How is MAT™ different from other forms of therapy?
Current forms of therapy and exercise recognize muscle tightness as the primary factor that leads to pain or injury. The MAT process is radically different. It looks at muscle weakness, rather than muscle tightness as the cause of limitations in range of motion. Muscle tightness is not only secondary, but it is the end product or reciprocal muscle weakness. When the body recognizes instability (muscle weakness) it is designed to protect itself. It sends messages to surrounding muscles to tighten up in an attempt to support and protect the joint. A good illustration of this is when we walk on ice; the body recognizes instability and attempts to protect itself by contracting various muscles throughout the body. With a systematic evaluation procedure which correlates limitations in range of motion to muscle weakness, MAT treats the weak muscles in order to address the instability. In turn, the protective contractions diminish, which typically results in an increase in joint range of motio
