by Dr. Gordie
Due to the many inquiries I receive about muscle testing, I have decided to again review the wholistic concepts of applied kinesiology with some thoughts on its evolution.
What is “AK” or applied kinesiology ? Today I hear the term “kinesiology” used synonymously with “muscle testing.” Like many topics these days the term has been used yet not completely understood within the context of its original definition.
Muscle testing was developed in the 1940’s at Johns Hopkins as a means to grade physical disability. Kinesiology is simply the study (ology) of motion (kinetics). All of the systems of ”kinesiology-muscle testing” stem from the genius of Dr. George J. Goodheart Jr., DC. In 1964 Dr. Goodheart used this muscle testing method to examine a patient’s shoulder problem. He was able to achieve diagnostic results previously unattainable. Since that beginning, Dr Goodheart and many others have added numerous techniques of examination and treatment to this diagnostic system, which is based on using the immediate feedback of a change in muscle strength.
One could guess that “applying” the study of motion to the body, particularly in this sense, would be to “apply kinesiology” to the body. In hindsight applied “physiology” (the study of the function and organ of a living body organism) would now be more accurate a name, as the information of this testable system has expanded far beyond the original idea of motion. Today what is immediately “testable” ranges from the simple function of a muscle acting on a joint, to the relationship of nutrition, chemical toxicity, meridian energy flow, lifestyle habits, thought patterns, and on and on. One could well ask, “What cannot be tested? Where is the limit? How do we know we are staying real and valid in our scope of evaluation?”
AK uses functional neurological evaluation to assess the important aspects related to health, and is unique in today’s health discipline as it produces a means of measuring the effect of a therapy IMMEDIATELY. In fact, a therapy is only applied/prescribed after it demonstrates an immediate improvement in muscle strength.
There are three main areas that need to be addressed when dealing with personal health. The first and often most important is structure. This is the relationship of one body part to the next. This is where the great majority of sensual input comes from and nervous output goes to. The physical alignment and smooth efficient operation of the skeletal, muscular, skin, visceral, cranial, and neurological systems are in this category.
Individual perceptual and emotional experience has a lot to do with the proper alignment and function of the physical tissues. You do not wake up in the morning and say, “Oh my amino acid one is really killing me today!” You wake up and take notice of your bodies’ “physical” parts, likely to say, “Oh my neck, back, foot, etc. are killing me.” Next > 1 2 3
