Clinical Kinesiology ®

Innovative Kinesiology is proud to have Matthew Luth, a Clinical Kinesiology student, on staff as our Neuromuscular Reactivation Specialist. Matthew and Sarah Rollins study Clinical Kinesiology directly under Dr. Alan Beardall's son, Dr. Christopher Beardall, and Robert Shane, a close friend and colleague of both Dr. Alan Beardall and Dr. Christopher Beardall. Matthew and Sarah plan to become Certified Clinical Kinesiology Practitioners in Spring 2008.

The following is a rendition of an article written by Robert Shane and the Pacific Northwest Foundation, 'Clinical Kinesiology - the Cornerstone of Biocomputer Communication', as well as conversations with Mr. Shane and Dr. Christopher Beardall. We thank Drs. Beardall and Mr. Shane for their tremendous contributions to the science and study of Clinical Kinesiology.

The Benefits of Clinical Kinesiology ®

Clinical Kinesiology is a body of work that addresses imbalances in the system through many systems including the neuromuscular system, neurovascular system, neurolymphatic system, and Chinese meridian system. This comprehensive modality enables the practitioner to evaluate and address the many complex layers of system breakdown that ultimately can manifest as learning difficulties.

Dr. George Goodheart and Applied Kinesiology ®

Muscle monitoring, or testing, historically has been used to evaluate function, range of motion, and strength of muscles in an attempt to rehabilitate conditions resulting from trauma and wasting diseases. Once muscle function was determined, physical therapy was the preferred treatment. In the early 1960's, Dr. George Goodheart, the founder of Applied Kinesiology (AK), changed these concepts in a very innovative way.

At the time, the prevailing opinion in the chiropractic community was that tight, painful, muscles in spasm were pulling the bones out of proper alignment. Dr. Goodheart proposed a radically different idea for the cause of these posture anomalies. He proposed that the true problem lay with the weak muscles opposing the muscles in spasm that allow the tight ones to displace the bones. Further, Goodheart theorized that in order to effectively address these issues, one would have to rehabilitate the weak muscles, not just ‘loosen up’ the tight ones. Hence began Goodheart’s development of Applied Kinesiology, a technique that analyzes a person's posture, thereby revealing suspected weakness of certain muscles. These muscle weaknesses are then verified by muscle testing, physical therapy is applied and the posture hopefully corrected. The word ‘hopefully’ is indicative of the fact that far too many times the posture does not normalize entirely or the improved posture lasts only temporarily.

The Triad of Health

An integral concept of Applied Kinesiology is that of the Triad of Health. Dr. Goodheart surmised that the causes of muscle strength change were divided into three major categories:

• Structural imbalances, which can result from such things as skeletal misalignments and uneven muscular development from one's exercise or employment
• Chemical imbalances, which can be split into nutritional deficiencies of vitamins, minerals, hormones, enzymes etc., toxic conditions in the body, and allergies to food and environmental conditions
• Mental imbalance, which can develop from emotional trauma and negative thought patterns.

Enter Dr. Alan Beardall

Alan Beardall, DC was one of Dr. Goodheart’s early protégés. According to Robert Shane and Dr. Christopher Beardall, Alan Beardall developed Clinical Kinesiology from Applied Kinesiology in order to resolve his frustration over identifying which technique was the optimum approach for the specific person and their symptom picture at that time.

Over the years, hundreds of AK techniques had been developed, most of which provided extraordinary benefit when used for the correct condition at the appropriate time. The problem was knowing when to use which technique. It was often hit or miss. This situation was complicated by the fact that the presenting complaint or symptom most probably would not be the causal factor, but rather just the conscious complaint resulting from a long cascading sequence of events and circumstances from a cause that might have happened quite some time previously and been subsequently adapted to and forgotten by the body.

Dr. Beardall discovered a method to develop a dialogue with the patient’s subconscious. It allowed the body to unwind the adaptive patterns to disclose the causal factors needing treatment. While developing Clinical Kinesiology, he made a surprising discovery that revealed which techniques and protocols to use in which order, what supportive therapies from other parts of the Triad of Health were needed, when the various treatments were completed correctly, and when the session was complete. This further refined the challenges previously set with Applied Kinesiology.

Hand Modes, or Mudras

Again according to Robert Shane and Dr. Christopher Beardall, during a treatment session, Dr. Alan Beardall had found a weak muscle and turned around to document his finding. When he retested for confirmation the muscle was strong without any intervention. While attempting to resolve how this could have happened, Beardall noticed that the patient had several fingers touching. Retesting with the hand opened resulted in the original weak muscle. Fingers touching equaled strong muscle; hand open equaled weak muscle. This simple serendipitous discovery led to the development of hundreds of mudras or hand modes and protocols to clarify and evaluate the body’s problems and optimum solutions. In order to understand this ‘body language’, Dr. Beardall developed the Biocomputer Model.

The Biocomputer Model

Beardall's Biocomputer Model describes the human body as operating much like a modern computer in that there are several minicomputers that represent various systems: the endocrine system, spinal system, and muscular system, for example. Under stress, the body's minicomputers fail to coordinate their signals, ultimately leading to breakdown and disease. In many cases, these breakdowns can show up as learning difficulties.

Neuromuscular Reactivation

One significant aspect of Clinical Kinesiology is the depth of muscle-testing that Dr. Beardall developed. In AK, typically 14 major muscles were tested to correspond with the 14 acupuncture meridians. Dr. Beardall discovered the exact position in which to place every muscle in the body, and therefore greatly expanded the depth to which a practitioner could evaluate the client.

Robert Shane writes that muscle weakness is not just an indication of a problem with the strength of a specific muscle, but in general indicates possible imbalances in a whole system of organs and tissues that are associated with the specific muscle by the meridian that energizes all of them. Therefore, just balancing the muscle itself to strength may not affect the causal level if that cause is located in an organ or other tissue. If the problem is a local injury to the muscle, then specific muscle testing and balancing of the associated components for stress reduction is appropriate: for example, neurolymphatic reflexes, neurovascular reflexes, vertebral level, muscle acupuncture point, nutrition, cranial bones, and foot bones. If the imbalance is not in a specific muscle, then group muscle testing is more informative since it gives a broader view of the body's stresses and can more easily be used to evaluate all the different minicomputers rather than just the local minicomputer. It is like taking a poll of a large number of related databases instead of just one small database.

For more information on Clinical Kinesiology, please visit Dr. Beardall’s website, www.clinicalkinesiology.com. For information on studying Clinical Kinesiology, please visit the Our Classes section, or visit Dr. Beardall’s website.