Muscle Activation Idaho

MAT is a hands-on modality used by Certified Practitioners in a personalized client session to help strengthen the connection within inflicted muscles that are affecting a client’s movement. This is done by helping enhance the neurofeedback communication between the brain and the muscles that are failing to subconsciously contract on demand.

MAT is useful in physical rehabilitation because it targets and specifically strengthens muscles that may have been affected negatively due to stress, trauma, or overuse, thus causing impaired connection and reduced functionality.

When speaking about “weakness” or “strength” in relation to muscles and MAT, we are referring to the neurological response and reaction that the muscle has when contracting on demand. For instance, when a muscle is “weak”, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the muscle is weak in the classical or traditional sense, we mean that the muscle was unable to perform appropriately when tested with its respected muscle test (i.e. failing to contract efficiently).

MAT can be utilized as a "checks and balances system" to help reduce joint injuries relating to instability and overuse. The goal of an MAT Practitioner is to maintain or even increase range of motion and create stability throughout the body. When the muscles are properly firing, the body feels stable, therefore creating more mobility.

Want to start learning MAT for your practice? Start here with our Jumpstart Course: https://muscleactivation.com/jumpstart-ebook-videos/

Stress, Trauma & Overuse will break the body down.

MAT can begin to restore the neuromuscular system. It's the most powerful modality available! ❤️

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💬 A Message From Greg Roskopf: Chemical, physical, and emotional stress all take their toll on the muscular system. When our individual stress tolerance levels have been exceeded, it shows up as muscle weakness.

Naturally, people get "weaker" as they age and tolerance levels, relative to stress or forces put on the body, continue to decline. And therefore, the majority of people we see as MAT Practitioners are in this "over-trained" state.

You know the drill – poor sleep, poor digestion, increased irritability, constant muscle aches and pains, and overall weakness are all signs of "overtraining" and create extreme stress on the body.

Muscle weakness (otherwise known as muscle inhibition) is the result of the inability of muscles to effectively tolerate the forces that have been placed on them. These weaknesses are what make us more prone to injury.

Forces are placed on the body every day. Remember that we define "forces" as any physical, emotional, or chemical stress. From a neuromuscular standpoint, daily life beats us up and someone needs to be there to put you back together.

Think about it like professional car racing — the racers will drive their cars hard, but afterward, the car is taken back to the mechanic and repaired in order to continue to function optimally. The mechanic tunes it back up and corrects the alignment all so that it can be driven at a high level again.

In reality, we treat race cars better than we treat our bodies. We continually place forces on our bodies that can potentially exceed tolerance levels. This in turn alters neuromuscular function. But then we go right back out and beat ourselves up repeatedly without putting the body back together first.

Negative things happen – i.e. tightness, pain, inability to heal, and injury! So, as our summers get busy with activities, remember to be kind to our bodies.

Get restful sleep, drink lots of water, see your local practitioner for a tune-up, and continue to make a difference in this world!

- Greg Roskopf
MAT Founder

Perfectly stated!

Call us to schedule your MAT session today. 406-261-0193

💬 A Message From Greg Roskopf: Is Exercise Really a "Cure-All"?

Exercise has been classified as the cure-all for every disease out there — e.g. coronary heart disease, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, etc.

It has been widely accepted in the medical community that inflammation is the common denominator for every disease, but exercise is also a stress that involves forces being placed on the body. If these forces exceed the tolerance levels of the muscles, inflammatory issues can be compounded.

When the body can’t tolerate the forces placed upon it, negative things happen. The end result is an increase in inflammation, which again, is the primary factor behind disease.

Inflammation, through its normal cycle, has positive effects on the body. The whole reason that we have an inflammatory response is to repair damaged tissue. When muscle tissues are overloaded, the resultant inflammatory signals are sent to the damaged tissue to begin a healing response. This cycle of inflammation requires time.

When we were young, we could typically recover and heal from exercise. In that environment, the muscles actually got stronger and we would achieve the positive health aspects expected from exercise.

The primary goal of resistance training is to overload the muscles to a point where those muscles get damaged, creating a low-grade inflammatory response. Through the normal cycle of inflammation, the muscles will heal and get stronger.

In the right environment, inflammation is not a bad thing — it is when the inflammatory response does not get resolved that problems will arise. Unresolved or chronic inflammation is what causes the health issues that relate to the inflammatory diseases listed earlier.

When muscles get overloaded through daily activity, the end result is an inflammatory response. One of the associated signs of inflammation is muscle weakness, therefore I encourage each of you to continue your health journey in seeing an MAT Practitioner who can help keep your muscular system's integrity optimal for an increased quality of life!

Our muscles tighten up to protect—like walking on ice. The body will present pain if the tightness is not addressed. MAT is a systematic, rules-based approach to treat muscle dysfunction.

If you've had clients who've struggled with nagging injuries, reoccurring tightness, and unresolved pain then you'll want to learn Muscle Activation techniques to help address their muscle dysfunctions.