History In The Making

As the author of the Roskopf Principle and the founder of Muscle Activation Techniques, he not only developed the MAT modality but also created a curriculum for this technique that has been taught to students all across the globe. Greg has over two decades of experience applying MAT to his clients and professional athletes, and developing students into competent and respected practitioners nationally and internationally.

History

Early Career

Greg started his career in California as a Strength and Conditioning Coach at Fresno State University from 1985-1988. He received his Masters Degree in Physical Education with an Emphasis in Exercise Science from Fresno State University. Greg left his full time role as a strength coach in 1988 to develop a business in personal training and sports performance, yet continued to work with Fresno State’s medical staff, until he was hired to work full time with the Denver Broncos in 1997.
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The Groundwork

The Development Of Muscle Activation

Other methods attempt to relax the muscles to lengthen or change them by stretching, heating, kneading, or foam rolling. In contrast, MAT activates your muscles so that they will become better prepared to handle the force applied to them through everyday movements and exercise. The MAT method helps the muscles hold the bones in alignment which improves mobility and reduces pain. 

Greg began to focus on the biomechanics of the body and how the muscular system handles the demands that come with sports and/or training. He recognized that each athlete has his/her own specific limitations in muscle function that, if severe enough, could make certain athletes predisposed to injury. It was at this point when he began to focus on the specific muscular attributes that are consistent with athletes who have become injured. 
In this refined focus, he recognized that he had to individually evaluate each athlete’s muscular capabilities. It was these individual assessments that shed so much light on why conventional exercise programs were actually contributing to many of the problems that plagued so many athletes that Greg would come across. 
It was observed that clients with the most significant muscular imbalances were most likely to respond negatively to the protocol based programs. Greg found that if muscular imbalances existed, the exercise programs designed for these athletes would reinforce their compensation patterns, making the strong muscles stronger while the weak muscles remained weak, thereby, magnifying their imbalances.
This led Greg to believe that depending on the physical capabilities of a client, exercise based training programs may actually be contributing to their injuries, rather than preventing them.
New Theory

Cause & Effect

Through the process of continually looking at the “cause and effect” of the muscular system and how it relates to pain, Greg has become recognized as a pre-eminent specialist in the improvement of muscle function.


Jumping forward, today we see the results of his research in the modality we now call Muscle Activation Techniques. This systematic process is designed to evaluate and correct the muscle imbalances that contribute to chronic pain, injury and altered performance levels.

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