Reversing “Permanent” Injuries – An Interview With An Expert

I am a big believer that if you take care of your body not only will you be a better athlete, but it will also help you prevent injuries down the road.  In my opinion, injuries occur when your body is not aligned, imbalances form, and then muscles give way to injuries because they are either too weak or have had way too much stress put on them based on these imbalances.

How do you keep your body aligned?

A good strength training workout would be a place to start.  You want to make sure you hit all the muscle groups – front and back, right and left.  But, what if your body was screwed up before you started strength training?  As a kid, usually our bodies are fine.  I’ve got a picture on my Facebook fanpage of my youngest squatting when she was around 1 1/2.  Perfect form.

As we get older, we get away from proper movement patterns.  The easiest way for a movement isn’t necessarily the best way.  Thus the misalignment begins.

Stretching won’t really help if your body is out of whack.  Your just continuing to stretch a muscle that isn’t strong or not exactly in the right place.  But good news, there are new methods out there that can help you.  Throughout the upcoming months, I’m going to be talking about those methods and having those experts guest post on my blog so you can get really familiar with these practices.

But, don’t wait until you have an injury, start your prevention today.

When I was an aspiring high school athlete, I only saw a trainer when I got hurt.  But, if you had told me I could do say a Muscle Activation Technique series that would potentially have prevented the plantar fasciitis that I have now 20 years later, I probably would have jumped on it.  That plantar fasciitis was probably started with a wrong movement pattern and the injury just manifested itself over time.

Your body is just like a car.  Keep it coming in for its regular tune-ups and you won’t have the major repair to deal with down the line.  For an athlete, this is KEY.  All the practicing, strength training, or speed training will not mean a darn thing, if your body is constantly injured.  Prevent those injuries from happening.

Today, I’m going to talk about the Muscle Activation Technique (M.A.T.) and interviewing Charlie Rowe, who is a specialist that has been working on me.  Hopefully, these questions will give you a little more insight on how M.A.T. might be able to help you out.  At the end of our interview, I’ll give a couple websites where you can find a M.A.T. specialist in your area.

AK – Who you are, where you work at, and how long you been there?

CR – Charlie Rowe, I work at Physicians Fitness at our Dublin Clinic.  We work with people who are frustrated by muscular aches and joint pain, and are discouraged because they haven’t found anything else to resolve their issues.  I will have been there 5 years come October 1st.

AK – What is your background (past work experience, education, certifications)?

CR – My background is in Personal Training.  I worked at Oak Hill CC in their Fitness Center in Rochester, NY prior to moving here to Columbus, OH.  I am a certified Health/Fitness Specialist through the American College of Sports Medicine, a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association, a Certified Personal Trainer through the Cooper Clinic, and a Muscle Activation Technique Specialist.

AK – In simplistic terms what is M.A.T.?

CR – MAT is a systematic approach to identifying and addressing muscular dysfunction that could be contributing to people’s muscular aches and joint pain.

AK – Why would we choose M.A.T. over say conventional doctor’s orders (therapy, surgery, drugs, etc.)?

CR – MAT gets to the root of the persons problem.  Conventional doctor’s orders mainly focus on dealing with the symptom.  The symptom may get resolved, but then after an amount of time come back again.  MAT  treats the problem and not the symptom.  If someone’s problem is coming from the muscular system MAT will find it.

AK – What injuries does M.A.T. improve and out of those injuries what are the one or two most common that you have seen and been able to rectify?

CR – MAT can help all injuries.  The most popular complaint is low back pain.  But we have had success with all issues.  Helping people resolve their issues can vary person to person based on age, how much wear and tear their body has endured and how long their body has lived in compensation or dysfunction.