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Muscle Testing Tools

Kinesiology involves tools that assess a person's musculoskeletal impairments, progress and ability. Kinesiology tools are known as muscle testing tools that assess a person's functional biomechanics and include tools that evaluate hard and soft musculoskeletal tissues. Certified kinesiology professionals use muscle tests according to standardized protocols to evaluate functional posture, range of motion and neurological activity. Health care professionals combine kinesiology, or muscle test, results with other diagnostic information to diagnose and treat functional impairments.

  1. Professionals

    • Doctors and other certified health care professionals use kinesiology diagnostic tools to prescribe therapeutic regimens for injured athletes. People who administer muscle tests often have training in anatomy, physiology and neurology with regard to how those disciplines relate to muscle function. Kinesiology professionals use tools that normalize muscular strength and ability, or damaged muscle tissues, ligaments, tendons and joints, according to AppliedKinesiology.com.

    Functional Biomechanics

    • Clinical muscle testing and applied kinesiology assess functional biomechanics, which refers to physiological and neurological systems involved with body movement. For example, functional body movements include walking, stretching, walking, reaching, bending, kneeling and standing. Some biomechanics assessment tools examine posture, gait or other movements and other tools examine neurological and musculoskeletal system interactions.

    Posture and Motion Assessment

    • Clinical biomechanics assessment tools evaluate posture, organized bodily motion and range of motion. Functional biomechanical clinical assessments use muscle test tools that help determine the amount of distortion in someone's posture or whether that person has problems related to posture Other tools determine the degree of gait impairment or range of motion limitations. For example, some posture and gait tools examine a patient's ability or inability to maintain test positioning or apply consistent force.

    Neurological Assessment

    • Some applied kinesiology tools evaluate neurological activity. Functional musculoskeletal neurological testing tools monitor physiological responses to physical, chemical and psychological stimuli. For example, tests that evaluate neurological activity may assess the way a person's nervous system responds to changes in pressure by measuring musculoskeletal adaptation to various degrees of pressurized stimuli.

    Protocol

    • People who administer muscle testing tools or practice applied kinesiology follow specific testing protocols to get accurate results. Testing protocols may require tools for muscular positioning, duration and timing intervals, pressure changes, stabilization reduction or enhancement. For example, applied kinesiology professionals use positioning tools that isolate specific muscular movement or assess a persons ability to maintain a position. Other kinesiology tools monitor timing by controlling test duration, the duration of test interval and help muscle testers collect accurate diagnostic information about musculoskeletal systems, explains AppliedKinesiology.com..

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