One day a client asked me this very good question about the muscle test:
“How can someone small and light like yourself possibly overpower the muscles of a big strong man like me?”
I’m going to share my answer:
In Systematic Kinesiology the muscle test we do is not a test of physical strength but of communication between a muscle and the brain. When we test a muscle the client is asked to hold a limb in a specific position. This isolates and contracts that one muscle without involving its synergistic or helper muscles. I use light pressure on the arm or leg and ask the client to push gently against me. I then push back. If the muscle wobbles or gives way this means that the flow of information between it and the central nervous system is disrupted. While the muscle may be physically very strong it is “switched off” or inhibited right now and is unable to do its job. It’s a bit like having a bad mobile signal and somebody rings! Your phone itself is working perfectly but all you can hear is the odd word or crackle because the signal is weak.
After the muscle test we use kinesiology techniques to restore communication so that the muscle switches on when needed to do it’s own job. This in turn takes pressure off the neighbouring helper muscles which will otherwise become over-worked and tired. If this happens they will eventually “complain” and we know it because we feel stiff and sore. Regular Systematic Kinesiology treatments help to keep all our muscles “happy” and working at full capacity.