Review:AComparisonBetweenGregRoskopfsMuscle

ActivationTechniquesandGeorgeGoodheartsApplied
Kinesiology

KelseyMantel
BodyActivationInternship


Introduction

Thereareanincreasingnumberofmodalitiesusedtoimprovehumanperformance,
rangeofmotion,athleticabilities,andqualityoflife.Withalloftheseoptions,itisclose
toimpossibleforanindividualtodecidewhichmodalitytochose,andwhichonewill
benefittheirspecificsituationthegreatest.Mostpeopledonottakethetimetoresearch
alloftheiroptions,andinsteadsimplygowheretheyarereferred.Manytimes,the
referralprocessisjustthebeginningofalongprocedure.Thepractitionerandclient
shoulddiscussoptionstogether,anddeterminewhatneedstobedoneintermsofthe
correctpathoftreatment.Itisuptothepractitionertodeterminetheirscopeofpractice
anditwouldbeinthebestinterestoftheconsumertounderstandavarietyof
modalities,andknowwhateachonecandoforthem.

Thispaperwillcomparetwopopularmodalities:MuscleActivationTechniques(MAT)
andAppliedKinesiology(AK).Althoughtheyseemextremelysimilar,therearekey
differencesbetweenthetwo.Thispaperwilldiscusswhateachmodalityis,thehistory
ofitsformation,theneuralcontrolthatistargeted,thetestingmethodology,andthe
currentresearchbody.

Whatisit?

MuscleActivationTechniques(MAT)

MATisaveryspecific,nonmedical
processthatfocusesontheassessment,
improvement,andmaintenanceofa
targetedaspectofhumanmotorcontrol:
musclecontractileefficiency(Theoretical
Perspective,2011).AccordingtotheMAT
website,MATisusedtoassess,prepare,
andimprovethecontractilecapabilities
withinthemuscularsysteminorderforan
individualtoparticipatein,andmeasure
thetoleranceto,thedemandsofphysical
exercise(TheoreticalPerspective,2011).Insteadofrelaxingorreleasingthemuscles
andincreasingrangeofmotionwhichisseeninothermodalities,MATaimstoimprove
musclecontraction,increasingtension.Aseriesoftestsareconductedinordertofinda
musclethattestsweak.Generally,MATpractitionersdonottrytotreatthepainofa
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client,butinsteadrelyontheresultsoftheseobjectivemuscleteststodeterminewhere
thedeficitis.Afteridentifyingtheweakmuscle,thepractitionerexcitestheneural
controlsofthatmuscletoimprovecontraction.Oncethenervesinthemusclearefiring
properly,othermusclesdonothavetoworkashardtocompensate,whichgenerally
decreasespaininotherareasofthebody.TheobjectiveofMATistoevaluateand
correctmuscularimbalancesthatcontributetochronicpainorinjury(Roskopf,2009).

AppliedKinesiology(AK)

AppliedKinesiologyisamodalitythatutilizesthetriadofhealth.Thistriadillustrates
howthechemical1,mental2,andstructural3 partsofapersonallinteractandwork
togethertoconstructtheindividual(Frost,2002,
p.5).AKcombinesEasternideasaboutenergy
flowinthebodywithwesterntechniquesof
muscletesting(AppliedKinesiology,n.d.).
TraditionalChinesemedicineisthemain
influenceinAK.AccordingtoAppliedKinesiology
(n.d.),traditionalChinesemedicineteachesthat
themusclesandorgansofthebodyshare
commonenergychannelscalledmeridians.
Manualmuscletests(MMT)areusedto
determineifthereissomethingwrongwiththe
partsofthebodythatareconnectedorcorrelated
withthemuscles.

History

MuscleActivationTechniques

MuscleactivationtechniquesisarelativelynewmodalitycreatedandfoundedbyGreg
Roskopf.GreghashismastersfromFresnoStateUniversity,andwasworkingasa
StrengthCoachwhenhestartedanalyzingexistingmodalities.Hehadfractureda
vertebraeandhadtriedavarietyofmethodsinattempttohealhimself.Accordingto
GregRoskopf(2009),hefeltworseafterstretchinganddeeptissuemassage.This
influencedhimtoaskthequestionwhydowetightenup?(Roskopf,2009).Gregcame
totheconclusionthatourbodiestighteninordertoprotectourselves.So,maybe
1

Nutrition,allergy,herbs,toxicity
Psyche,stress
3
Muscletechniques,chiropractic,reflexpoints
2

massage/stretching/etc.isviolatingthebodyscurrentstabilitysettings(Roskopf,2009).
Hestartedthinkingaboutthisdilemmaandthefactthatthegoalofmostother
modalitiesisrangeofmotion.Hewonderedwhyotherprocedureswantedtodecrease
thestabilityofthebodywheninfact,thatisthebodysprotectivemechanism.Thiswas
thefoundationforMAT.Gregrealizedthatmuscletightnessissecondarytomuscle
weakness/instability(Roskopf,2009)andcreatedMATtoaddressthisissue.

AppliedKinesiology

AKwascreatedin1964byaMichiganchiropractornamedGeorgeGoodheart(Weil,
2014).BecauseAKsupportstheideathatmusclesareconnectedtootherpartsofthe
body,Goodheartarguedthattestingthestrengthofcertainmusclescouldinformthe
practitioneroftheconditionofanorgan/glandthatthemusclewasrelatedto(Applied
Kinesiology,n.d.).Thismodalitybecameespeciallypopularamongchiropractors,as
wellasotherhealthcareprofessionals.Thebeliefwasthatbyusingmanualmuscle
testing,problemswithotherpartsofthebodycouldbedeterminedanddiagnosed.

NeuralControl

GeneralTerms

Gammamotorneuronsleavethespinal
cordthroughtheanteriorhorn/ventralroot.
Thistypeofmotorneurononlyinnervates
intrafusalfibersmeaningtheyarenot
directlyresponsibleformusclecontraction.
Intrafusalfibersdonotcontainmyofibrils,
whicharethecontractilecomponentsof
muscles.However,Gammamotorneurons
innervatethecontractibleendsofthe
musclespindlecellsallowingthecenterof
theintrafusalfiber/spindlecelltomaintain
constanttension.Achangeinthistension
signalstheafferentneurons,andthe
informationisrelayedbacktothespinal
cord.ThisprocesswillbediscussedfurtherintheAlphagammacoactivationsection.
Gammamotorneuronsmakeuponly30%ofthemotorneuronsinnervatingthemuscle.

Alphamotorneuronsalsoleavethespinalcordthroughtheanteriorhorn/ventralroot.
Thistypeofnerveinnervatesextrafusalmusclefiberswhichmakesthemdirectly
responsibleformuscularcontraction.Alphamotorneuronsmakeup70%ofthemotor
neuronsinnervatingthemuscle.Theyaredividedintotwogroups:tonicalphamotor
neuronsandphasicalphamotorneurons.Tonicneuronsareresponsiblefor
contractionsthathappenoverlongperiodsoftime.Phasicneuronsareresponsiblefor
innervatingmusclesthatcontractforshortperiodsoftime.

Musclespindlesareproprioceptivesensorsthatrecognizechangesinlengthofthe
muscle.Thesestructuresaremadeupofintrafusalmusclefibers.Sensoryafferent
neuronsarewrappedaroundthemusclespindlestogatherinformationaboutchanges
inthelengthofthespindle,andsenditbacktothespinalcord.Thismessageisusedto
activatemotorneurons.

Golgitendonorgans(GTO)arealsoproprioceptivesensors.Theyarelocatedatthe
originsandinsertionsofmuscles(intendons)andrecognizeachangeinthetensionof
themuscle.Thesesensorsarealsoresponsibleforthegolgitendonreflex.Thisreflex
protectsmusclesfrombeingoverstretchedtothepointofinjury.TheGTOsensesthat
themuscleisbeingstretchedtoofarandsendsasignaltothespinalcordviaafferent
neurons.Thissignalinhibitsthealphamotorneurons.So,asthemuscleiscontracting,
themotorneuronsarebeinginhibitedtopreventthemusclefromcontractingmorethan
isnecessary.Thiscausesthe
muscletorelaxinorderto
preventaninjury.

Alphagammacoactivationis
requiredinorderfortheentire
muscletocontract.Intrafusal
fibershavecontractibleand
noncontractiblecomponents.
Theendsoftheintrafusal
fibersarethecontractiblepart
andareconstantlymaintaining
tension.Ifthereisachangein
tensionduetogammamotor
neuronsignaling,sensory
afferentneuronsinthe
noncontractiblesectionoftheintrafusalfiberdetectthevariation.Thissensory
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informationissentbacktothespinalcordsignalingthealphamotorneurons,via
interneurons,tomakethemusclecontract.

MuscleActivationTechniques

MATrecognizesthateveryinjurymayhaveanegativeimpactonourneuromuscular
functionandthatovertime,thecommunicationbetweenthenervoussystemandthe
muscularsystembecomesnegativelyaltered(MATOverview,2011).Ifthelackof
communicationbetweenthebrainandmusclesisnotaddressedregularly,those
muscleswillcontinuetogetweakandothermuscleswillhavetokeepworkingharderto
compensate.Thiscompensationincreasesapersonssusceptibilitytopain,injury,
and/ordegenerativeissues(MATOverview,2011).MATutilizesAlphaGamma
coactivationtoproducedesiredresultsinthehumanbody.Palpationoftheoriginsand
insertionsofthemusclesexcitesthegammamotorneurons.Excitationofthegamma
neuronssignalstheendsoftheintrafusalfibertocontract.Musclespindlesregisterthis
changeandsendtheinformationbacktothespinalcordviaafferentneurons.Herethe
informationisrelayedtothealphamotorneuronswhichsignaltheextrafusalfibers,
makingthemusclecontract.Makingsureallmusclesareworkingproperlycanreduce
painanddegenerationduetocompensation.Improvingthecommunicationbetweena
muscleandthebraincanalsohelpanindividualreachtheirfullpotentialinthegymand
onthefield(Cohen,2014).

AppliedKinesiology

Goodheartproposedthatafailureofthemuscle
couldbedotothesummationofallexcitatoryand
inhibitoryinputsfrommotorneurons,meaningthe
problemisactuallyin
thenervoussystem
andnotwiththe
muscle(Rosner&
Cuthbert,2012,p.2).
AKtargetsdysfunctioningneuromuscularspindlecells
byeitherpushingintoorpullingapart4 thespindlecells.
Thissignaliscarriedbacktothespinalcordwhichsends
4

Pullingapartstretchestheintrafusalfibers,increasingtheiroutputtothespinalcord.Moreimpulsesare
sentthroughthealphaefferentnervestoextrafusalfiberswhichmakethemusclecontractmorestrongly.
Pullingneuromuscularcellsapartincreasesthetensioninamuscle(Frost,2002,p.25).

eithermoreorlessimpulsespersecondthroughthealphaefferentneuronsleadingtoa
strongercontractionorrelaxationofthemuscle(Frost,2002,p.25).

Methodology

MuscleActivationTechniques

1.
CAM:ComparativeAssessmentofMobilitytest(ROMtests)
2.
AMC&S:ActiveMuscleContract&Sustaintest
3.
PICS:PositionalIsoangularContractions(Isometrics)

ThefirsttestcompletedinaMATsessionistheCAM.Thisallowsthepractitionerto
determinewhatabilitiestheclienthaswhentheyentertheroom,andgivesthema
baselinetocomparetoattheendofthesession.Musclesarethentestedusingthe
AMC&Stest.Thesemusclesareguidedintoeithertheshortenedpositionoraposition
relativetotheplaneofforceappliedbythepractitioner.Ifaclientisabletoresistthe
force5,themuscletestsstrong.Iftheclientisunabletoresisttheforceappliedbythe
practitioner,themuscletestsweak.Multiplemusclesaretestedandtheresultsofthe
testsareanalyzedtogethertodeterminewhichmuscleneedstobeexcited.The
musclesthattestweakwillnormallyhaveacommonfunctionwhichcanbeimprovedby
stimulatinganothermusclewhichsharesthefunctionoftheseweakmuscles.Afterthis
muscleisdeterminedandstimulated,themusclesthattestedweakpreviouslyshould
teststrong.TheweakmuscleischallengedwithPICSandotherresistances6inorderto
strengthenitandkeepitfunctioningproperly.Afterresistanceisapplied,thepractitioner
reteststhemusclesinordertomakesuretheyallstillteststrong.Ifmusclestestweak
again,theprocessisrepeateduntilthemusclesallteststrong.Thissystemof
checksandbalancesallowstheclienttoleaveasessionfeelingstronginsteadof
brokendown.

AppliedKinesiology

TotestamuscleusingAK,theexaminerplacestheclientsmuscleinpartialcontraction
allowingthismuscletobetheprimarymover(Frost,2002,p.63).Thepractitionerthen
placestheirhandontheclientscontractedmuscletoresistfurthercontraction.Astrong
musclewillresistthemotionoftheexaminer,whileaweakmusclewillbeunableto
resist(Lawson&Calderon,1997).AccordingtoFrost(2002,p.12),17kgofpressure
5
6

520lbsofforcedependingonthelever
Isometric,eccentric,concentricresistance

isplacedontheclientduringthetest,whichwilllastnolongerthan23seconds.The
musclecanbegradedonascaleof155beingfacilitatedorstrong,and04being
functionallyinhibitedorweak.Multipletestsareperformedbeforeanydiagnosisis
made,andthemusclesaretestedagainaftercertainchallenges/treatmentsareapplied
(Rosner&Cuthbert,2012).Thesechallengescanincludeisometricresistance,
concentric/eccentricresistance,andtherapylocalization7.AlthoughAKdoesusethese
muscletests,ingeneralitisnotasmechanicallybasedasothermodalities.AKreliesa
lotmoreonenergy/chi/theory/etc.

Research

MuscleActivationTechniques

DuetothefactthatMATisrelativelynew,noresearchisavailableforreview.Although
researchisintheprocessofbeingcompleted,thereisnoneaccessibleforthepublicat
thistime(personalcommunication,September17,2014).

AppliedKinesiology

ResearchresultsregardingAKvalidityandreliabilityisvariabledependingonthe
source,funding,andresearchers.Somestudiesleaveoutimportantnegativedatato
improvetheresults.Othersdonotdistinguishbetweenmanualmuscletesting(MMT)
usedinorthopedics/etc.,andMMTapplicationsusedinAK.Thisdistinctionisimportant
toaccuratelyinterpretthedata.

OnepaperwrittenbyHaas,Cooperstein,andPeterson(2007),analyzedareview
writtenbyCuthbertandGoodheartonAK.InthepaperCuthbertandGoodheartdidnot
distinguishbetweenAKandMMTwhichskewedtheresultsinapositivedirection.The
authorsofthereviewconcludedthat:

When manual muscle testing as used in Applied Kinesiology is

disentangled from standard orthopedic/neurological muscle testing, the
few studies evaluating specific AK procedures either refute or cannot
support thevalidity ofAK procedures asdiagnostictests.Inparticular,the
useof MMTforthediagnosisoforganicdiseaseorputativepre/subclinical
conditionsisinsupportable.(p.6)

TherapyLocalization:Specialformofchallengeinwhichthepatienttoucheshimselforherselfuponan
areawheresomeproblemissuspected.Theeffectisassessedwithmuscletesting(Frost,2002,p.8).

BoththereviewbyHaas,Cooperstein,andPeterson(2007)andpaperbyRosnerand
Cuthbert(2012)concludedthatAKisnotvalidatedwhensubjectedtoscrutinyandthere
aremanyareasregardingAKthatstillneedtobethoroughlytested.

AnotherstudytestingAKinterexaminerreliabilityforfourcommonlytestedmuscles8
foundthattherewasgoodtoexcellentconcordancebetweenallexaminerswhen
testingtheleftandrightpiriformis,nosignificantfindingsforthehamstrings,andmixed
resultsforthetensorfascialata(Lawson&Calderon,1997).However,alloftheses
examinerswereexperiencedandpracticingAKatadvancedlevels.Thismeansthatthe
samepositiveconcordanceresultswiththeonemusclegroupwouldnotbeexpectedin
lessexperiencedpractitioners(Laswon&Calderon,1997).

Conclusion

Therearemanyothermodalitiesbesidesmuscleactivationtechniquesandapplied
kinesiology,andthispaperisjustabriefoverviewofthetwo.Differentmodalitieshave
contrastinggoalsaswellasdifferentpathstoreachthesegoals.Itisimportantthat
individualsfigureoutwhattheirbodyneeds,andchoseamethodbasedonthedesired
outcome.

Hamstrings,piriformis,pectoralis,andtensorfascialata

WorksCited

AppliedKinesiology.(n.d.).InTheMedicalDictionaryOnline,RetrievedAugust29,2014,from
http://medicaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Kinesiology,+Applied

Cohen,J.(2014).5Thingsmuscleactivationtechnique(MAT)trainingcandoforyourbody.MensFitness.Retrieved
fromhttp://www.mensfitness.com/training/5thingsmuscleactivation
techniquemattrainingcandoforyourbody
Frost,R.(2002).Appliedkinesiology:Atrainingmanualandreferencebookofbasicprinciplesandpractices.
Berkeley,CA:NorthAtlanticBooks.
Haas,M.,Cooperstein,R.,&Peterson,D.(2007).Disentanglingmanualmuscletestingandappliedkinesiology:
critiqueandreinterpretationofaliteraturereview.Chiropractic&Osteopathy,15:11,17.DOI:
10.1186/174613401511
Lawson,A.,&Calderon,L.(1997).Interexamineragreementforappliedkinesiologymanualmuscletesting.
PerceptualMotorSkills,84,539546.Retrievedfrom
http://www.amsciepub.com.ezp3.lib.umn.edu/doi/abs/10.2466/pms.1997.84.2.539

Roskopf,G.(2009,September10).GregRoskopf,founderofmuscleactivationtechniques.Retrievedfrom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HgezgRiaos

Rosner,A.L.,&Cuthbert,S.C.(2012).Appliedkinesiology:Distinctionsinitsdefinitionandinterpretation.Journalof
Bodywork&MovementTherapies,16,464487.Retrievedfrom
https://wwwclinicalkeycom.ezp1.lib.umn.edu/#!/ContentPlayerCtrl/
doPlayContent/1s2.0S1360859212001222

Weil,A.(2014).WellnessTherapies:AppliedKinesiology,RetrievedSeptember23,2014,from
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART03410/AppliedKinesiology.html

(2011).MAToverview.MuscleActivationTechniques.Retrievedfromhttp://www.muscle
activation.com/matoverview/
(2011).MATtheoreticalperspective.MuscleActivationTechniques.Retrievedfrom
http://www.muscleactivation.com/about/mattheoreticalperspective/

Pictures

AKMuscleSpindles:http://physioshand.blogspot.com/2012/07/neuromuscularspindlecelldysfunction.html
Triadofhealth:http://www.drjaychiropractic.com/wpcontent/uploads/2013/05/HealthTriad1.png
Neuron:http://www.nap.edu/books/0309095859/xhtml/images/p2000d3bdg31001.jpg
Alphagammacoactivation:http://images.persianblog.ir/50407_dWtpPlny.jpg
MATlogo:http://1.bp.blogspot.com/IzlONbof3Lc/UJmOx82oKKI/AAAAAAAADbo/iWpDKEvxm4/s1600/headerleft
logo.png

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