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INTRODUCTION TO THERAPEUTIC KINESIOLOGY This article's approach to kinesiology is therapeutic because applications are made to improve the overall posture and movement of client and practitioner alike. Because the leading cause of disability in working adults is musculoskeletal pain that limits normal movement, and a primary reason that people seek therapeutic massage and bodywork is for pain relief, it is imperative that we understand kinesiology in order to help our clients restore normal, pain-free movement.1 A study of kinesiology requires learning the names, functions, and locations of all the muscles and joints. Although the mere thought of learning all these facts can be daunting, the process can also be fun, interesting, and even exciting when the body becomes the learning laboratory. You are encouraged to approach therapeutic kinesiology by actually experiencing what integrated joint and muscle functions feel like in your own body. Not only will your body reap the benefits of your newfound knowledge, learning will be easier if your cognitive study is reinforced with body experiences. DIMENSIONAL BALANCE AND STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY Every massage stroke we do has direction, so each stroke provides us with an opportunity to move the client's body toward improved alignment and dimensional balance. When the body has dimensional balance, it has symmetry and proportion in its height, width, and depth. Each segment of the body aligns above and is supported by the segment below it (Image 1A). As simple a move as bringing the legs directly under the body (kneecap under hip socket) puts the femur into the natural medial rotation that occurs in extension. When we apply massage strokes in a direction that improves alignment, if the client pays attention, she will receive a passive education about optimal skeletal alignment. Chronically contracted muscles associated with faulty postures pull and shorten certain areas of the body, tipping body segments off center (Image 1B). This results in a distortion of the dimensional balance of the body, reducing its overall structural integrity. By contrast, when the joints are optimally aligned, the muscles have a normal length, the body has dimensional balance, and the body posture is in a state of structural integrity. The term structural integration was originally coined by Ida Rolf to name the somatic therapy she developed that is now known as Rolfing.2 KINETIC CHAINS Movement is rarely isolated in one muscle or joint. Instead, basic and familiar movement patterns of the human body occur along chains of action, passing from one joint to the next in a predictable sequence. This is defined as a kinetic chain—a combination of successive joints linked by a series of muscles along a movement pathway. A number of kinetic chains have been identified from different kinesiological viewpoints: • An articular chain views the series of connected joints along a movement pathway. A • A muscular chain views the group of muscles that function together to produce a common action, such as the extensor chain or the flexor chain. • A neurological chain views the neurological links of muscles that contract in an ordered sequence during developmental movement patterns, reflexive movements such as a flexor withdrawal reaction, and postural stabilization functions. Kinetic chains are often described by the actions they produce. For example, the extensor chain of muscles runs along the back of the body from the head to the bottom of the feet (Image 2). It also crosses to the front of the body above the knee at the quadriceps, which are knee extensors. We see the power of the extensor chain in actions such as the graceful arc of the body in a B 1 Optimal alignment results in dimensional balance in the body. Faulty posture reduces structural integrity. Images courtesy of Pearson Education. Illustrations by Body Scientific International. Photos by Rick Giase Photography. Extensor chain of muscles. 2 72 massage & bodywork november/december 2012