MET has been used by all sorts of therapists, chiropractors, and osteopaths since 1948 because of Fred Mitchell, Sr, D.O.. This technique is based on the principal of Post Isometric Relaxation, which simply means that when we contract a muscle for a short time, it has a greater relaxation effect after the fact, than static stretching alone.

So, how does it work in getting your spine and other bones back to where they belong?

Most of us have gone to a chiropractor once or twice in our lives, so we know how the majority work. They take our bone to the barrier and then thrust it past that to get us re-aligned. MET works slightly differently, in that it takes our bone to the barrier and then it backs off to work within the range of the muscles.

So, let's assume a client comes in with a neck that cannot turn past 45 degrees to the right. During the diagnosis part of the session, we find that one of the vertebrae in the neck is not moving as it should. With MET, (keep in mind this is the simplified version) we will rotate the neck until the specific vertebra reaches its barrier and then back off slightly. The client is then asked to contract in a specific direction for about 10 seconds and take a deep relaxing breath; after which, we repeat the process a few more times, but each time we are able to rotate the neck a few more degrees. Upon completion, the bone is back in place and the client has regained most, if not all, range lost.