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Muscle Activation Jumpstart Techniques

Muscle pain and fatigue symptoms are often the result of imbalances that develop within a group of joints and muscles. Over time, certain muscles weaken while other muscles attempt to compensate for the weak ones. Muscle Activation Techniques (MAT) address the communication processes that form between brain and muscle movements. By isolating certain muscle movements, these techniques work to jumpstart weakened muscle groups and provide relief for pain and fatigue symptoms.

  1. Brain-Muscle Communication

    • Brain-muscle communication processes determine how muscles contract and expand when performing certain movements. According to the Muscle Activation Techniques website, the body's muscle movements are coordinated by sensory receptors that transmit signals to the brain. If certain receptors fail to communicate information to the brain, a muscle can develop improper or imbalanced movement habits. Muscle Activation Techniques are designed to promote full-range muscle movement by reprogramming brain-muscle communication processes. This is accomplished through jumpstart techniques which work to isolate specific muscles or specific muscle fibers. By combining light resistance with graduated muscle contraction movements, communication between the brain, sensory receptors and muscles work to produce full range, coordinated movements.

    Strengthening

    • Some of the Muscle Activation Techniques use isometric exercises to strengthen weakened muscle groups. According to the Muscle Activation Techniques website, weakened muscles can develop improper movement patterns which will cause other muscles to compensate. Over time, overused muscle groups grow tense and start to develop pain and fatigue symptoms. Isometric exercises are a form of resistance training that requires muscles to work against an immovable object for measured periods of time. This technique is designed to keep any connecting joints stationary while the muscles create their own resistance. In effect, this method isolates specific muscles or areas of a muscle, which is how MAT retrains the communication that take place within the brain.

    Tension Relief

    • Muscle Activation Techniques work according to a philosophy known as the law of reciprocal inhibition. This philosophy refers to how two opposing muscles---like the quadriceps and hamstrings---must work together when moving. This means one muscle contracts while the other muscle relaxes. Muscle tension develops when communication between the contracting muscle and the brain is unclear. As a result, the other muscle attempts to compensate for imbalanced movements made by the contracting muscle. In effect, the other muscle becomes overworked while the contracting muscle loses its full range of movement. By identifying weakened muscle pairs and focusing in on the malfunctioning muscle, the overworked muscle experiences a gradual relief in tension. Ultimately, muscle pairs work together in order to protect associated joint functions and allow for a normal range of motion within a connecting joint. As a result, exercise techniques use specific joint positions when working with muscle groups in order to jumpstart communications between the brain and weakened muscle fibers.

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