MAT

Personal Training and MAT® – What’s the difference?

A question we often get at Muscle Activation Schaumburg is, “What’s the difference between Muscle Activation Techniques® (MAT®) and personal training?”.  As personal trainers and MAT® practitioners, this is an important clarification for us to help our clients and prospective clients with.

For us at Muscle Activation Schaumburg, personal training and MAT® go hand in hand.  While there are distinct differences between the two, there are a lot of similarities, as well.

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By Charlie Cates, ago

Client Testimonial – Laurie Dring

Check out this awesome testimonial from Charlie and Julie’s client, Laurie!  Laurie has been coming to Muscle Activation Schaumburg since the beginning of 2017 and has been participating in both Muscle Activation Techniques™ (MAT™) and customized personal training sessions.  While her initial concern was improving the function and strength of her shoulder, she has now progressed to maintaining her strength and mobility through infrequent but consistent muscle tune ups.  Laurie is now a consistent exerciser on her own and continues to utilize Muscle Activation Techniques™ to make sure her body is firing on all cylinders.  This ensures that she is able to get the most out of her workouts and progressively improve her health and physical function.

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By Team MAS, ago

Client Testimonial – Sue Koril

Check out this fantastic testimonial below from one of Julie’s rock star MAT™ clients, Sue!  Sue had been suffering from leg and knee issues when her friend reccomended she look into Muscle Activation Techniques™ at Muscle Activation Schaumburg.

As an avid tennis player, Sue wanted to get back to playing the game she loves on a regular basis.  Julie started working with her to improve her muscular system through the Muscle Activation Techniques™ process in addition to specific resistance training for her hips and knees.

After seeing Julie consistently for a number of months, she has been able to not only return to the tennis court, but keep her body tuned up and feeling great with homework exercises to compliment her maintenance MAT™ sessions at Muscle Activation Schaumburg.

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By Julie Cates, ago

Voyage Chicago Features MAS!

If you are a Voyage Chicago reader, you may have recognized a couple of faces featured on their website this past week.  Voyage Chicago did an interview with Charlie and Julie about building Muscle Activation Schaumburg.  Charlie discussed the process of first conceiving of the idea of MAS, bringing it to reality, and the struggles along the way.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Charlie Cates and Julie Errington.

Charlie and Julie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
The idea of owning my own exercise facility started during my freshman year of college. I was really into sports performance but knew I wanted to explore the business side of things, as well. By the end of my freshman year, I had made the decision that I would one day go into business for myself running my own exercise facility.

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By Team MAS, ago

Client Testimonial – Sadie Stark

Check out this awesome testimonial from one of Julie’s amazing MAT™ clients, Sadie!  Sadie had been suffering from an IT band issue as well as a knee issue for a year and a half before she found Julie.  She had tried everything she could find to help with her issue, but it wasn’t until she tried MAT™ that she noticed significant improvement.  Now she is back to running over three miles and is running faster than ever!


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By Julie Cates, ago

What makes a Muscle Activation Techniques™ practitioner unique?

When people think of muscles, they usually don’t immediately think of a Muscle Activation Techniques™ (MAT™) practitioner, but they should.  Similar to how somebody might think of a dentist after hearing “teeth”, or a chiropractor after hearing “back” or “spine”, Muscle Activation Techniques™ may one day have that same relationship when somebody hears “muscle”.  For the time being, though, that typically isn’t the case, and here’s why — many people aren’t sure of 1) what MAT™ is, and 2) what makes MAT™ unique.  In that case, let’s discuss both of these. 

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By Charlie Cates, ago

Considering Adding MAT™ To Your Professional Toolbox? Read This.

As a personal trainer or fitness professional, adding the Muscle Activation Techniques™ (MAT™) skillset to your professional toolbox can be one of the best decisions you make.  Not only can it serve as a differentiator from your competitors, but it can allow you to help your clients in ways you did not think were possible, both as a result of the MAT™ process as well as because of the information the MAT™ process provides you.

When I first started personal training, I was completely unsure how to assess my clients.  Coming from a sports performance background, assessments had always involved some kind of one-rep-max bench press and squat.  But what kind of information would that really provide me about my clients?

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By Charlie Cates, ago

How To Integrate MAT™ Into Personal Training

As personal trainers in Schaumburg, we strive to provide our clients with the most up to date exercise approaches to health, strength, and mobility.  This, undoubtedly, involves an integration of Muscle Activation Techniques™ with more traditional exercise.  We are often asked how we are able to blend the two–MAT™ and regular exercise–within a single personal training session and what information we are able to gather from the MAT™ assessment to help us make exercise decisions.  Well, MAT™ Headquarters just released a post giving a nice overview of how the two can blend.  And if you watch the associated videos below, you may or may not recognize the face on screen 😉

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By Team MAS, ago

Doing The “Right Things” When You Exercise

“I don’t know how my body got like this.  My entire life I’ve done the right things.  I have eaten a healthy diet. I have exercised regularly.  I have been doing the right things for as long as I can remember.”

As a personal trainer and MAT™ specialist in Schaumburg, this kind of statement is one that I hear every now and then.  People are in disbelief that, despite their best efforts, their bodies are not feeling and functioning as they would expect.  Their joints are achy, their muscles are stiff, and their once-youthful energy seems to be just a memory.  And the most frustrating part for them is that they have always tried to do what others told them would be good for them.  They always tried to do the right things for their body.

However, the unfortunate truth is that the information they were given and the activities they were doing have likely contributed significantly to what they are now experiencing.

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By Charlie Cates, ago