Q & A

MAT does not force change on the body but instead works with it to make improvements, causing changes in motion via improvements in muscle contraction. An MAT specialist listens to your body’s responses and changes their treatment decisions based on these responses. Each client is treated as an individual with their own muscular weaknesses and compensation patterns. Therefore, no treatment session is ever the same.

MAT does not diagnose or treat pathology, but works to improve a muscle’s contractile capabilities and the resulting range of motion and strength of that muscle/limb. By improving these aspects, a person will see an increased ability for exercise and physical performance.

MAT differentiates itself from other techniques because it never attempts to directly lengthen or change the muscle by stretching, heating, kneading, or foam rolling. MAT is not trying to “relax” muscle but instead tries to “activate” the muscle, so that your body is better prepared to handle the forces that come from exercise and everyday movements.

The first and major indication is that something may not feel right. This can be seen as joint pain, muscle tension, or instability of a joint, or in other words tight hamstrings, tight lower back, shin splints, aching knees, or a hyper-extended joint. Any feelings of pain or tightness can be signs of possible muscle weakness.

Yes! MAT is an exercise-based process and research on exercise and its ability to improve health is well established. It is acknowledged that muscles are designed to stabilize the joints, so any improvement in muscle function may prevent the loss of physical performance often associated with arthritis and aging.

Many times a loss in muscle mass, or sarcopenia, is seen with aging. Because MAT ensures that each muscle is receiving a signal to contract, when you exercise with load, your body will now have the ability to maintain or gain muscle mass, thus reducing or eliminating sarcopenia. This can also reduce joint stresses that lead to, or exacerbate, arthritic conditions.

MAT is a technique that helps athletes recover from competitive stress quickly and help them prevent future injuries. MAT prepares the body to be more efficient in training and athletic performance. In order to reach optimal performance capabilities, an athlete is forced to train at high-intensity levels. Because of this, there is always the risk of injury. Some athletes may be predisposed to an injury, due to muscular contraction inefficiencies that place increased stress on joints and tissues. When training at a high level, these inefficiencies are magnified, and sometimes the body can no longer handle the stress, eventually breaking down. It is like driving a car with bad alignment. The faster you drive it, the faster the tires are going to wear out. The body functions in much the same way.

The goal of MAT is to address the weakness before an injury occurs. Conventional therapy will typically treat the symptom, but the cause of the problem is typically left unaddressed. The end result is that the athlete does not heal, or they go on to experience repetitive injuries, or a more severe injury. MAT not only helps to prevent injuries, but it can also assist the rehabilitation process. By balancing the muscular system, MAT® provides an improved environment for restoring physical performance. This allows the athlete to return to sports sooner with improved athletic capabilities.

The answer is – maybe. If you have muscles that have been weakened due to prolonged stress or sudden trauma, then moving them into a position of vulnerability (contraction) may result in other muscles taking over or compensating. This leads to the weak muscles staying weak and the strong muscles getting stronger. This can lead to joint deterioration and chronic problems like tendonitis and arthritis due to imbalanced forces acting on the joint. The best course of action is to properly assess which specific motions are limited and which muscles are weakened and then to take a course of action to improve your muscle function.

MAT can tell you which muscles are weak, and then give you the tools to improve these weaknesses, so that you can get back to participating in the sports/activities that you enjoy from a position of strength.

Just about anything dealing with pain and loss of range of motion, Celaine has experience working with Scoliosis, arthritis, carpal tunnel, plantar fascitis, hip pain, knee pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, back pain, repetitive injuries, frozen shoulder, Sciatica, joint pain, overuse injuries, bulging spinal discs, and more! Please contact Celaine if you have any questions about a specific problem you’re dealing with. 970-724-4433

Yes! However, we do ask that you get cleared for normal activities by your Physical Therapist before beginning MAT treatment. The reason is, MAT works through specific muscle testing and we don’t want to put too much strain on a muscle before it’s had a chance to fully heal from surgery.

MAT is very complimentary to chiropractic, massage, and acupuncture, however, receiving acupuncture, massage, or chiropractic is not required for MAT treatment to work.

Possibly! We have seen a few cases where MAT helped a client enough that they were able to completely avoid surgery. However, every person’s body is different, and it depends on how advanced a problem is.

An example would be bulging spinal discs. MAT can definitely help stop the progression of the bulging discs and can prevent other discs from starting to bulge as well. However, MAT may not be enough to move the already bulging discs back into their correct position. Please call or text 970-724-4433 if you’d like to discuss your case with Celaine directly.