31/08/2026
🎥 Muscle Testing – Pseudoscience or a Stress Management System?
I recently presented this talk at the Kinesiology Association of New Zealand (KANZ) Conference 2026, and the full presentation is now available on The NK Institute YouTube channel.
In the presentation I explore a question that sits at the heart of kinesiology:
What is actually happening when we perform a muscle test?
We begin with the history of Muscle Testing — from its origins in 19th-century Sweden, through the development of Manual Muscle Testing (MMT) in American orthopaedics and physiotherapy during the first half of the 20th century, to George Goodheart and the emergence of Applied Kinesiology in the 1960s.
From there, I look at muscle testing from a neurological perspective and explore the idea that:
Muscle Testing is a Neurological Event.
The talk examines how sensory input, motor pathways and stress physiology can influence the response of an indicator muscle, and how muscle testing may be better understood as a way of observing changes in nervous-system regulation rather than simply testing muscular strength.
I also introduce my Four Stages of Stress and the Defensive Depth Framework, and discuss Indicator Muscle Testing (IMT), Action Muscle Testing (AMT) and their application within Neuroenergetic Kinesiology.
The presentation finishes with a practical example from our NK ACL project, showing how these ideas can be applied to functional movement and structural recovery.
If you are interested in the history, neurology and future direction of kinesiology muscle testing, I hope you enjoy the presentation.
🎬 Watch the full presentation on The NK Institute YouTube channel.
In this presentation to the Kinesiology Association of New Zealand ...
