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WHAT IS MUSCLE ACTIVATION TECHNIQUES®[MAT]?
MAT® is a biomechanically based manual therapy. It has helped many individuals from the sedentary office worker to the professional athlete. MAT® uses a systematic approach to identifying and treating muscular imbalances. These imbalances often result in increased muscle tension, decreased movement ability, compensation patterns, joint deterioration, and pain.
MAT® involves a unique process of active and passive [range of motion] assessment(s) of joints, manual muscle testing, and precision palpative muscular therapy. This process is followed by corrective isometric exercise.
The goal of MAT® is to restore functional and efficient pain free movement. Most importantly MAT® restores stability within this movement.
MAT® can benefit those with acute or chronic muscular problems.
MAT® bridges the gap between rehabilitation and fitness to optimize physical performance.
MAT® can work in conjunction with other forms of therapy such as physical therapy, chiropractic, or osteopathic work.
“After heart surgery in 2001, to replace and repair heart valves, I was unable to walk a straight line. I started strength training under Sharon Caffrey nine years ago and the result is amazing. I am now 84 years old, free of the wheelchair I was using, and feeling better than I have for years. I have a M.A.T. session with her once a month, in addition to the weekly training session, and that keeps my arthritis and other age-related pains at bay. I thank the Lord for sending Sharon into my life!”
– Virginia (Ginny) Hendricks, Blacksburg, VA
HOW IS MUSCLE ACTIVATION TECHNIQUES [MAT] DIFFERENT?
Most manual therapies primarily address muscular tightness. MAT treats muscle weakness primarily and tightness secondly.
Muscles function as movers and stabilizers of the skeletal system. Muscles stabilize bones at their joints and move bones through a specific range of motion [ROM] in a joint. When a muscle senses instability and therefore an inability to control movement through an ROM, the muscle then tightens to protect that joint. This is because it is easier to control a shorter ROM as compared to a large ROM. Muscles tighten to protect the body. This is a great and useful thing the body does!
Think about walking on the unstable surface of ice. Your muscles automatically tighten to shorten ROM so you will have more control as you walk with shorter steps.
Unfortunately, muscles [often groups of muscles] sometimes stay tight for long periods of time. This can lead to mechanical compensation patterns throughout the body. These compensations make it possible for the body to continue to mechanically function [i.e. having a limp in your stride], albeit with much less mechanical efficiency. These inefficient compensation patterns with limited ROM at one or many joints leads to an unnatural and uneven joint wear pattern. This wearing of the joint often results in osteoarthritis and arthritic joint pain. However, pain can also occur almost immediately with decreased ROM within a joint. This is why MAT can help with acute injuries as well as chronic muscular and joint issues.
MAT recognizes the interconnectedness of all joints in the body. In this regard, a problem at the hip could possibly cause a problem at the knee.
An analogous example of this can be seen in a bridge being held by cable wires. Each cable wire is designed to have a specific amount of tension in order to stabilize [support] the bridge. If one or more of the wires is weakened due to trauma, all the other wires will have to bear more of the bridge’s structural load. The other cable wires on the bridge may be able to compensate for a while but just like the human body, not indefinitely. The goal of MAT is to restore functional and efficient movement by encouraging acutely or chronically traumatized muscles to do their job. This allows more ROM in affected joints and gained stability with this restored mobility.
Recommended Sites
Sites that explain how the human body mechanically functions:
Sites that are personally important: