Anatomy, Physiology, and Kinesiology
What this domain tests
This domain rewards functional understanding over memorized lists: how structures produce movement, how tissues heal, and how body systems interact with massage.
Concepts to master
- Tissue layers: skin, superficial fascia, deep fascia, muscle, tendon, and bone. Knowing which layer a technique targets explains why pressure and direction matter.
- Muscle actions and kinesiology: origin, insertion, action, and the idea that a muscle produces motion at the joint it crosses. Know agonist, antagonist, synergist, and stabilizer roles.
- Planes and directional terms: sagittal, frontal, transverse planes; flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, rotation, circumduction.
- Circulatory and lymphatic systems: blood flow, venous return, and lymphatic drainage toward lymph nodes. This underpins the rationale for direction of effleurage and the caution around certain conditions.
- Nervous system: sensory receptors, pain perception, and the relaxation response. Understanding that pressure can be sedating or stimulating explains technique selection.
- Contraindication physiology: inflammation, fever, clotting risk, and acute injury are understood through these systems.
Traps in questions
Items often test direction (lymph moves toward nodes, not away) and muscle action confusion (a muscle's action is described at the joint, not at its attachment). Another trap is treating anatomy as static - questions may ask what happens when a muscle shortens versus lengthens.
Rule of thumb
For any movement question, identify the joint crossed and the plane of motion. For any technique question, identify the tissue depth being targeted.
Worked example: A question asks which motion occurs when the biceps brachii contracts. The biceps crosses the elbow and produces elbow flexion (and assists supination); the answer is flexion, not extension, because the antagonist - the triceps - performs extension.