Muscle Testing: Fact or Fantasy?
Muscle testing—what a wonderful tool. Chiropractors have been using it successfully since 1964, and since then other healthcare practitioners have incorporated it into their practice, including neurologists. Yep, on the sidelines of sporting events you will occasionally see a neurologist pushing on an athlete’s arms to determine neurological injuries.
Muscle testing was developed by Dr. George Goodheart. He was the first to realize that the Endocardiograph—a device invented by Dr. Royal Lee for obtaining heart sound recordings could be used on other muscles as well. I imagine he thought to himself, “Heck! If I can get a recording of the heart muscle, give some Standard Process whole food concentrates, and see a change for the better in minutes, why can’t I do this with other muscles?” This idea set Dr. Goodheart on the mission of developing muscle testing, which he called Applied Kinesiology.
True or False?
• Muscle testing is voodoo. False.
• Muscle testing doesn’t work. False.
• Muscle testing can tell me everything. False.
• As the tester I can manipulate the muscle testing. True.
• Muscle testing can be reliable and accurate. True.
• Muscle testing can detect imbalances of the body before they show up on blood tests. Very true.
• Scientific research does not support muscle testing as reliable. False.
In the beginning, muscle testing was highly criticized as being nonscientific. But that is not how Dr. Goodheart rolled. Volumes of research support its effectiveness. This paper published by ONE Research Foundation offers just one example: “Scientific Validation of the Mind/Body Paradigm and Muscle Testing.” Indeed, you will find many other research studies verifying the effectiveness of muscle testing and other procedures at this website.
Since Dr. Goodheart first invented muscle testing, many of his students have added their ideas. Some have been valuable, while others have been misguided claims that muscle testing can, for example, predicate the future or tell you how to live your life. I have studied many muscle testing procedures. What I’ve found with all of them is that they give practitioners and patients a procedure, a flow chart, a starting point. Which is essential.
Source: SRP Dr. Keppel