Muscle Performance Specialist

Do aches and pains or muscle tightness keep you from doing what you want?

  • Whether that tightness or pain comes from an injury, hip/knee replacement, underuse, overuse, improper use, repetitive use or just getting out of bed wrong this efficient approach tracks down, assesses and addresses dysfunction of the muscle system as a full unit to help you feel better and enhance everyday performance.
  • Most mainstream injury recovery methods treat the symptoms, pain and tightness. One cannot stretch a tight muscle back to health. They are a protective mechanism from the very basics of mechanics standpoint that is generally not addressed in many main stream modalities. This frequently leads to increased injury, particularly recurring injury. Muscle tightness is a symptom of the underlying cause. Weakness in a contrasting muscle. That weakness leads to tension, pain or tightness of surrounding muscles as compensation and protection. Our bodies were made intelligently. All muscles work together as an agonist and antagonist. When one is not working properly, another steps in for protection.
  • This technique identifies, treats, strengthens then reinforces weak muscles with isometrics. Which in turn leads to muscle correction where tightness or pain is felt. The muscle system is supporting each other again. You receive immediate feedback prior and after treatment to know if a treated muscle has been “turned back on” and communicating with other muscles once again. You are given muscle movement patterns to perform at home to sustain the therapy you received.
  • No one has to grow old in pain. No one has to live with muscle tightness.
  • Finding out if muscles are low performing is much easier and has significantly less risk than having surgery. So many times, it is a soft tissue imbalance that is pulling and yanking on joints and bones. Soft tissue imbalance generally causes inflammation, which can turn into limited range of motion, tightness, pain. When you find and treat the imbalance, you generally solve the inflammation.
  • Let’s re-find function, stability and mobility to impaired soft tissue (muscles) before you even consider cutting. 

Result Testaments: 

June 2, 2019

My name is Sharon Yeomans. I turned 60 in May of this year. Last Oct, I had arthroscopic surgery on my left wrist. I did what the doctor said, minimal exercises with my fingers, squeezing, bending, etc.             In April, I saw Marianne King at church and as we conversed, I mentioned my hand and was rubbing my wrist. She said, “I can help you with that.”  I’ve known her for years and did not know her to exaggerate so I said “OK”.

April 15th, I met with her for an hour. She tested my joint range of motion to see if one side was imbalanced or if I had pain, then she’d strength test what looked dysfunctional. If she found a weak muscle, she’d palpate are area then immediately retest it. I tell you, that felt really good! When I came to Marianne, my wrist was still painful, and I couldn’t even hold a cup. When I finished with her the first day. I could hold a cup and the pain had lessened. She sent me home with the right exercises for my issue to do daily not just ones someone puled out of a book. I went back the next week, she tested and treated again. It wasn’t as bad as the week before and got continually better.  She then gave me additional exercises for home. I was amazed, because after the surgery and the little the doctor told me to do, I was almost worst off in a different way after the surgery than before. It was frustrating.

I went back for the next five weeks, getting additional exercises to do at home. Each visit, I needed less testing as I was feeling better every day! Marianne explained each step and why some “traditional stuff” wasn’t working. She found my wrist issues were coming from my shoulder and back and treated that. I now do arm/back work one day, leg/floor work a different day using bands and elastic tubing which gives me strength as I stretch the muscles at the same time from Marianne. I would HIGHLY recommend you see Marianne before considering going under the knife.

Since I’ve gone to Marianne and have been doing the exercises, my back, neck, joints and most importantly, my left wrist feel so much better! I am very grateful to have run into Marianne at church. I believe it was meant to be.  I tell all my friends about her. At our age, it’s good to know someone who can help our worn-out bodies when we just feel like we have to live with pain, discomfort, tightness or surgery that normal medical avenues didn’t fully address. Sharon Yeoman

I enlisted Marianne’s help for chronic hamstring pain that was causing difficulty with my fitness activities, mainly running and tennis. After a review of my physical history and past injuries, Marianne determined that my hamstring pain was linked to several issues of muscle disfunction and explained the hamstring pain was being caused by other muscles not working properly. She implemented MAT (muscle activation) the treatment of the muscles causing the hamstring pain and then gradual basic exercises to keep them functioning all designed to strengthen weak muscles and restore function. After only several sessions with Marianne, I began to notice improvement. My hamstring pain began to diminish, and I was able to run and play tennis without discomfort. I am attaining my goal of running more miles pain free!

I implement MAT daily, and it has proven to help my overall well-being and with the help of Marianne re-structured my warm-ups and now understand why passive stretching is not recommended and can even screw up my stability. I am back to running and playing tennis on a regular basis. Recently, I ran a 5K race and achieved my goal of finishing under 24 minutes. I no doubt attribute much of my improvement and exercise success to Marianne’s treatment and exercise therapy!

Scott Ecoff 6/2019

Fitness for Life says it all for me. Most of us are born with the innate ability to move freely, exercise, and work strongly with our bodies. Then life happens, a twisted ankle, a fall, a sport injury, childbirth, overuse of our muscles, uncomfortable shoes, a bicycle or car accident, or the natural onset of arthritis we feel like well we just have to many times “live with the pain”.  When physical therapy or massage etc. doesn’t work or do exercises that are said to be great for everyone, from someone that doesn’t know what is personally good for YOU and still don’t get long-lasting relief, we get frustrated. With her God given ability and training, Marianne was able to locate my own body’s weaknesses from doing life, and “wake up” muscles that had been shut down for years! I felt immediate strength that first day of treatment that had over took many of the painful areas in my body for years! Honestly, I didn’t know if I would ever get the right help. Doctors want to do all this fancy stuff that costs a lot, invasive and so many times little REAL relief. After about 3 sessions of Muscle Activation I was literally able to walk my dog, work-which requires a great deal of sitting and play with my grandkids without pain again in my hips, back, legs. Marianne taught me simple movements in our personal training sessions that graduated to differing levels of exercise, along with a host of information to live my life in balance and health. I went to her 6 months ago with the inability to sit, walk, or exercise pain free, which the doctors and PT could not address or help and now I am gratefully feeling “fit for life!” Judy Hironimus  Feb 2018

 “I started working out with Marianne over 8 years ago. I initially sought out help from a trainer to improve my fitness and I wanted to heal and the prevent chronic pain I was suffering from.  Working out on my own just lead to more injury/pain.  Marianne designed a workout plan to fit my needs and fitness level making adjustments and accommodations for my pain.   In addition to this she introduced me to MAT.   The MAT helped tremendously.  I was able to increase my strength because I was not fighting against my own body protecting shut down muscles.  I’ve been able to improve my fitness level and participate in activities I would never have dreamed of doing in the past like TRX. We have been using MAT as part of my regular fitness and wellness routine for year.  Prior to working with Marianne, I was frequently in pain that would prevent me from getting ahead physically.  MAT, combined with the isometrics Marianne shows me to practice at home, allows to keep improving my fitness and I’m not sidelined with injury all the time.”  Jeneen Ausk

 I was fortunate to have a chance meeting with Marianne on the tennis court through my local league.  As a recreational but avid tennis player, I often have aches and pains in my upper extremities due to the repetitive nature of the game.  However, on the day that I played with Marianne (and for a few weeks prior), I was suffering from an extremely sore shoulder that was limiting my ROM to the point that I couldn’t raise my arm above chest level without significant discomfort.  It was bad enough that it affected everything from throwing the ball for my tennis serve to getting dressed in the morning.  After the game, Marianne kindly offered her assistance; explaining the fundamentals of muscle activation therapy (MAT).  Being a nurse, I was initially skeptical because I’d never heard of it.  However, I had been taking NSAIDs with no relief and was basically considering every option.  After filling out her intake paperwork, we met for the consultation.  Marianne was able to pinpoint with precision the muscles in my shoulder, arm and neck that had been inactivated by simply observing ROM and applying some resistance.  She then applied light, therapeutic touch along the inactivated muscles which “unlocked” them to work in harmony with supporting muscle groups, allowing them to regain some strength.  She then assigned some specific but simple resistance exercises to strengthen the muscles that had been out of use for so long so the muscle group could work effectively again.  Over the next month, my shoulder strength drastically improved and, over two or three months, my shoulder ROM was better than it had been before I’d even started playing tennis.  

I would highly recommend Marianne’s muscle activation specialty to anyone suffering from a sports-related injury.  I have familiarity with the traditional sports injury work-up by physicians and physical therapists and believe that there definitely is a place for pursuing that treatment course.  However, I’d recommend muscle activation as a viable, first-stop alternative to consider before going down that path and Marianne is very knowledgeable and passionate about her skill set.      

Chrissy Gargani

I met Marianne at church. Being a professional dancer in the past, Marianne knew my concerns. I was a professional dancer for years. Now, I am a dance studio owner and dance instructor of 20 over years. I came to Marianne knowing her reputation as a business owner and personal trainer. I had a hip replacement and after a year and a half I was still having severe pain when I went into hip flexion. I was scared that they didn’t do something right or I might have to go back, and have it redone. Marianne said, I think I can address that. Well she did indeed. She used muscle activation to “turn on” muscles that had been moved and disrupted by the surgery. She explained to me what happens during hip surgery and why there still might be pain. After 3 sessions of muscle activation my pain was finally gone! I couldn’t believe it. The PT I had didn’t help the after pain. I hadn’t been able to truly instruct and demonstrate to my students since my hip was healthy long ago. She treated me and then showed me exercises I needed to do prior to dancing to stabilize my muscles. It made so much sense. A few months after Marianne worked on my hip and gave me the support exercises, my shoulder and down my arm started to hurt and was painful. Again, I thought, do I need to have an MRI, did I tear something, or have a long-term problem? But… I decided to see Marianne again. Not only did she rectify the pain and loss of range of motion, she found it had started in the opposite shoulder area. I now see Marianne on a “tune-up” basis, as I know as an athlete, I stress my body to a point that it needs periodic rebalancing, like a car. It isn’t always necessary to spend the excessive time and money to go to a doctor that generally wants to fix things with rest, pills, surgery or physical therapy that doesn’t fix the underlying problem but only the symptom. I know I needed the hip replacement but in the aftermath mainstream medicine was not helping. What Marianne does is non-evasive, less expensive and mechanically sound (I “got it”) due to my knowledge of body movement. I would certainly try Marianne first before heading down the doctor path for chronic or injury issues. Now I know so many tight and/or painful muscle issues are just soft tissue pulling in directions to protect you. It was hard to accept the concept that if “it is tight, stretch it” doesn’t heal, but I understood it since Marianne took the time to explain it. I now even use the techniques with my students. Marianne comes to the studio periodically to give master classes on the concept of agonist/antagonist muscles-really how they work together, with elastic bands. Myself and my dancers are healthier for it. If I sound like Marianne, it is because she clarified things so well and in simple terms.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Anita Giovengo – Owner Just Dance Conservatory