Ever wonder what musculoskeletal specialists do for their clientele?
First think of what a musculoskeletal system is in the first place; the musculoskeletal system provides stability, support, general form, and overall ability of movement for the human body to function. This body system is combined of muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments, joints, and other connective tissue that creates the support system which contributes to comprehensive movement.
Healthcare professionals that study the musculoskeletal system take interest in the body's ability to integrate movements, assess different ranges of motion, and take note in overall mobility. Common careers of musculoskeletal specialists that work with muscles are physical therapists, massage therapists, athletic trainers, exercise physiologists, recreational therapists, osteopaths, chiropractors, physical therapists-aide, Muscle Activation Techniques® (MAT®) Practitioners, et al.
Speaking from a Muscle Activation Techniques Specialist's point of view, we look at the muscular system and its role in joint stability, fatigue, chronic pain, and injury. Musculoskeletal specialists using MAT look at each individual client's structure and seek to understand their unique function accordingly.
Greg Roskopf, founder and developer of MAT explains how there is a direct correlation with MAT and improving muscle function. He states:
"When the mechanoreceptor input gets desensitized, i.e. you have muscles not contracting efficiently, "weak" in MAT terminology. The sensitivity of nociceptors, your pain receptors, increases. It takes less physical stress to create a pain response when the muscles are weak. When the muscles are strong and you increase the sensitivity of the muscle spindle through Muscle Activation Techniques and the muscle can fire and fire on demand, they can tolerate greater amounts of force, which decreases the sensitivity of the nociceptors. Now it will require more for physical stress to create a pain response."
The MAT modality can help create an environment where the body can tolerate greater amounts of force which in turn can provide an environment for healing. MAT is a revolutionary and non-invasive approach to assess and correct a client's muscular system in order to create optimal movement.
Learn from amazing MAT client Audra. Audra was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy type 4 (a form of muscular dystrophy) and is grateful for the progress that she has had with Muscle Activation Techniques.