History of Clinical Kinesiology

Dr. Alan Beardall, DC developed Clinical Kinesiology after studying Applied Kinesiology with Dr. George Goodheart, DC.

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.

A Major Difference Between Clinical Kinesiology and Applied Kinesiology

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 noticed that AK didn’t address enough muscles in the body, and that he was limited with how much he could help his patients (mostly elite athletes.)

Dr. Beardall proceeded to extensively research the human body, mapped out every muscle, and identified muscle divisions not even mentioned in medical anatomy references. He refined the exact position for each muscle and muscle division that shows whether or not the muscle or muscle division is ‘triggering’ correctly. This greatly expanded the depth to which a practitioner could evaluate the client.

The information on this page contains 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, DC, LAc. We thank the late Dr. Alan Beardall, his son Dr. Christopher Beardall, and Mr. Shane for their tremendous contributions to the science and study of Clinical Kinesiology.