What about strength training, stretching, or even yoga – Can’t these correct weakened muscles?

 

The answer is – maybe. If you have muscles that have been weakened due to prolonged stress or sudden trauma, then moving into a position of vulnerability (meaning a position that needs the weakened muscle to contract) may result in other muscles taking over the job of the weakened muscles. This leads to the weak staying weak and the strong getting stronger. We tend to mask our weakness by developing strength in those muscles that already contract efficiently. 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 is a checks and balances system that will allow you to determine which postures, exercises, and activities involve positions of vulnerability. It will then give you the tools to improvement your specific muscle weakness so that you can move back into these postures, exercises and activities more safely—from a position of strength.