In 1964, Dr. George Goodheart, an American Chiropractor, discovered the relationship between specific muscles and the state of the health of the body. He noted that Chiropractic adjustments would often not provide lasting and complete relief from physical impediments experienced by the patient, so he looked into the findings of a 1949 study by Kendall & Kendall on the methods of testing muscles.
Along with his colleague, Dr. Alan Beardall, they refined the muscle testing procedure to provide an assessment of the nervous system’s control of the muscles rather than an assessment of the power those muscles could produce. They found that there were often tender nodules around the origin and insertion points of compromised muscles. They discovered that deep tissue massage on these points would dramatically improve the strength of that muscle and that the tenderness would diminish.
Dr. Goodheart observed that muscle groups had a direct relation to Chinese meridians, used by acupuncturists, and their corresponding organs. Through testing a muscle’s ability to resist modest pressure he found that he could determine an imbalance in the corresponding meridian/organ.
By incorporating the findings of Dr. Chapman and Dr. Bennet on the Neuro Lymphatic and Neuro Vascular systems he developed a set of techniques that would reveal information about the mental, chemical, structural and energy status of various parts of the body along with techniques that could restore the balance and integrity of these muscles. He called this “Applied Kinesiology”. Kinesiology is derived from the Greek word “Kenisis” meaning movement.
In 1976 Brian H. Butler introduced Kinesiology to the UK. He went to the United States to train in Kinesiology after seeing it being applied by a chiropractic friend to his daughter – bringing rapid relief from a colic attack. With the founder’s permission he brought it to the UK where it became known as Systematic Kinesiology, due to the systematic and thorough approach of applying the techniques to restore balance to the body.
He then spent the next 30 years practising and teaching Kinesiology in the UK and Europe setting up The Academy of Systematic Kinesiology (TASK) in 1985. TASK continues to teach Kinesiology to this day and is now run by his daughter Claire Muller.
The body heals itself. It does so in a predictable manner. From the head down, from the inside out, and also in the reverse order of how the symptoms originally occurred.
Muscle testing is a non-invasive, gentle and safe means of assessing the mental, chemical, structural and energy status of various parts of the body. There are over 40 different muscle tests in Systematic Kinesiology, each linked to specific meridians and organs. A muscle is tested by placing a limb, the head or the abdomen in specific positions to isolate the muscle being tested. Gentle pressure is then applied briefly to the muscle, with the client attempting to resist the pressure. The tester can assess the integrity of the muscle by observing if the response is strong, weak or shaky.
Muscle testing doesn’t test the power of the muscle, it tests the nervous system’s ability to fire the muscle. Whenever a muscle is engaged the body needs to check a multitude of systems to ensure that everything is fine to contract that muscle. Many factors can cause the muscle to lose its ability to fully function, including emotional stressors, chemical imbalances and impediments in the flow of energy.
Muscle testing can thus be regarded as a means by which we can talk directly to the body and the body never lies. It allows us to determine where the body is imbalanced, in what order the body wants these imbalances to be corrected, what nutritional support it needs and what foods should be avoided.
Muscle testing will often reveal imbalances that will not show in clinical tests. When the integrity of the muscle is restored, it has an impact on the whole body, restoring energy flows, resolving chemical imbalances and removing emotional distresses, each of which would impede the body’s ability to restore itself to a natural state of health.
The best doctors give the least medicine.
Kinesiology is a complementary healthcare practice. It provides a powerful set of techniques for tapping into the biochemistry of the body to ascertain any imbalances that may be causing symptoms such as pain, discomfort, stress and so on. These symptoms are the body’s means of warning us that something is not right and they should not be ignored.
Kinesiology can produce good results for many ailments, including chronic conditions, by addressing the root cause of the problem. Muscle testing is the means to identifying the underlying imbalances that may be causing these symptoms. It looks at the body as a whole, not just where the symptoms lie and takes the guesswork out of managing our health, without resorting to pharmaceutical drugs which tend to mask symptoms and risk side-effects.
Below are some of the conditions that Kinesiology can help. Click/hover over each of the boxes to reveal more.
The mind and body are not separate. what affects one, affects the other