To understand how MAT (Muscle Activation Techniques) works you have to understand why joints and muscles become inflamed and painful in the first place. Every muscle in the body does its part to stabilize the joint(s) it surrounds. Through blunt trauma, overuse or sedentary lifestyles, to name a few, those muscles become inhibited or loose the connection from our brain to contract. The body IMMEDIATELY recognizes that muscle is no longer doing what it should, which is to help stabilize the joint. As a result the joint is less stable and more prone to injury. The body knows this and in an act to prevent injury, tightens up all sorts of other muscles not even related to the problem. This is why many attempts to stretch a chronically tight muscle are futile and temporary at best. To free up those tight muscles that muscle inhibition MUST be addressed. MAT is a manual form of therapy that finds the muscles that aren’t working and turns them back on! This addresses the root cause of the pain and not just the symptoms associated with the tightness. As a result the body senses stability and immediately frees up the tight muscles. This allows for a normal range of motion to be restored and eliminates muscle overcompensation as a result of proper recruitment of the surrounding muscles.