Applied Kinesiology is one of those disciplines that people tend to either swear by or have never heard of. There’s very little middle ground. Patients who have experienced it often describe it as the first time a practitioner identified something other doctors missed. People who haven’t encountered it sometimes confuse it with general kinesiology, which is the academic study of human movement and an entirely different field. At Forster Healthcare, Applied Kinesiology has been the foundation of our clinical approach for three generations, beginning with Dr. Arnold Forster, who researched and taught alongside Dr. George Goodheart, the chiropractor who developed AK in 1964. That direct connection to the discipline’s origins isn’t a marketing claim. It’s a family history that shaped how we practice, what we look for during an evaluation, and why we continue to use AK as a primary diagnostic and treatment framework across our New York City area offices.
How Applied Kinesiology Developed
Dr. George Goodheart, a Detroit chiropractor, observed in the early 1960s that specific muscles could be tested manually to evaluate the function of organs, glands, and systems throughout the body. His initial discovery involved a patient with chronic shoulder weakness. Goodheart found that applying pressure to specific points corrected the muscle weakness immediately, which led him to investigate the relationship between individual muscles, the nerve pathways that control them, and the organs and glands those nerve pathways also serve.
Over the following decades, Goodheart and a growing group of practitioners, including Dr. Arnold Forster, expanded the system into a comprehensive diagnostic framework that integrates chiropractic, nutrition, acupuncture meridian theory, and cranial-sacral technique. The International College of Applied Kinesiology was formed in 1975 to standardize training and credentialing. Professional Applied Kinesiology certification, which requires extensive post-graduate study and examination, remains the standard for practitioners who use AK as a clinical tool rather than a casual add-on.
The Forster family’s involvement in AK from its earliest development period means the clinical knowledge passed from Dr. Arnold Forster to Dr. James Forster and then to Dr. Cal Forster includes not just the published techniques but the unpublished observations, clinical nuances, and patient-care experience that accumulated over decades of daily practice. Dr. Arnold Forster’s Brooklyn office housed 12 practitioners, including chiropractors, massage therapists, and nutritionists, working in an integrative model before the word “integrative” entered common use.
What Happens During a Muscle Test
Manual muscle testing is the core diagnostic procedure in Applied Kinesiology, and it looks deceptively simple. The practitioner positions the patient’s limb to isolate a specific muscle, asks the patient to hold the position against resistance, and applies a controlled, gradual force to evaluate the muscle’s neurological response. The practitioner isn’t measuring raw strength. A bodybuilder and a grandmother can both be tested with equal diagnostic value because the test evaluates the quality of the neurological signal to the muscle, not the size of the muscle itself.
A muscle that responds with a clean, locked contraction against the examiner’s pressure is considered neurologically facilitated, meaning the nerve pathway controlling that muscle is functioning properly. A muscle that gives way, sponges under pressure, or fails to engage smoothly indicates a neurological inhibition somewhere in the circuit. That inhibition can originate from the muscle itself, the joint it crosses, the spinal segment that innervates it, or the organ or gland associated with that nerve pathway.
This is where AK departs from conventional musculoskeletal evaluation. A standard orthopedic exam tests whether a muscle is strong or weak and draws conclusions about the muscle or joint. An AK evaluation uses that same muscle test as a window into the broader neurological circuit, asking not just “is this muscle working?” but “what is the muscle’s response telling us about the system it’s connected to?”
The practitioner then introduces specific challenges to refine the finding. A nutritional deficiency might be evaluated by having the patient hold a substance while the muscle is retested. A structural misalignment might be identified by testing the muscle before and after a specific chiropractic adjustment. An acupuncture meridian imbalance might be assessed by stimulating specific points and observing whether the muscle response changes. Each challenge narrows the diagnosis and points toward the appropriate treatment.
What Applied Kinesiology Can Identify at Forster Healthcare
The conditions that bring patients to our offices span a range that often surprises people who assume chiropractic means only back pain. AK’s diagnostic reach extends well beyond the musculoskeletal system because the muscle testing procedure accesses neurological circuits that connect to virtually every organ and gland in the body.
Musculoskeletal complaints are the starting point for many patients. Chronic back pain, neck pain, joint instability, recurring injuries that don’t resolve with conventional treatment, and postural imbalances that cause pain in seemingly unrelated areas are all conditions where AK evaluation frequently identifies contributing factors that standard imaging and orthopedic testing miss. A patient with chronic low back pain may have a structural misalignment, but the misalignment may persist because a digestive issue is creating neurological interference along the same spinal segment. Treating only the structural component produces temporary relief. Identifying and addressing both produces a lasting correction.
Digestive disorders are among the most common non-musculoskeletal conditions AK evaluation identifies. The ileocecal valve, which regulates flow between the small and large intestine, is a frequent finding in AK practice. Dysfunction of this valve can produce symptoms ranging from abdominal pain and bloating to shoulder pain and headaches, and it’s a condition that conventional gastroenterology often doesn’t evaluate because it doesn’t appear on standard imaging. At Forster Healthcare, ileocecal valve dysfunction is one of the conditions we assess and treat regularly using AK-guided chiropractic adjustment and nutritional support.
Nutritional deficiencies and sensitivities are evaluated through the challenge procedure described above. A patient whose muscle test changes when a specific supplement is introduced may have a deficiency that the supplement addresses. A patient whose muscle test weakens in the presence of a specific food may have a sensitivity that is contributing to systemic inflammation, digestive symptoms, or neurological irritation. These findings guide the nutritional protocols that are a core component of treatment at our practice, supported by Dr. James Forster’s role as owner of Nutri-West NY, which distributes clinical-grade nutritional supplements across seven northeastern states.
Hormonal imbalances, immune system dysfunction, and chronic fatigue are conditions where AK evaluation provides a diagnostic framework that complements conventional blood work and imaging. AK doesn’t replace lab testing. Dr. Cal Forster uses Rupa Health to order precise lab biomarker panels for patients, and the AK findings are correlated with objective lab data to develop a complete clinical picture. The muscle test identifies where to look. The lab work confirms and quantifies what the muscle test found.
What an AK Evaluation Looks Like as a Patient
New patients at Forster Healthcare should expect a thorough intake process. The first visit includes an extensive health history review, a consultation to discuss current complaints and health goals, and the AK evaluation itself. During the evaluation, the practitioner tests a series of muscles, typically beginning with a general screening pattern that assesses the major neurological circuits and then narrowing to the specific muscles and systems relevant to the patient’s complaints.
The testing is painless. The patient lies on a treatment table or sits, and the practitioner moves through the muscle tests, applying gentle resistance and observing the response. Patients sometimes describe the experience as surprising because the practitioner identifies areas of concern that the patient didn’t mention, connections between symptoms that the patient hadn’t considered, and functional issues that previous providers hadn’t detected.
Treatment during the first visit depends on what the evaluation reveals. Chiropractic adjustments may be performed to address structural findings. Nutritional recommendations may be made based on deficiency or sensitivity findings. Acupuncture points may be stimulated to address meridian imbalances. The treatment plan is individualized and may evolve as the patient responds and subsequent evaluations reveal deeper layers of dysfunction.
Dr. Jason Horowitz, who has practiced with Dr. James Forster for over 20 years, brings a specialization in Kinesiology and Methylation that adds an additional dimension to the evaluation process. Methylation, the biochemical process that affects DNA repair, detoxification, neurotransmitter production, and immune function, is an area where AK findings often correlate with genetic and nutritional factors that influence a patient’s overall health trajectory. Dr. Horowitz’s integration of methylation analysis with AK testing allows for a level of biochemical specificity that standard chiropractic practices don’t offer.
Three Generations of Clinical Knowledge in Every Evaluation
Applied Kinesiology is a diagnostic and treatment system that uses manual muscle testing to evaluate the neurological connections between muscles, organs, glands, and other body systems. It identifies structural, nutritional, and functional issues that conventional testing often misses, and it guides treatment across chiropractic, nutritional, and meridian-based modalities. At Forster Healthcare, the practice of AK carries three generations of direct clinical experience, from Dr. Arnold Forster’s research alongside George Goodheart through Dr. James Forster’s decades of integrative practice to Dr. Cal Forster’s contemporary integration of functional medicine, clinical nutrition, and lab diagnostics with the AK tradition he inherited. If you’re looking for an Applied Kinesiology practitioner in the New York City area, or if you’ve been dealing with a health concern that hasn’t responded to conventional approaches, contact Forster Healthcare. We see patients at our Roslyn Heights, Flatbush, and Williamsburg locations. The evaluation starts with a muscle test. What it reveals often changes everything.
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