The item below, written by an "Applied Kinesiologist", appeared on AOL's
(America On Line) Health News this week:
<<Eliminate Sciatic Pain with Kinesiology
by <A HREF="aol://4344:1679.AUTH_022.13636669.525466620">Chris Holderman</A>
One of the most basic forms of kinesiology, applied kinesiology (AK), studies
the muscles and how they influence movement in the body. Muscles move bones;
bones do not move muscles. Operating on that principle, a good kinesiologist
can often provide relief from the symptoms I've described .. . . . >>
The author continues:
<<Because of the many variables involved, this is correction should only be
done by a kinesiologist. The good news is that you do not have to live with
low back pain! In most cases there is something that can be done to provide
relief.>>
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COMMENT
In other words, the "applied kinesiologist" has specialised knowledge about
resolving back pain which nobody else is competent to do. This being the
case, we may presume that he also has specialised information and ability
concerning how the musculoskeletal and motor systems operate.
However, he seems to be unaware that the well known aphorism, "Muscles move
bones; bones do not move muscles", is not a law or universally applicable,
according to some of the more recent work in true kinesiology and
biomechanics. While it may be true for single-joint movements, it is not
necessarily correct for multi-joint movements.
If a muscle sets part of one extremity into motion, any resulting momentum
will be transmitted to other parts of the same extremity and the rest of the
body, including distant joints which that muscle does not span. This momentum
will move other joints and muscles, thereby producing reactions such as the
myotatic stretch reflex and subsequent muscle contraction which had no direct
link with the original muscle contraction.
A similar situation will also occur if a person in a given static posture is
subjected to an unexpected external force which imparts momentum to the body
or one of its limbs - the involuntary motion of the bones will move muscles
and these may well experience various stretch reflexes intended to produce
some protective muscle contraction.
Although it is quite correct to state that muscles usually provide the primary
impetus to any movement in the body, one must not lose sight of the fuller
picture which takes into account major exceptions such as the two mentioned
above.
As yet, I have not encountered any "applied kinesiology " text (I once
completed a short course in this discipline some years ago) which includes
more recent reserach on the dynamic multi-articular interactions of the
muscles.
Like much of traditional 'functional anatomy', applied kinesiology bases most
muscle testing and conditioning on isolated joint actions, instead of on
acceleration and momentum transfer involving many joints. Has anyone come
across any applied kinesiology texts which modify their early methods by
including more up to date research?
Lest this observation create the impression that applied kinesiologists are
unique in this omission from their current work, it is noteworthy that the
standard physical therapy and related texts (such as those by Kendall) also
tend to rely heavily on this isolated, uniarticular approach involving more
static, simple postures.
Certainly, a good measure of success may have been attained by use of these
traditional methods, but further progress necessitates constant revision. Are
there any more modern publications which tend to move us away from this
limited isolationist approach? So far, I have only seen this sort of
information in more esoteric biomechanics publications, but not in the world
of the practitioner - and maybe this is where a major problem lies, namely in
bridging the gap between complex science and rehabilitation or training.
Dr Mel C Siff
Denver, USA
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