What is Applied Kinesiology
Applied Kinesiology, commonly referred to as “AK”, is an adjunct form of diagnosis that uses muscle testing to figure out the cause of dysfunction. It was discovered serendipitously by Dr. George Goodheart Jr. while examining a chronic shoulder pain patient in 1964. The various techniques in AK, however, are not new. There are techniques from Osteopaths such as Frank Chapmann and fascial work by Janet Travell as well as Chinese acupuncture meridian therapy. The terms “functional physiology” and “functional neurology” is used to describe AK in that it allows us to see how the body functions in response to various stimuli.
In
states of dis-ease, the body will display weak muscles and the Applied
Kinesiologist will try to figure out the cause for this weakness. Here
the Applied Kinesiologist focuses on what’s called the ‘triad of
health.’ The triad of health is an equilateral triangle made up of
structure (bones, tendons, ligaments), biochemistry (hormones, blood
sugar, cholesterol) and emotional (these are physiological responses).
A muscle test will show us how efficient your nervous system is working.
All three sides must be in balance in order for “health” (not just the
absence of symptoms) to occur. Each side can affect the other two sides
and so on. Dr. Goodheart also found that various muscles were related
to the organs of the body. For example, he found that the pectoralis
major clavicular shared a relationship with the stomach. Every time
there was a stomach problem, there was a weakness with the pectoralis
major clavicular. This does not mean that just because a muscle shows
weakness that the related organ is diseased. There are numerous reasons
why a muscle will be weak.