more information about Muscle Activation Techniques. We also have a number of blogs that cover various topics concerning muscle activation techniques you can find from the home page. We offer many other programs as well, such as corrective exercise, golf performance keto coaching and more. I have been a personal trainer for over 17 years now with a drive and passion to continuously learn about how I can best help our clients achieve their goals. I have a good idea of what works and what doesn’t. I have also specialized in MAT since 2008, and have helped many clients get treatment and results. If you are interested, I encourage you to get in contact so we can figure out the best way to approach your goals together.