Effects of an Applied Kinesiology Technique on Quadriceps Femoris Muscle Isometric Strength

Abstract

The effect of either the muscle spindle cell receptor technique of applied kinesiology or a placebo technique on isometric strength of the right quadriceps femoris muscle group was studied among 20 normal human subjects. Peak, perpendicular maximal values of isometric quadriceps femoris muscle force was measured by a force transducer. Three training sessions consisting of three trials of peak maximal contractions of the isometric quadriceps femoris muscle were performed by all subjects. After the three training sessions, matched pairs of subjects were formed from a rank order list of each subject's mean values of isometric quadriceps femoris muscle strength on the third session. One subject of a matched pair was then randomly assigned to either an experimental (applied kinesiology) or control (placebo) group for the testing session. No significant differences in mean values of isometric quadriceps femoris muscle strength between the matched pairs for control and experimental subjects were noted. Within the context of a normal population, the applied kinesiology technique does not appear to augment isometric quadriceps femoris muscle strength.