Applied kinesiology
alternative medicine technique
Applied kinesiology (AK), also known as muscle testing, is a pseudoscience-based technique in alternative medicine claimed to be able to diagnose illness or choose treatment by testing muscles for strength and weakness.
According to their guidelines on allergy diagnostic testing, the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology stated there is "no evidence of diagnostic validity" of applied kinesiology. Another study indicated that the use of applied kinesiology to evaluate nutrient status is "no more useful than random guessing." The American Cancer Society has said that "scientific evidence does not support the claim that applied kinesiology can diagnose or treat cancer or other illness".
History and current use
George J. Goodheart, a chiropractor, originated applied kinesiology in 1964 and began teaching it to other chiropractors. An organization of Goodheart Study Group Leaders began meeting in 1973, selected the name "The International College of Applied Kinesiology" (ICAK) in 1974, adopted bylaws in 1975, elected officers in 1975, and "certified" its charter members (called "diplomates") in 1976. ICAK now considers 1976 to be the date it was founded and 1973 to be the date that its first chairman took office.
AK grew in popularity among Mormon alternative medicine culture. In Educated, Tara Westover recounts her Mormon mother beginning to practice AK in the mid-to-late 1990s. In 2007, Mormon chiropractor Bradley Nelson published the AK book The Emotion Code, which further popularized the practice.
While AK is primarily used by chiropractors, it is also used by many other practitioners of complementary therapy.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Applied kinesiology” as alternative medicine technique. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q913842. The Library of Congress control number is sh89003530. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1964, 1973, 1974 and 1975.
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This entry incorporates text from “Applied kinesiology” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.