Muscle Activation Techniques® gets to the root cause of pain or injury by addressing muscle weakness rather than the symptoms of muscle tightness.

This helps to restore normal muscle function and body alignment, thereby decreasing pain, reducing muscle stiffness, reducing your risk of injury and improving your physical performance and fat burning potential.

"Muscle activation" refers to the process of 'jumpstarting' inhibited muscles.

The goal of Muscle Activation Techniques® is to identify the positions of weakness and the muscles that are inhibited and then to activate these muscles - basically switching them back on.

Watch how Anna's Glutes were inhibited and then after 10 minutes of Muscle Activation Techniques® they are now activated and firing properly:

For a more simplistic approach to understand muscle function, compare the body to a car.

 The initiation of a muscle contraction occurs similarly to the way a battery initiates the starting of a car. Both rely on connections that transfer electrical energy to produce a reaction. 

The nerves that run from the spinal cord to the muscle are just like the cables that run from the ignition to the battery. 

When the key is turned in the ignition, the impulses transfer through the cables to the battery allowing the car to start. Similarly in the body, when a message is sent from the brain, the signal is transferred through the nerves to the muscles creating muscle contraction.

Each muscle is independently innervated, therefore it can be seen as having many batteries, each connected by its own independent cables.

When the body is functioning properly, with all batteries connected, each muscle will contract on demand and the body will function very efficiently.

Many times, due to factors such as stress, trauma, injury, overuse or underuse, these neurological connections may become altered, creating a reaction in the body similar to that of loose battery cables in your car.

When the brain sends a message for a muscle to contract, the muscle does not respond immediately, creating increased demand on other muscles to perform the desired movement. The result becomes what we know as compensation.

Over time, these compensation patterns create altered alignment in the joints, leading to joint instability and abnormal wear on the joint surfaces. The end result becomes pain and eventually osteoarthritis.

This progressive degeneration has been correlated with ageing. If identified and properly addressed, it does not have to occur, and with MAT® we can reverse this degenerative ageing process.

Watch how Rob's hip mobility improved post hip replacement surgery after activating 4 muscles which took 15 minutes:

Think of pain as your check engine light.

Pain is signalling to you that something is wrong in your system. It is not telling you what the exact problem is; the site of pain doesn't necessarily indicate where the problem is.

So the pain is just an indicator that there is a problem just like the check engine light on your car is indicating there's a problem with your engine that needs to be addressed ASAP before more damage occurs.

Why do we view pain as an annoying and irritating inconvenience, taking pain killers etc instead of taking it seriously, respecting our system and calling a specialist to assess and diagnose the system to restore it to optimal function?

As Muscle Activation Techniques® Specialists, we run diagnostic tests on your muscular system to get to the root cause of the pain just like a mechanic runs a diagnostic test on your engine to find out why the check engine light came on.

While most therapies focus on treating the muscles with tension and/or pain, MAT® gets to the root of pain or injury by addressing muscle weakness rather than muscle tightness.

Watch in detail how Pro Golfer Tom Bailey gets his hip mobility fixed by Ryan applying Muscle Activation Techniques®:

MAT® views muscle tightness as a form of protection in the body. 

Weak or inhibited muscles can create the need for other muscles to tighten up in order to help protect and stabilise the joints.

The goal of Muscle Activation Techniques® is to identify the inhibited or weak muscles that are creating a protective response, and then 'jumpstart' these muscles in order to improve their ability to contract.

If the tight muscles are stretched or "released" without addressing the root cause (i.e. the inhibited/weak muscles) then we may have violated the body's own protective mechanism, causing more harm.

Look how Maria's wrist mobility was restored using Muscle Activation Techniques® after a deep tissue massage had resulted in neuromuscular dysfunction several weeks prior:

We must be sure...

that when we increase range of motion through modalities like stretching, deep tissue massage, or any other "releasing" techniques, that there is also stability through that increased range.

Muscle Activation Techniques® provides the checks and balances system to make sure that this happens. That is why MAT® is a great adjunct to all forms of exercise, rehab and therapy.

Watch a timelapse where Ryan fixes Emma's left shoulder using Muscle Activation Techniques®:

MAT® can slow down or even reverse the aging process. 

Muscles are responsible for moving bones and holding bones in proper alignment.

So if it is recognised that muscles are designed to stabilise and support the joints naturally, it must be understood that arthritic conditions and joint instability can be helped or prevented when muscles are prepared to function properly.

All that is needed is to create proper connections between the brain and the muscles. 

Muscle Activation Techniques® does this. It provides the ability for the body to function the way that it was designed to function.

Just like with a dead battery, the muscles must be jumpstarted and the cables must be tightened before the muscle will function properly.

In simplistic terms, through Muscle Activation Techniques®, muscles that have improper neurological connections are identified, then jumpstarted, creating the ability for the muscles to stabilise the joints and reduce joint stresses that lead to arthritic conditions.

That is when the body becomes efficient, and the associated aches and pains are deterred.

Look how Chris' hip mobility increased from 19 degrees to 48 degrees and his lower back and knee pain went away using the system Ryan developed to administer Muscle Activation Techniques® online via Skype video calls:

Glucose utilisation is mostly dependent upon muscle contraction.

Another issue that results from when muscles don't contract properly is that they don't "burn" through fuel optimally.

In other words, if your muscles are not contracting properly due to neuromuscular dysfunction (inhibition) then you won't be burning through as much fuel/energy which will reduce your metabolic rate (slower metabolism). If your goal is to lose weight, or even maintain a healthy weight, having a large amount of muscle inhibition throughout your body may have a detrimental effect on your goals, even if you're exercising frequently and eating healthily.

Look how Christopher's hip flexion was improved after 2 online MAT® sessions and his back pain went away:

Ryan Phillips is one of the most highly qualified and experienced Muscle Activation Techniques® Practitioners in the UK.

Due to MAT®'s education programme being held in the United States, there are only 6 fully certified MAT® practitioners in the UK. Ryan is the only fully certified MAT® practitioner in the Brighton and Sussex area.

Clients frequently travel from neighbouring counties (and countries) to gain access to Ryan's help and expertise.

With over 14 years of Muscle Activation Techniques® experience, Ryan has the specialised knowledge, skills and tools to assess you from head to toe, checking every muscle and joint in your body to identify any areas of muscle dysfunction you may have.

Then by using the muscle activation techniques - performing specific positional low level isometric contractions and/or by using digital force application to the muscle attachment sites - the muscles can be "jumpstarted" switching them on again thus immediately improving your strength, mobility of your joints, and eliminating muscle tightness and pain.

If you're interested in gaining access to a programme of isometrics to activate your muscles that you can do yourself at home then click here.

Listen to Ryan on the Karl Morris podcast:

Look how David's neck mobility improved and his neck pain went away in less than 8 weeks with online MAT® treatments:

Can't make it to Brighton? No problem, Ryan can deliver MAT® treatments online from the comfort of your own home.

Look how Daniela's bunion and flat feet/fallen archs were improved after one Muscle Activation Techniques® session: