The Cult of Crunch: Breaking Down the Good, the Bad, and the Biblical (or not) of Natural Living Part 8: Applied Kinesiology

“I tried this new functional med doc, and it just felt weird. She did this thing with my arm to figure out what to take. Kind of felt like a witch doctor”

“My old chiropractor did muscle testing on me, and she was a Christian so it must be okay!”

“This podcast wouldn’t stop talking about muscle testing. They promote health and the host is a Christian. So, I don’t really know what to think about it.”

There’s a lot of mixed emotions and messaging on muscle testing out there! So today, I’ll attempt to break it down as fairly as I possibly can.

What is muscle testing?

Also known as applied kinesiology (AP), muscle testing is a technique mainly used by chiropractors and others in alternative medicine to diagnose illness or choose treatment. It tests certain muscles looking for strengths or weaknesses. It’s not a raw test of strength, but a more subjective evaluation of muscle tension and response. A basic AP test would be the “Delta test” where the patient extends their arm and try to resist as the practitioner pushes against it. The patient then relaxes. A challenge is introduced as the patient may be instructed to touch a body part with the other arm or look at an image or hold a supplement. The practitioner again pushes down on the extended arm. The practitioner looks for signs of weakness to interpret stress, allergy, disfunction, or in choosing a supplement.

What is the history of muscle testing?

George J. Goodheart was a chiropractor and the founder of AP. In 1964, he made a discovery that changed his treatment of patients and the treatment of many others in the future.

Here’s an excerpt from the International Collage of Applied Kinesiology’s website on Goodheart’s first AP patient:

“The first patient Goodheart diagnose and treated was a man who was unable to push anything due to instability in his shoulder. As a result of this condition, present for fifteen years he consistently failed pre-employment physical examinations evaluating his ability to perform labor-intensive tasks for which he was qualified. As a part of Goodheart’s examination, he asked the patient to put his hands on the wall and proceeded to test the function of the muscle that holds the shoulder blade against the ribcage (anterior serratus). The muscle failed as pressure was applied to the spine. Goodheart then palpated the muscle insertions and found tender nodules to which he applied hard, heavy digital pressure. Almost miraculously, upon completing this therapeutic effort, the patient was now able to do that which he had been unable to do for fifteen years!”

After this amazing experience, he continued to test muscles and round out his theory on AP. He observed five system to evaluate in understanding body function. The systems were blood vascular, nervous, lymphatic, acupuncture, and cerebrospinal fluid. His claims were that dysfunction in the body could be caused by dysfunction in these systems and muscles testing could be used to diagnose and treat said dysfunction.

In a paper linked on the International Collage of Applied Kinesiology’s website named Applied Kinesiology, this was said about Goodheart’s findings:

“Knowing that the body heals itself, he observed that it also ‘speaks’ through its muscles. That is, through the manual muscle testing response, the body communicates balance or imbalance, function or dysfunction. It became apparent to Goodheart that muscle weakness, as observed by manual muscle testing, is an expression of the needs of a body dissatisfied with anything short of optimum function. As Goodheart often remarked, referring to the use of manual muscle testing as a diagnostic tool, ‘body language never lies’ and ‘find the need, supply the need, observe the result’.”

Initially he thought that muscle weakness could just be a localized problem but later went on to theorize that it could be systemic to one of the five systems. This realization was piggybacking off of an osteopath in the 30s named Dr. Frank Chapman. He palpated patients who had various ailments observing discrete, tender, nodules in specific areas which seemed to correlate to specific diagnoses. Massage and body work in these areas seemed to help whatever condition the areas were related to.

Goodheart became interested in Traditional Chinese Medicine particularly in acupuncture. Instead of using needles, he used pressure to treat the “acupuncture system.” Energy flow and the body having an innate ability to heal itself were key to him.

From Goodheart’s ideologies it spread to others like John F. Thie who created “Touch for Health” which further integrated muscle testing and energy balance. It outlined simple muscle tests and energy balancing routines based on both Traditional Chinese Medicine and chiropractic theories. He popularized energy medicine in the West and many still teach his methods in many different countries.

Aligning with the energy side of AP, it became popular in the New Age circle. Applied Kinesiology became a tool for healing like Reiki and acupuncture. It became a tool not just for physical dysfunction by for spiritual and emotional too.

Currently, muscle testing is mainstream in Crunchy circles. Many holistic health practices including chiropractic and functional medicine practices use it to determine not just physical weaknesses but also food sensitivities, toxins, supplement selection, and essential oil choices.

Is it effective?

Not according to peer reviewed research.

According to Science Direct, there was a study done testing AP with seven patients having a clinically diagnosed wasp venom allergy. Four Kinesiology examiners tested each patient. The test results came back as no better than random guessing as the examiners used muscle testing to determine if they had an allergy to the venom.

Another Science Direct article showed a study in which there were saline solutions and a toxic solution were tested by different experts via muscle testing to show whether it was effective for recommending supplementation to people. The results were varied with only 53% showing the toxic solution to be toxic. Other variables in results were the gender of the kinesiologist. Only 45% of the females were successful in correct diagnosis while 78% of the males were. The conclusion of this study was also that AP is not a useful or reliable diagnostic tool.

There are many more studies on how AP is unreliable for use in diagnosing illness or recommending treatment.

How should we view Applied Kinesiology through a biblical worldview?

As stated, the founder believes in the body’s ability to heal itself. Likely this also stems back to the bend towards Traditional Chinese Medicine. My whole last blog was on Traditional Chinese Medicine so please look into that for an expanded commentary on it.

I have a few thoughts on the innate healing abilities in the body.

First, while the body was wonderfully designed by God and in His image, it is tainted by sin. From the moment Adam and Eve ate of the fruit in the garden, we’ve been on our way to death. The body is breaking down and failing. In 2 Corinthians 4:16, Paul writes that we are “outwardly wasting away” but the Christian can take heart because “we are being renewed day by day.” Psalm 73:26 states, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” We are not perpetually healing in these broken sin riddled bodies, but rather our flesh is fading away. Sin touches all of us. To think that we are perpetually healing due to our body’s own wisdom is to misunderstand the effect of the fall of man.

Second, as it relates to Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Qi (life force energy that when in balance brings healing), we run into many problems as Christians. The Qi operates in the realm of pantheism stating that all reality is god. This is also popular in the New Age. If this god energy is released and balanced, then we can be healed.

While God is omnipresent, He is also transcendent. God is not some “energy” that is in everything in the universe working for us. We do believe that healing comes from God, but we do not believe that He is some energy force made to bend to our every whim.

Goodheart also went from physical assessment of muscles to accessing hidden knowledge in the body.

Physical tests of strength and body work to help movement is great. But when we’re seeking truth in ourselves and holding the body as all wise, we run into trouble. Truth comes from scripture, not ourselves. We ought to depend of God for wisdom as stated in James 1:5. He has the answers, not the movement of our muscles.

Considering the lack of any scientific evidence for muscle testing to be any better than random guessing coupled with the ideological and worldview issues with it, we ought to avoid it at all costs. It is estimated that over 43% of chiropractors in the US use muscle testing. Not all functional doctors use it but some do. If used to assess muscle strength for muscle strength itself, it’s probably fine. But if used to diagnose, treat, or find supplements, it is not at all helpful and could in fact be harmful. As Christians, we should seek only God, not our broken bodies for wisdom.