Craig F. Buhler, D.C.

AMIT Clinic
447 N. 300 W. #5
Kaysville, Utah 84037
1-801-544-2355

GENERAL INFORMATION:

Dr. Buhler received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree in 1978 from Western States Chiropractic College in Portland, Oregon. While attending Chiropractic College he had the opportunity to work and study with the late Dr. Alan Beardall during the development of what became known as Clinical Kinesiology. Since the untimely death of Dr. Beardall, Dr. Buhler has expanded the muscle work developed by Alan by looking at the interrelationships between muscle function, range of motion restrictions and the causes of pain. Dr. Buhler has expanded the research on additional muscles including the muscles of the cervical spine. After graduation Dr. Buhler completed a Post Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Utah School of Medicine in the physiology department where he focused on motor physiology.

Dr. Buhler served as the team chiropractor for the Utah Jazz Basketball team for 25 years. In addition to being on the medical team of the Jazz he had a successful private practice in Salt Lake City for 20 years. In June of 2002 he established the A.M.I.T. Clinic in Kaysville, Utah. During his tenure with the Utah Jazz he was instrumental in creating the lowest “Player Missed Games due to Injury Rate” of any team in the NBA for 26 years. This accomplishment validates the effectiveness of this body of work.
Dr. Buhler has lectured nationally on muscle testing and athletic injuries and has published numerous research papers and articles on motor physiology and muscle testing. He has treated world class professional and elite athletes as well as the general public who testify of his special ability to assist them in improved performance and wellness. On a national broadcast, John Stockton thanked Dr. Buhler for his services labeling him “a gifted healer”.

This work has been validated at the elite levels of athletics over the course of his 33 year career. He traveled with five of his patients to the 2010 Vancouver winter games where two of them won medals one Bronze and one Gold Medal. They accomplished this even though they had sustained serious injuries prior to the trials.
Dr. Buhler and Dr. Williams, long time friends, joined forces to produce Volume I, Muscles of the Neck. This Volume represents years of research in refining the work begun by Dr. Beardall so many years ago.

Dr. Buhler enjoys spending time with his 6 daughters, skiing and riding horses. His passion is assisting young athletes in reaching their full potential and finding their dreams come true.

ACHIEVEMENTS :

• Graduated Viewmont High School – 1967 Honors in Track & Field, Speech & Debate
• Served in the United States Air Force Reserves, 6 years, Staff Sergeant
• Attended Weber State College – 1967-1968
• Attended University of Utah – 1969-1972 on Athletic Scholarship Honors in Track & Field
• Opened Buhler Athletic Injuries Clinic 1979 with emphasis on athletic injuries and family practice.

CHIROPRACTIC SCHOOL:

• Western States Chiropractic College 1974-1978

INTERNSHIP:

• Dr. Alan Beardall, Clinical Kinesiology 1976-1978
• Dr. Robert Shelton, Roseburg, Oregon 1978-1979

FELLOWSHIP:

• Research Assistant University of Utah Dept. of  Physiology 1989
• Research Fellowship University of Utah Medical School Department of Physiology 1990-1992. Focus on motor physiology.
• Research Associate, University of Utah Medical School Dept. of  Physiology 1992-1994. Training Grant NS07172

BOARD CERTIFICATION:

• National Board of Chiropractic Examiners

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP:

• American Chiropractic Association
• Utah Chiropractic Physicians Association
• Foundation for Chiropractic Research
• American Chiropractic Association Sports Council

EXPERTISE:

• Sports Chiropractic
• High performance athletic assessment and accelerated healing
• Predictive & preventative Clinical Kinesiology
• Advanced Muscle Integration Technique
• General family care

PROFESSIONAL/ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS:

• Appointed team chiropractor for the NBA Utah Jazz 1980 to 2003 Emphasis on accelerated healing and injury prevention
• Columnist Deseret News, Salt Lake City 1981 – Athletic Injuries
• Guest lecturer, Rocky Mountain Revue Sports Medicine Conference 1996
• Guest physician 2002  Swimming Trials, Long Beach, CA
• Certified US Ski Team Medical Emergencies in Skiing and Snowboarding, Beaver Creek, Colorado Nov. 2007
• Guest lecturer 2009 Northwest Symposium
• Elected Utah State Delegate to the American Chiropractic Association 2005 thru present
• Provider to the US Ski Team.

CONSULTANT TO:

• Denver Broncos 1998, 1999 Super Bowl seasons
• US Skiers 2002 – present
• US Speed Skaters 2002 – present
• Australian Snowboarders 2002 – present
• US Swimmers 2002
• Stanford University Women Swim Team 2002
• Professional Golfers.
• Utah Jazz 2005 – 2007

PRESENTATIONS & INSTRUCTIONAL COURSES:

1. Lecturer 1986 Snowbird Ski Racing Clinic Alta, Utah: “Athletic Profiling Using Manual Muscle Testing”
2. Featured, The American Chiropractor Magazine, June 1988,
3. Lecturer Parker Resource Foundation 1988- 1989, Objective muscle testing to evaluate the effectiveness of spinal manipulation using the Hoggan FET system.
4. Lecturer Rocky Mountain Revue Sports Medicine Conference 1996
5. Salt Lake City: “The Role of the Chiropractor for Professional Athletes”
6. Guest Lecturer Winter 2000 ICAK Symposium, St. Louis: “Knee Pain”
7. Guest Lecturer Parker College of Chiropractic Dallas, Texas, Feb. 2001: “ Muscle Function Testing as it Relates to Joint Fixation”
8. Team Teacher Parker Resource Foundation: “Athletic Injuries Assessment”
9. Co-presenter of Muscle Activation Techniques Salt Lake City, March 1-3 2001: “Sports Chiropractic Approach to Functional Kinesiology”
10. Featured in Men’s Journal Magazine, July, 2003
11. Clinical Kinesiology Seminar Park City Nov. 2003: “Muscle Testing and Therapeutics”
12. Presenter Parker Resource Foundation, Las Vegas January 2004: “Congruency in Healing”
13. ChiroMAT Lower Leg Seminar, Dallas, Texas 2007: “Evaluation & Correction of Shin Splints, Osgoods-Schlatter Disease, Achilles Tendonitis, Sub-Patellar Bursitis / Tendonitis, Iliotibial Band Syndrome and Sprained Ankle”.
14. ChiroMAT Seminar, Chicago, Ill. 2008 “Evaluation and Treatment of Conditions of the Lower Extremities”.
15. ChiroMAT Seminar, Chicago, Ill. 2008 “Evaluation and Treatment of Conditions of the Low Back”.
16. Ā.M.Ĭ.T® certification program 2009 founder & instructor.

AWARDS:

CHP Meritorious Service Award
PUBLICATIONS:

1. Society for Neuroscience, Volume 22, 1996, P.R. Burgess*, C.F. Buhler, T.A.Cooper and L.F. Jones. Dept. Physiol., Univ. Utah Sch. Med., Salt Lake City, Utah, 84108:  “The Relative Importance Of Open-Loop and Error Driven Mechanisms In Human Load Handling”
2. D.C. Tracts, summer 1997, “Objective Neuro-proprioceptive Muscle Testing to define Subluxations and the Affect of Chiropractic Adjustments on Aberrant Motor Function”
3. Somatosensory & Motor Research, Issue 4, vol. 19, 327-340, 2002 Burgess, P.R., Jones, L.F., Buhler, C.F., Dewald, P.A., Zhang, L.-Q. and Rymer, W.Z.: “Muscular torque generation during imposed joint rotation: torque-angle relationships when subjects’ only goal is to make a constant effort”
4. Buhler, C.F., Burgess, P.R. “Changes in Motor Function During Nutritional Testing”. Journal of Scientific Exploration

RESEARCH IN PROGRESS:

1. “Toggle-Recoil Adjustment of the Atlas: Evidence for Decompression of Descending Motor Pathways at the Spino-Medullary Junction”
2. NBA “Play Missed games due to Injury” study

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

• Articular neurology and tissue proprioception.
• Predictive and functional medicine.
• Accelerated healing strategies.
• Proprioceptive inhibition: predisposition to injury, poor surgical and rehabilitation outcomes.
• Evidenced based practices.
• Developing a scientific evidenced based multi-disciplinary team of physicians committed to integration of disciplines.

INSTRUMENTATION DEVELOPED:

1. Originator and developer of the Muscle Response Tester, a pnuemo-electronic instrument for quantifying muscle response during manual muscle testing.
2. Co-developer of the Hoggan FET system software program for athletic profiling.
3. Co-developer of the Neuro-Pro Tester, Quest Medical

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT:

1. Developer of  Ā.M.Ĭ.T.®(Advanced Muscle Integration Technique). An integrative biomechanical and neuro-proprioceptive approach to human performance analysis and treatment which accelerates healing and maximizes function and human performance.

PROJECTS IN DEVELOPMENT:

• DVD training and instructional series on evaluation and treatment of Shin Splints, Osgood-Schlatter disease, Achilles Tendonitis, Patellar Tendonitis, Sub-Patellar Tendonitis, Iliotibial Band Syndrome & Sprained Ankle.
• NeuroPro Muscle Tester, a wireless computerized system for the objective measurement of neuro-proprioceptive muscle response testing and data acquisition.
• During the 24 year tenure with the Utah Jazz Basketball team, the team registered the lowest player missed games due to injury in the entire league for the 20 years. The average was 61 player missed games due to injury compared too the league average of 171 player missed games. Three or those years the Jazz registered a league record of 11 player missed games due to injury. This is a credit to the effectiveness of the Ā.M.Ĭ.T.® model andDr. Buhler’s understanding of the challenges professional athletics face and the mechanisms of the human body. It also showcases what is possible when the best of the chiropractic and medical/training systems integrate to help athletes.

ADVANCED MUSCLE INTEGRATION TECHNIQUE®
“For Targeted Assessment, Therapy and Performance”

“Our mission is to accelerate healing to maximize function and human performance, by integrating the structural, chemical and electromagnetic systems of the body. We predict and prevent injuries by defining vulnerabilities through an Innate Intelligence guided systems approach to assessment,  diagnosis and therapy.”

A.M.I.T.
Advanced Muscle Integration Technique

For Targeted Assessment, Diagnosis and Therapy

The body is a biological mechanical system that monitors itself in complex yet simple ways. It accomplishes this, in part, through the Central Nervous System. This central control system has a highly complex communication system made up of the brain, brain stem, spinal cord, nerve roots, nerve tracts, dendrites and proprioceptors. Every tissue in the body is saturated with proprioceptors which monitor and control every aspect of the body’s function.  This complex system of receptors not only monitors and controls the minute functions of the body, they monitor tension, pressure, movement, stretch, temperature, energy fields and compression. Their function is highly specialized in nature. As an example, certain receptors only become active during inflammation as part of the protective mechanism built into the body.

Many of these receptors are protective in nature. By way of example using the Ā.M.Ĭ.T.® model, when a system in the body is stressed beyond its ability to handle the demand certain receptors become active. Working in conjunction with the rest of the central nervous system the stressed area begins to display in the form of symptoms.

These receptors are in essence communication centers, which communicate there is an injury or “overload” in the system. The communication can be initially subtle such as muscle tension, joint stiffness or it can display as severe pain, edema and inflammation. These symptoms tend to come and go. As time passes and the cause of the problem is not corrected, the communication or symptoms worsen. If the symptoms are ignored or suppressed with medication, injury and disease will follow. Eventually, in time the body develops a diagnosable disease state requiring constant drug therapy or surgery.

The human body has an inborn Innate Intelligence which monitors and controls every aspect of the body’s function. It is the same intelligence that created the human body when the sperm and egg merged to form a single cell. It is the same Innate Intelligence that controls every aspect of the body. The innate intelligence operates in part through the central nervous system. It is this innate intelligence that displays the “alarm” in the form of symptoms. To suppress the symptoms with medication is in essence telling the Innate Intelligence to “shut up”.

An analogy could be the Space Shuttle. The Space Shuttle cock pit is filled with complex sensors, gauges, warning lights and control switches. When there is a problem with any part of the Space Shuttle, the pilots are made aware instantly. A pilot would never think of ignoring the warnings or removing the alarm by punching the flashing lights or gauges out with a screw driver to remove the alarm. They would not just learn to live with it or take a course to teach them to control their sense of how they relate to the alarm. Yet, every time we take a medication or ignore a symptom, we are doing just that. If the pilots continue to knock out the alarm indications, it would not be long before the Shuttle would no longer work. They would be locked in a vehicle that no longer functioned, dooming them to a certain discomfort and death. Isn’t this what we are doing to our bodies? When a sensor activates an alarm in the cock pit, the pilot immediately begins to trouble shoot the problem to define the cause. Once the cause is defined, appropriate action can be taken. If the problem has accurately been corrected, the shuttles systems return to normal function and the alarm no longer displays.

Trusting the central nervous system and knowing it never creates an alarm unless there is a reason is important for understanding the cause of disease. We know the body always has a reason for creating a symptom or warning. Defining the cause of the symptom should be the aim of all physicians. It is not enough to diagnose “Bursitis” and treat with anti-inflammatants. This is merely treating the symptoms leading to medication induced kidney stress and eventual crisis due to tissue break down. We must continue to ask the “why” question after each answer until the core cause is defined.

If the body can develop a way to compensate by shifting the stress to another tissue, the symptoms may dissipate without medication. This lulls us into a false sense of well being until the next stress or injury. This process continues throughout our lives as we adapt into more complex adaptive strategies. As we get older, the accumulation of problems reduces the tissue options and our ability to adapt or compensate. This is when we end up with chronic pain, degenerative disease and the need for surgery.

This adaptive process has only recently been understood. We now know that if an injury is not corrected within six weeks, the central nervous system is forced to adapt. In the adaptive process, other tissues or systems are forced to take on more of the load. As explained above, the tissues in the body are richly endowed with receptors called proprioceptors. These proprioceptors are varied in function and very specialized. Under normal muscle contraction, receptors monitor tension (spindle cells, sharpy’s fibers), stretch (golgi tendon apparatus), pressure (pacinian corpuscles) and range of motion (ruffini receptors) . This allows for constant surveillance of motion, tension and load levels.

Recently Hopkins J.T., Ingersoll C.D, Arthrogenic Muscle Inhibition: A Limiting Factor in Joint Rehabilitation. Journal of Sports Rehabilitation. 2000; 9:135-159 stated that “Early active exercise in the rehabilitative process is essential for decreased healing time, increased vascular ingrowth, quicker regeneration of scar tissue, and stronger ligament and tendon healing. The process of early active exercise in joint rehabilitation is significantly hindered by the patient’s inability to contract surrounding musculature, as is common after joint injury. This diminished ability to contract, or inhibition, is termed arthrogenic muscle inhibition (AMI). The muscle shuts down even though it is not damaged. AMI is a presynaptic, ongoing reflex inhibition of musculature surrounding a joint after distension or damage to structures of that joint. It is a natural response designed to protect the joint from further damage”. In the conclusions section Hopkins and Ingersoll state “AMI is a limiting factor in the rehabilitation of joint injury. It results in atrophy and deficiencies in strength and increases the susceptibility to further injury. A therapeutic intervention that results in decreased inhibition, allowing for active exercise, would lead to faster and more complete recovery.” I have found Advanced Muscle Integration Technique to be that intervention.

Normal function is expressed when a muscle contracts, it sends reciprocal nerve impulses to antagonist muscles, which allow the antagonist muscle to relax as the prime mover contracts under load. This is based on Sherrington’s Law of Reciprocal Innervation. Sherrington’s Law states that when a muscle contracts it sends inhibitory impulses to its antagonist muscle which relax the antagonist muscle to allow for smooth motion. Using the Ā.M.Ĭ.T.® model, when a muscle or tissue is over loaded beyond its ability to handle the load, one or two things happen. Either the tissue tears and/or the proprioceptors inhibit the contracting muscle to cause it to “give way” when loaded. This is protective in nature and occurs in order to reduce the amount of damage to the tissue. This phenomenon is called “neuro-proprioceptive inhibition”. This process is similar to a circuit breaker in an electrical circuit. Once this occurs, the injured muscle stays inhibited and other muscles or tissues take on the added load in an adaptive process. If the adaptation/compensation is successful, the symptoms may disappear. This imbalance remains permanently until such time as the problem is defined and corrected.

The effect of this is that when a muscle is neurologically or proprioceptively inhibited, it loses its ability to reciprocally inhibit the antagonist muscle. As a result, the antagonist remains contracted throughout its entire range of motion. This is the major cause of chronically tight muscles. In the Ā.M.Ĭ.T.® model we never treat tight muscles because they are merely symptoms. An example of this is seen with chronically tight hamstrings. The hamstrings become tight because one or more of the quadriceps are inhibited due to a previous injury. It is this adapted tightness that leads to restricted range of motion. Therapy applied to alleviate the tight hamstrings is usually only temporary and returns the next day. Eventually, the chronically tight hamstring will lead to an injury to one or more of the hamstrings. By correcting the inhibition of the quadriceps, the hamstring tension disappears without any therapy to the hamstrings. Range of motion is instantly increased as well. In this case, the hamstrings were merely the symptom tissue and an example of why symptoms should never be the focus of treatment. If the hamstrings do eventually become injured, the hamstring will need to be reactivated using Ā.M.Ĭ.T.® therapy before the quadriceps can be treated. This is reflective of the body’s priority system known as “retracing”.

The loss of reciprocal inhibition creates restricted range of motion due to tight muscles. The body will not allow motion into a position of instability. Again, the body is moving to protect itself and the next adaptive cycle begins. If therapy is applied to increase flexibility and range of motion without creating stability through that motion, more injuries will occur unless the body successfully compensate into another tissue. It is the function of the Ā.M.Ĭ.T.® system, to define and reverse these adaptive cycles.

Compensatory tissues being in an over load situation lead to over use syndromes, and increased susceptibility to further injury. At the very least, this over use will lead to pain in the adapted tissue even though there is no history of injury to that site. This is why a person can wake up one morning with severe pain in a shoulder or knee for no reason. When the compensatory tissue is eventually injured, the system can no longer adapt at the local site and must move away to the next joint in the body. If the inhibited muscles are continually stressed they will inflame at their attachments. This leads to chronic pain, which is part of nature’s communication and protective system – the language of Innate.

With the reduction in the muscles ability to contract under load, the connective tissue, i.e. ligaments, cartilage, bursa, bone are forced to take on more of the burden of support. These tissues are not designed for this and so the proprioceptive centers create pain and adaptive movement patterns. This forces the person to reduce the amount of stress placed on the tissues or restrict movement in the joint. Repeated stress creates inflammation and swelling as the body tries to restrict movement and cushion the joint with fluid. This is the point at which a diagnosis of bursitis, tendonitis, capsulitis, myofascititis, arthritis or stress fracture is made. The common therapies are R.I.C.E., anti inflammatants, pain pills and therapy modalities like ultrasound, Russian Stim, Laser or Interferential. These therapies help to reduce the symptoms, even completely remove them. The problem is that the dysfunction of the muscle and joint system is still present. These forms of therapy assist the body in the adaptive process, but do little to correct the problem. The muscles are still not capable of supporting the joint under a workload. Eventually the system becomes so inflamed that any movement of the joint is painful, thus the need for chronic anti-inflammatant medication use.

The problem with this is when the protective mechanism is removed through the use of medication; the body can no long monitor the tissue or feel the pain. This allows more stress to occur in a joint. With the loss of the protective mechanisms, degeneration of the joint is accelerated, leading to degenerative joint disease. This is the point at which surgery is suggested. But even though surgery corrects the pathology, the muscle inhibitions that led to the pathology are still present. This is one of the reasons for poor surgical and rehabilitation outcomes and athlete re-injuries.

To suppress the symptoms is to set the body up for more serious problems in the future. This is where the Ā.M.Ĭ.T. ® system offers a highly effective alternative. The Ā.M.Ĭ.T.® system has been used extensively on elite and professional athletes over the past thirty two years. It has proven to be what athletes like Torah Bright, John Stockton, Picabo Street, Emily Cook, Bill Romanowski, Charles Barkley, Chad Hendricks and many others have claimed bordered on the “miraculous”. Not only has it corrected acute and chronic problems, it has allowed athletes to perform at levels they had not considered possible. It is a system that maximizes the function of the body so that training and mental focus can express through the body with dramatic results. The Ā.M.Ĭ.T.® system has the capacity to improve outcomes and accelerate rehabilitation. We are able to define why symptoms are present and offer a therapeutic model that produces consistent and miraculous results. In addition, it defines body and joint movement patterns that are not stable which lead to injuries and reduced function and performance.

To understand how this is done, it is helpful to explain how we approach a patient. The first step is defining the history of the injury and past health issues. This leads the examiner to the areas in need of evaluation. If the problem is acute, or occurred within the past six weeks, the body should be evaluated at the local injury or symptom site. If the symptoms have no known cause or have been experienced for longer than six weeks the evaluation becomes more complicated. The complexity is associated with the fact that if a problem is not corrected within the first six weeks from injury, the central nervous system is forced to adapt into other areas of the body. Other tissues are forced to take up more of the load. Thus, the symptom site may only be the site of adaptation from an old injury that occurred in some other part of the body. This being the case, a more extensive examination of the body is required.

The examination procedure involves evaluating the range of motion and muscle function of the joints of the body. We can test 720 muscles for function which makes for the most precise functional analysis available. If a muscle is not firing due to neuro-proprioceptive inhibition it cannot stabilize the joint through that plane of motion. The body will not allow a movement pattern to occur that it cannot stabilize. This is the reason for restricted range of motion and is why many patients find it difficult to rehabilitate a muscle. Next, the muscles that support the symptomatic joint must be tested using a muscle test procedure developed by Kendal and Kendal, Goodheart and expanded by Beardall and Buhler. The Ā.M.Ĭ.T.® procedure utilizes a precision form of muscle testing which helps in more clearly defining the instabilities. If the position of the muscle test is two degrees off, the dysfunctioning muscle will be missed. Displacement of joint, speed, duration and angle of test are held to a ridged standard. These standards have been developed using the Neuro-Pro Tester TM developed by Quest Medical. If only one muscle associated with a joint is dysfunctional, the entire mechanics of the joint will be changed. Once all the parameters have been defined, we now have a blue print of the past and present errors. Most patients forget many of their past injuries but the Ā.M.Ĭ.T.®examination reveals them. As the patient can recollect the old injuries, it aids in defining the sequence of biomechanical break down over time. This reaffirms the concept of cellular memory (retracing) and that the muscles are display units of the body.

The next question that needs to be addressed is “Are the imbalances that have been defined the cause of the problem or merely the site of adaptation”? Accurately answering this question is the key to maximizing the effectiveness of therapy and the foundation of the A.M.I.T.®  system. This is when therapy can begin with maximum results.

From this point, Ā.M.Ĭ.T.®  therapy can begin to correct the problem and normalize function. The therapy is composed of an integration of sixteen different disciplines. Therapy consists of stimulating 12 different reflex and tissue systems for each muscle being treated. They include: origin and insertion of the muscle, re-setting the spindle cells of the muscle, stimulating vascular, lymphatic, visceral organ reflex points, acupuncture point, cranial bone and three specific vertebra in the spine. All of these must be stimulated in a particular way to reactivate the muscle. Once all of these are normalized, the muscle becomes capable of maximum contraction under load. If any of these reflexes are missed, or if there is pathology, the muscle will not maintain its optimum function and will require further evaluation. If a muscle that has been treated still will not engage, there is a high probability pathology is present and a medical consult is required.

Following therapy, we consistently find that the pain associated with the movement pattern of the muscle treated is no longer present. Function is now normalized through that plane of motion.  As each muscle is cleared, function improves giving the patient 100% access to all muscles supporting the joint. This leads to pain free joint range of motion and maximum efficiency. Healing and strengthening can now take place rapidly. There is no longer a need for medication or surgery.

It is not just about the treatment of injuries or maximizing human performance. It is about preventing injuries and more importantly, predicting where injuries may occur. The A.M.I.T.®  system is a precise and predictable chiropractic approach to athletic injuries and human performance. It is a set of procedures that teach the skills necessary to evaluate and treat chronic and repetitive stress injuries through a different set of eyes and a different pair of hands. These principles accelerate the resolution of severe injuries in a matter of hours, which reaffirms the principle that the body is capable of incredible things if all the essential components are addressed. Your paradigm will never be the same once you are exposed to the benefits of the A.M.I.T.® world.

“Treating Everyone Like A Million Dollar Athlete”

Dr. Alan G. Beardall was born September 7, 1938  and his untimely death occurred December 1, 1987 in an automobile accident  while teaching a seminar in England.  He was one of the original Diplomats in the International College of Applied  Kinesiology. Alan was a nationally ranked distance runner and never missed a  day running the roads. Because of his involvement in running he drew many of  the nation’s elite runners to his office in Lake Oswego, Oregon. As a result, he was presented with many difficult and chronic athletic injuries.

Alan was a perfectionist, which was the driving force that led him to never be satisfied with anything less than maximum function and pain free performance in his patients. He worked tirelessly for years defining and refining the work that became known as Clinical Kinesiology or CK. CK is a system that enables physicians the ability to isolate and test 310 unilateral muscles in the body for function. He expanded our understanding of anatomy by re-discovering the anatomical divisions of muscles that were lost in anatomy book editors desire to simplify anatomy. In addition, he discovered 8 different reflex systems related to each of the 310 muscles. This revolutionized human performance analysis and treatment. Alan repeatedly stated

“you should never have to treat the same muscle twice. If you found the same problem recurring, you have missed something and need to dig deeper into the bodies systems for the answer as to why your treatment did not hold.”

Alan was never satisfied until he had figured out the cause of a patient’s condition and the best way to correct it. This led him to study of every technique he could in the healing arts. He had the uncanny ability to pull the truth out of a technique and discard the chaff. He was an intuitive genius who seemed to have a connection with a higher source that led and taught him based on the questions he was asking. He would have a difficult patient that had him stumped as to what to do next. He would sit in his den late at night while his family slept, pouring over volumes of journals and books looking for an answer. By the patient’s next visit, Alan was ready to work through his new discoveries to see if the patient would respond in a positive way.

The body was his laboratory and teacher. He was always in awe of the beauty of how wondrous the body was put together and how it could display its truths if asked the right questions. His questions were posed by challenging muscle functions, defining range of motion restrictions and evaluating the details of a patient’s symptoms. This became what is call the “biological languaging system” used in the A.M.I.T. model. Over the course of the years, problems that had once stifled him became easy to correct. As each new challenge presented itself in his clinic, he faced it with the same drive to understand and succeed as all other challenges that he faced.

Through it all, CK became the base on which AMIT was developed. Alan has been greatly missed yet his passing opened the opportunity for others to grow and develop as we followed in his footsteps. Thank you Alan.

When a muscle is overloaded beyond its ability to sustain the load, one of two things happen. The muscle fibers tear and/or the nervous system inhibits the muscle. Much like a circuit breaker in an electrical circuit. This is done to protect the muscle from more severe injury.

If the inhibited muscle is loaded again during physical activity it will not be able to contract appropriately to support the force applied and will be weak. If the muscle continues to be stressed, the body will create pain so as to avoid more damage.

This can also occur when a joint is swollen, inflamed or injured setting up what is identified as “Arthrogenic muscle inhibition” (AMI). The process of AMI occurs when a joint is swollen, inflamed or injured, any muscle that attaches to the joint or crosses over the joint will become inhibited. This is common in post surgical cases and explains why rehabilitation is slow or reaches an unacceptable plateau.

Once a muscle is inhibited, the central nervous system develops an adaptive strategy to use other muscles or tissues to take on more of the load. This leads to adaptive movement patterns and is called “recruitment” or “adaptation”.

The adapted tissue becomes the next site of injury and the injury / adaptation cycle continues.

Eventually, there will be no muscles in an area to adapt to. This places more stress on the ligaments and connective tissues and they begin to break down more rapidly. This leads to degenerative changes in the joint.

Objective precision neurological muscle testing is the back bone of the A’MIT system.

Testing of isolated muscles assesses the function of individual muscles to determine if they are inhibited or functional. This defines positions of instability.

Muscle overload occurs because of:

• Lack of conditioning to the level of demand.
• Traumatic force exceeds the integrity of the muscle or tissues.
• Neurological inhibition
• Proprioceptive inhibition
• Nutritional deficiencies and excesses.
• Acupuncture system imbalances
• Overuse
• Dehydration
• Organ / gland stress
• Emotional stress
• Sleep deprivation
• Disease
• Medications
• Ice
• Physical therapy modalities
• Toxic overload
• Training and conditioning imbalances

Isolated muscle weakness leads to joint instability and restricted range of motion. The body will not allow motion that cannot be stabilized.

Muscle tightness restricts motion and is a symptom of the neurological inhibition of the antagonist muscles.

Flexibility therapies increase range of motion but do nothing to improve stability. This can lead to further injury.

Multiple injuries or adaptive stress to an area of the body leads to a situation in which there are no muscles capable of stabilizing the joint. This places more stress on the connective tissues which increase the risk of connective tissue tearing or fracture.

Defining positions of instability is an indication of a future injury site. This is the essence of our injury predictive system.

If injuries can be predicted they can also be prevented by correcting the biomechanical and neurological faults. We accomplish this by using an advanced therapy which integrates the structural, chemical and electromagnetic systems of the body.

The functional success of a patient is directly proportional to the number of imbalances that have been accumulated in the body.

Confidence increases the more the patient understands the logic behind this model and experiences the balancing effects of this work.

Adaptation

The absence of symptoms does not indicate healing is complete. It may only indicate the body has merely created a successful adaptation into other tissues or systems.

If an acute injury is not corrected within six weeks, the central nervous system is forced to adapt the body.

Acute injuries will be treated at the local injury site. Chronic problems will always require treatment away from the symptom site.

The symptom site may be the chronic adaptation site and may not respond to therapy.

Adapted tissues become the next site of symptom and eventual injury.

Treating adaptation sites does not improve function.

Muscles are the display units of the body and are part of the body’s adaptive system.

If healing is to take place, all the essential components for healing must be present.

If all the essential components for healing are not available, the injured tissue will be put on hold until such time as the essentials are available; more adaptation.

This leads to an accumulation of problems; adaptive overlay of injuries and adaptations creating a layering effect.

Unique Concepts

Human Beings have a conflict between what the mind is saying and what their body’s Innate is saying. This leads to disease, pathology or injuries.  If you shake off the natural man and listen to the spirit within, you can be lead to the solutions to the problems which are present in the body. This is called “intuition”.

We are designed to have dominion over our bodies not to dominate it.

Medications can lead to domination which stifles the body’s Innate ability to communicate its weaknesses.

The physician’s healing effectiveness is directly proportional to his own healing and clarity of purpose.

We help people connect their spirits with their body which is the essence of healing.

As we define us, the spirit refines us.

Outcomes are improved when intuition is filtered through educated diagnostic and therapeutic concepts.

Disease can be a catalyst for the transformation of man.

There are seventeen different disciplines used in this model.

1. Chiropractic
2. Acupuncture
3. Nutrition
4. Homeopathy
5. Energy work
6. Bennett’s Lymphatic work
7. Chapman’s Vascular work
8. Biomechanics
9. Proprioceptive Neurology
10. Adaptive Integration
11. Muscle message
12. Emotional work
13. Laboratory
14. Medical Diagnosis
15. X-Ray Diagnosis
16. Cranial Work
17. Range of Motion Analysis

This is an integration or cross roads of this body of knowledge; an organizational approach to the body. A systems approach to functional capacities. Efficiency of motion. Integration of healing disciplines. Translating the languaging system of the body.  Root cause.

Dr. Craig Buhler and Greg Roskopf worked together for 10 years in conjunction with the Utah Jazz and the Denver Broncos during the Super Bowl years. From the challenges they faced working with elite athletes, they were able to enhance each others thought processes in regards to understanding the mechanisms behind athletic injuries. From their relationship came a new paradigm for evaluating and treating biomechanical imbalances that lead to injury. Based on the original work of Dr. Alan Beradall’s Clinical Kinesiology, each went on to develop specialized programs specific to their area of specialty. Greg developed Muscle Activation Techniques (MAT), a biomechanically based program designed for trainers and therapists, while Dr. Buhler developed (A.M.I.T. ® ) a neurologically and biomechanically based program designed for chiropractic physicians. Although these programs are different, they both evolved through a similar physiological foundation of muscle inhibition/facilitation. A.M.I.T. ® expands on the MAT foundation by looking deeper into the body’s adaptive systems to define the reasons muscles become inhibited. Understanding the adaptive system is the key to the success of the A.M.I.T. ® approach. The A.M.I.T. ® system integrates seventeen different disciplines to create an elegant predictive approach to human assessment, diagnosis and treatment.