Exercise Is Health

Muscle Activation Schaumburg
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At Muscle Activation Schaumburg, we believe your health is your most valuable asset. Join hosts Charlie and Julie Cates as they discuss how to utilize exercise to help improve and maintain your health, as well as interviews with health and wellness experts from various fields including chiropractic, accupuncture, psychology, nutrition, and functional medicine. Both Charlie and Julie are certified personal trainers and Muscle Activation Techniques® practitioners in Schaumburg, IL.

  1. Our Biggest Takeaways From 2025

    4 DAYS AGO

    Our Biggest Takeaways From 2025

    Get Started With Muscle Activation Techniques® To Loosen Your Tight & Achy Muscles Without Stretching: https://www.matschaumburg.com 2025 was a year full of getting more and more clear on what really matters in order for our clients to feel and function their best. While much of our philosophy has stayed the same over the past 12 months, there were some really big takeaways that we are bringing into 2026 with us that have shown themselves to be key elements to feeling strong and functioning well long-term. On this week's episode of the Exercise Is Health® podcast, we are sharing what our big takeaways from 2025 are and how you can use them to help you increase your strength and overall wellbeing. If you aren't sure what key principles you should be applying to your health and fitness goals entering the new year, listen up! This conversation lays out exactly what we believe to be the most important for you. Check out all the details in this week's episode! Ready to schedule your first Muscle Activation Techniques® session with us? Click here to get started: http://vagaro.com/muscleactivationschaumburg/services Looking for custom workout programming that gets designed to your exact specifications to build your strength and athleticism? Sign up for PRO Strength & Performance Programming: https://www.charliecates.com/programming Would you like to have our guidance implementing the 4 Exercise For Life Principles while you workout? Join the Exercise For Life Membership for free for 30 days! Just head to www.exerciseforlifestudios.com to get started! Did you find this episode helpful? Let us know by leaving us a rating and review on the following platforms: – Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exercise-is-health/id1330420565 – Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6H1CneHjsPiPStrAeFTP25?si=X1IuXkp0T1KCv3gCtt3j5g  Want to grab a free copy of our best-selling book, "The Exercise For Life Method"? Click here to order yours while copies are still available! www.exerciseforlifemethod.com Just cover the cost of shipping and handling to have it delivered right to you. Follow us on Instagram for more exercise tips and content about MAT here: – Muscle Activation Schaumburg: @muscleactivationschaumburg  – Julie Cates: @julcates  – Charlie Cates: @charliecates

    14 min
  2. Little Red Flags vs. Big Red Flags With Exercise

    24/12/2025

    Little Red Flags vs. Big Red Flags With Exercise

    Get Started With Muscle Activation Techniques® To Loosen Your Tight & Achy Muscles Without Stretching: https://www.matschaumburg.com Your body is constantly talking to you when you workout, and how you interpret what it is saying will have a big impact on the results you get from your workouts. Oftentimes, when somebody's body tells them they don't like a specific exercise through aches or pains, that can be justification to not do the exercise, but this can be a huge mistake! Avoiding an exercise entirely because of an ache or pain can be a surefire way to limit your strength and mobility, so how do you make sure you are respecting what your body is saying while still helping it get stronger and more mobile? On this week's episode of the Exercise Is Health® podcast, we are discussing a framework that we teach our clients to help determine whether what they are feeling means we need to stop an exercise or whether we can keep going forward. This "red flags" framework will help you navigate all the signals your body sends you when you workout to decide whether you are going in the right direction or you need to change course so you don't get injured. If you have ever felt frustrated because it seems like every exercise you do hurts so you just avoid them altogether, listen up! This conversation can change how you use that "hurting" information during your workouts to make better decisions for your body so you can keep getting stronger without injury. Check out all the details in this week's episode! Ready to schedule your first Muscle Activation Techniques® session with us? Click here to get started: http://vagaro.com/muscleactivationschaumburg/services Looking for custom workout programming that gets designed to your exact specifications to build your strength and athleticism? Sign up for PRO Strength & Performance Programming: https://www.charliecates.com/programming Would you like to have our guidance implementing the 4 Exercise For Life Principles while you workout? Join the Exercise For Life Membership for free for 30 days! Just head to www.exerciseforlifestudios.com to get started! Did you find this episode helpful? Let us know by leaving us a rating and review on the following platforms: – Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exercise-is-health/id1330420565 – Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6H1CneHjsPiPStrAeFTP25?si=X1IuXkp0T1KCv3gCtt3j5g  Want to grab a free copy of our best-selling book, "The Exercise For Life Method"? Click here to order yours while copies are still available! www.exerciseforlifemethod.com Just cover the cost of shipping and handling to have it delivered right to you. Follow us on Instagram for more exercise tips and content about MAT here: – Muscle Activation Schaumburg: @muscleactivationschaumburg  – Julie Cates: @julcates  – Charlie Cates: @charliecates

    18 min
  3. How Soon Can You Start Getting MAT After An Injury?

    17/12/2025

    How Soon Can You Start Getting MAT After An Injury?

    Get Started With Muscle Activation Techniques® To Loosen Your Tight & Achy Muscles Without Stretching: https://www.matschaumburg.com How long should you wait to start getting Muscle Activation Techniques® after an injury? This is a question that a lot of prospective clients have asked us through the years, and while you have heard us discuss MAT before, our answer to this question may surprise you. On this week's episode of the Exercise Is Health® podcast, we are diving right into this question to give you a very clear answer and show you exactly where we stand on the matter. We discuss considerations we take with every client before giving a firm recommendation, and what you should work through in your own mind before determining whether or not you are ready for MAT. If you know that MAT can help you heal up faster but aren't sure when it would be appropriate to start, listen up! What we talk about in this conversation will clear that up for you once and for all. Check out all the details in this week's episode! Ready to schedule your first Muscle Activation Techniques® session with us? Click here to get started: http://vagaro.com/muscleactivationschaumburg/services Looking for custom workout programming that gets designed to your exact specifications to build your strength and athleticism? Sign up for PRO Strength & Performance Programming: https://www.charliecates.com/programming Would you like to have our guidance implementing the 4 Exercise For Life Principles while you workout? Join the Exercise For Life Membership for free for 30 days! Just head to www.exerciseforlifestudios.com to get started! Did you find this episode helpful? Let us know by leaving us a rating and review on the following platforms: – Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exercise-is-health/id1330420565 – Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6H1CneHjsPiPStrAeFTP25?si=X1IuXkp0T1KCv3gCtt3j5g  Want to grab a free copy of our best-selling book, "The Exercise For Life Method"? Click here to order yours while copies are still available! www.exerciseforlifemethod.com Just cover the cost of shipping and handling to have it delivered right to you. Follow us on Instagram for more exercise tips and content about MAT here: – Muscle Activation Schaumburg: @muscleactivationschaumburg  – Julie Cates: @julcates  – Charlie Cates: @charliecates

    18 min
  4. A Simple Framework For A 20-Minute Workout

    10/12/2025

    A Simple Framework For A 20-Minute Workout

    Get Started With Muscle Activation Techniques® To Loosen Your Tight & Achy Muscles Without Stretching: https://www.matschaumburg.com This time of year, schedules can be crazy and the opportunities to exercise can feel few and far between. So how can you make sure you make the most of each workout opportunity you have by not wasting time and focusing on exactly what you need to? Over the last six years, we have developed a framework to get a super effective strength training workout done in under 20 minutes, and we want to share it with you on this week's episode of the Exercise Is Health® podcast. Building off last week's conversation where we discussed what you need to do to make sure you get your workouts in when your schedule is crazy, we are going to lay out exactly how to structure your workouts for maximum impact in a tight time frame. If you have been unsure of exactly what to do during your workouts and find yourself spending more time making decisions about exercises than actually doing the exercises, you are going to want to write down what we are teaching you in this discussion. Check out all the details in this week's episode! Ready to schedule your first Muscle Activation Techniques® session with us? Click here to get started: http://vagaro.com/muscleactivationschaumburg/services Looking for custom workout programming that gets designed to your exact specifications to build your strength and athleticism? Sign up for PRO Strength & Performance Programming: https://www.charliecates.com/programming Would you like to have our guidance implementing the 4 Exercise For Life Principles while you workout? Join the Exercise For Life Membership for free for 30 days! Just head to www.exerciseforlifestudios.com to get started! Did you find this episode helpful? Let us know by leaving us a rating and review on the following platforms: – Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exercise-is-health/id1330420565 – Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6H1CneHjsPiPStrAeFTP25?si=X1IuXkp0T1KCv3gCtt3j5g  Want to grab a free copy of our best-selling book, "The Exercise For Life Method"? Click here to order yours while copies are still available! www.exerciseforlifemethod.com Just cover the cost of shipping and handling to have it delivered right to you. Follow us on Instagram for more exercise tips and content about MAT here: – Muscle Activation Schaumburg: @muscleactivationschaumburg  – Julie Cates: @julcates  – Charlie Cates: @charliecates

    11 min
  5. How To Get Your Workouts In When Your Schedule Is Crazy

    03/12/2025

    How To Get Your Workouts In When Your Schedule Is Crazy

    Get Started With Muscle Activation Techniques® To Loosen Your Tight & Achy Muscles Without Stretching: https://www.matschaumburg.com When your schedule is crazy, working out  can be the last thing on your mind. But even if you are booked full with commitments, that doesn't make exercising any less necessary if you want to feel healthy and strong. So how can you make sure you still get your workouts in even when your schedule is slammed? On this week's episode of the Exercise Is Health® podcast, we are giving you three steps to follow to do just that. With the holiday season in full swing, life can easily get in the way of staying consistent with your workouts. However, by adhering to what we talk about in this conversation, you easily get your workouts in no matter how crazy your schedule is. Check out all the details in this week's episode! Ready to schedule your first Muscle Activation Techniques® session with us? Click here to get started: http://vagaro.com/muscleactivationschaumburg/services Looking for custom workout programming that gets designed to your exact specifications to build your strength and athleticism? Sign up for PRO Strength & Performance Programming: https://www.charliecates.com/programming Would you like to have our guidance implementing the 4 Exercise For Life Principles while you workout? Join the Exercise For Life Membership for free for 30 days! Just head to www.exerciseforlifestudios.com to get started! Did you find this episode helpful? Let us know by leaving us a rating and review on the following platforms: – Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exercise-is-health/id1330420565 – Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6H1CneHjsPiPStrAeFTP25?si=X1IuXkp0T1KCv3gCtt3j5g  Want to grab a free copy of our best-selling book, "The Exercise For Life Method"? Click here to order yours while copies are still available! www.exerciseforlifemethod.com Just cover the cost of shipping and handling to have it delivered right to you. Follow us on Instagram for more exercise tips and content about MAT here: – Muscle Activation Schaumburg: @muscleactivationschaumburg  – Julie Cates: @julcates  – Charlie Cates: @charliecates

    15 min
  6. An Easy Way To Recover Faster From A Joint Replacement

    26/11/2025

    An Easy Way To Recover Faster From A Joint Replacement

    Get Started With Muscle Activation Techniques® To Loosen Your Tight & Achy Muscles Without Stretching: https://www.matschaumburg.com Joint replacements are something many people experience. Whether it is a shoulder, hip, knee, or even an ankle, joint replacements are extremely common. But did you know that there is something extremely specific you can do before your surgery to help you recover faster after your surgery? In fact, when clients of ours do this one thing for at least six weeks leading up to their surgery, their recovery after surgery goes, on average, 40% faster than the standard. On this week's episode of the Exercise Is Health® podcast, we are discussing what this one thing is and how you can start implementing it into your week. If you are preparing for a joint replacement, listen up! There is something you can start doing NOW to help you recover faster, and that's exactly what our conversation is about. Check out all the details in this week's episode! Ready to schedule your first Muscle Activation Techniques® session with us? Click here to get started: http://vagaro.com/muscleactivationschaumburg/services Looking for custom workout programming that gets designed to your exact specifications to build your strength and athleticism? Sign up for PRO Strength & Performance Programming: https://www.charliecates.com/programming Would you like to have our guidance implementing the 4 Exercise For Life Principles while you workout? Join the Exercise For Life Membership for free for 30 days! Just head to www.exerciseforlifestudios.com to get started! Did you find this episode helpful? Let us know by leaving us a rating and review on the following platforms: – Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exercise-is-health/id1330420565 – Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6H1CneHjsPiPStrAeFTP25?si=X1IuXkp0T1KCv3gCtt3j5g  Want to grab a free copy of our best-selling book, "The Exercise For Life Method"? Click here to order yours while copies are still available! www.exerciseforlifemethod.com Just cover the cost of shipping and handling to have it delivered right to you. Follow us on Instagram for more exercise tips and content about MAT here: – Muscle Activation Schaumburg: @muscleactivationschaumburg  – Julie Cates: @julcates  – Charlie Cates: @charliecates

    16 min
  7. An Easy Way To Know When To Increase Your Weights

    19/11/2025

    An Easy Way To Know When To Increase Your Weights

    Get Started With Muscle Activation Techniques® To Loosen Your Tight & Achy Muscles Without Stretching: https://www.matschaumburg.com How do you know when it is time to increase the amount of weight you are using when you strength train? Many people avoid trying to use more weight out of fear of injuring themselves, but there is a simple way to know when your body is ready without having to risk pushing yourself too far. On this week's episode of the Exercise Is Health® podcast, we are laying out the exact steps we follow with ourselves and our clients to know when our bodies are ready to use more weight during our workouts. If you have ever thought, "Should I be lifting heavier right now?" but weren't sure if doing so would put you at risk for injury, listen up! What we share in this conversation will help you answer that question for yourself every single workout going forward. Check out all the details in this week's episode! Ready to schedule your first Muscle Activation Techniques® session with us? Click here to get started: http://vagaro.com/muscleactivationschaumburg/services Looking for custom workout programming that gets designed to your exact specifications to build your strength and athleticism? Sign up for PRO Strength & Performance Programming: https://www.charliecates.com/programming Would you like to have our guidance implementing the 4 Exercise For Life Principles while you workout? Join the Exercise For Life Membership for free for 30 days! Just head to www.exerciseforlifestudios.com to get started! Did you find this episode helpful? Let us know by leaving us a rating and review on the following platforms: – Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exercise-is-health/id1330420565 – Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6H1CneHjsPiPStrAeFTP25?si=X1IuXkp0T1KCv3gCtt3j5g  Want to grab a free copy of our best-selling book, "The Exercise For Life Method"? Click here to order yours while copies are still available! www.exerciseforlifemethod.com Just cover the cost of shipping and handling to have it delivered right to you. Follow us on Instagram for more exercise tips and content about MAT here: – Muscle Activation Schaumburg: @muscleactivationschaumburg  – Julie Cates: @julcates  – Charlie Cates: @charliecates

    19 min
  8. The 3 Things You Must Do To Get Results

    12/11/2025

    The 3 Things You Must Do To Get Results

    Get Started With Muscle Activation Techniques® To Loosen Your Tight & Achy Muscles Without Stretching: https://www.matschaumburg.com Getting results from your workouts doesn't need to be complicated. In fact, the process is very straightforward. Unfortunately, there is so much hype and messaging out there about different systems and modalities claiming to get you all the results you desire and more that it can feel very confusing as to what actually needs to be done. But, whether you are looking to get stronger, build muscle, lose weight, increase your fitness, or accomplish any other goal from your workout, there are only three things you must do. On this week's episode of the Exercise Is Health® podcast, we are laying out what these three things are and telling you exactly how to start implementing them. If you struggle to get the results you want from your workouts, listen up! This is a telltale sign that you are missing at least one of these three things, but the conversation we have will clear that up for you once and for all. Check out all the details in this week's episode! Ready to schedule your first Muscle Activation Techniques® session with us? Click here to get started: http://vagaro.com/muscleactivationschaumburg/services Looking for custom workout programming that gets designed to your exact specifications to build your strength and athleticism? Sign up for PRO Strength & Performance Programming: https://www.charliecates.com/programming Would you like to have our guidance implementing the 4 Exercise For Life Principles while you workout? Join the Exercise For Life Membership for free for 30 days! Just head to www.exerciseforlifestudios.com to get started! Did you find this episode helpful? Let us know by leaving us a rating and review on the following platforms: – Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exercise-is-health/id1330420565 – Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6H1CneHjsPiPStrAeFTP25?si=X1IuXkp0T1KCv3gCtt3j5g  Want to grab a free copy of our best-selling book, "The Exercise For Life Method"? Click here to order yours while copies are still available! www.exerciseforlifemethod.com Just cover the cost of shipping and handling to have it delivered right to you. Follow us on Instagram for more exercise tips and content about MAT here: – Muscle Activation Schaumburg: @muscleactivationschaumburg  – Julie Cates: @julcates  – Charlie Cates: @charliecates

    26 min
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About

At Muscle Activation Schaumburg, we believe your health is your most valuable asset. Join hosts Charlie and Julie Cates as they discuss how to utilize exercise to help improve and maintain your health, as well as interviews with health and wellness experts from various fields including chiropractic, accupuncture, psychology, nutrition, and functional medicine. Both Charlie and Julie are certified personal trainers and Muscle Activation Techniques® practitioners in Schaumburg, IL.

Information

  • Creator
    Muscle Activation Schaumburg
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2025
  • Episodes
    418
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2018-2023
  • Show Website
    Exercise Is Health

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