• Cuthbert S

• Diagnosis
• Goodheart, George J.
• Janda, Vladimir
• Kinesiology, Applied
• Muscles
• Open Access Document
• Physical Therapy Specialty

Abstract: Professor Vladimir Janda, an accomplished physiotherapist and neurologist, was a key figure in the 20th Century rehabilitation and manual therapy movement. Janda founded the rehabilitation department at Charles University Hospital in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

He was one of the seminal members of the Prague school of manual medicine and rehabilitation that expanded its influence throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Janda published over 16 books and more than 200 publications about muscle function, and has had a major influence over the physical therapy profession around the world. A review of Janda’s published works demonstrates the breadth of his clinical interest and influence. His published papers varied greatly in their focus: from pediatrics to geriatrics, in addition to the lasting effects of pediatric conditions upon the adult, from postural to neurologic disorders, and from ankle conditions to obscure facial pain. His 1964 college thesis paper was on the association between sacroiliac pain and gluteus maximus weakness. (Janda, 1964)

In addition to publishing several texts in Czech, Janda subsequently published books in German and English. Janda’s approach has been discussed in many text books, often in chapters that he authored. Many years ago, Janda published a manual muscle testing book in English that is now out of print. (Janda, 1983) Many leaders in the manual therapy world, like Drs. Chaitow and Liebenson, have depended upon the work of Vladimir Janda for their concepts of muscular imbalances and the use of the manual muscle test (MMT). These leaders interact and
write in one another’s books spreading the Janda-model far and wide.

This is unfortunate because of 5 PROBLEMS in Dr. Janda’s view of muscle inhibitions … and fortunate as well because it has increased the worldwide understanding of the significance of MMT’s diagnostic potential of muscle imbalances in human health.It may be that an entire generation of manual therapists has abandoned the diagnostic gold-mine of the MMT in part because of Janda’s approach to the assessment of ‘muscular imbalance’. This presentation will explore this contention.

Indexing Terms: Manual muscle test - Muscle imbalance - Applied kinesiology (AK) - Diagnosis - Physical therapy profession - Goodheart - Janda.

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