I recently tweaked my lower back…AGAIN… lifting about a week and a half ago.  I’m getting kind of tired of this happening.  And no, I’m not accepting the fact that I’m getting older and this is a “fact of getting older”.

If you have followed my blog posts, you know that I believe in something called Muscle Activation Technique (MAT).  I first used MAT to get rid of my plantar fasciitis and it did.

Basically, my MAT specialist, Charlie Rowe, assessed my body, discovered where my muscular imbalances lie, and then starting to reprogram the nervous system to get dormant muscles firing again.

I had already scheduled a MAT session with Charlie prior to my tweaking so when I went for our session, my back was very achy.  My range of motion to my right side was abysmal.

REMINDER: In case you aren’t clicking on the link above, my pelvis was thrown off a bit over time due to years of being a jumper in track and exploding off one leg for years.  Because the pelvis was thrown off it had an effect on all the other limbs which is a big cause of my aches and pains including the plantar fasciitis.

A half hour with Charlie and my range of motion returned, the pain was gone, and I was feeling great for the weekend.

My Monday workout consisted of deadlifts (potential he!! on the lower back).  I added ten pounds to my lift from the week before and had absolutely NO problems.  Tweaked it on Wednesday.  Charlie fixed me on Friday, and by Monday I’m lifting with no lingering effects.  Can you say miracle cure?

So, what is happening to my back?

For some reason my right side just shuts down.  The lat and oblique on that side have some weaknesses and when stressed they shut down.  Once they are down, I’m vulnerable to tweaks to other areas such as my lower back.

In my session, not only did Charlie get those muscles re-firing, but he gave me a few exercises for me to do prior to workouts to get them firing myself.  We will continue to work on this, but I’m convinced we are headed down the right road.

Along those lines, did you read about Carson Palmer?  Palmer got hurt in week one and couldn’t throw the ball.   He was out for awhile.  The fifth week of the season Arizona plays Denver and Peyton Manning suggests he try MAT cause nothing else was working for Palmer.  He uses the guy that Peyton does, the founder of MAT, and low and behold he is playing seven days later leading the Cardinals to a victory.

Whaaaatttt??

I’m being for real.  You can read one article about Carson’s recovery by clicking this link.

My advice: I keep preaching MAT and you just aren’t listening so I’ll try this again.  If you have an ache or pain affecting your daily life, give MAT a try.  IT WORKS!

If you are an athlete and maybe not experiencing any injuries, get a preliminary assessment anyways.  I didn’t have any issues when I was long jumping, but I was slowly making my body go out of whack.  Issues didn’t manifest in me until 15 years later.

Don’t be stupid like I was, do this today.  The worst that can happen is they find nothing wrong.  So you are out a little money, but at least you know that your body will be in good shape to handle the daily rigors of life for now.