Muscle Response Testing (MRT)

At Heights of Health, we use many different types of testing, both high tech and low tech. Muscle Response Testing falls into the Low Tech category because it simply and effectively uses the client’s own muscles to help the practitioner better understand what is going on within the body.

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The first time someone is exposed to muscle testing, it may, understandably, seem that the practitioner is using some sort of voodoo or psychic abilities. This is surprisingly far from the truth, as almost anyone can, when properly trained, utilize this technique (and it’s a great party trick, too). When the process is understood from a neurological standpoint, it is an amazing technique used to tap into the body’s innate wisdom in order to expedite the healing process.

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Muscle Testing measures a natural stress response called Binary Biofeedback – the measure of the body’s response to a stimulus. Binary Biofeedback is used in virtually every medical field from EEGs and ECGs to heart rate monitors and thermometers. The difference with Muscle Testing is that it is done by using the body’s muscles to measure a response – the biofeedback device itself.

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As we all know, muscles are controlled by nerves and the muscles of the body will respond differently to different nerve messages. Hence, we have the ability to measure muscle strength as a way to understand what the nervous system is trying to tell us. By tapping into the nervous system, the practitioner can ascertain imbalances in the body and advise the client how to help address these imbalances. This allows the body to use its own innate ability to heal itself – nothing magical here, just a way to work with the natural flow of the body to create balance and health.

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When the body is presented with something that it perceives as a stress to the system (something it is incompatible with), the electrical signals between the muscles and the brain are “short-circuited” and the muscle being tested is weakened – a.k.a. the Binary Biofeedback response.

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Muscle testing is performed in many different ways, but the most common form is done by having the client hold an item while trying to resist downward pressure placed on the arm by the practitioner. The practitioner is testing for the client’s energetic compatibility with an item. A strong/resistant arm is considered a positive response and a weak arm considered a negative response – an “incompatibility” with the item tested. A practitioner’s goal is to help the client regain or maintain balance, working with the systems already in place within the body. Muscle testing is simply a tool to help achieve that end in a more efficient manner by using the most amazingly complex computer on the planet – the human brain.