Learn Muscles, Anatomy and Kinesiology – Massage School Tips

I keenly recall after registering for massage school and being presented my student packet with the words “Anatomy and Physiology” seemingly forming into an arm and hand reaching out to grasp my throat and choking me to death! Okay that may be a bit over dramatic but I do remember feeling that and saying to myself multiple times it was going to take nothing less of a miracle to pass these classes. It was years since my biology and science classes from high school and I came into this course with a real fear of failing and not being able to memorize all the muscles and bones, and to add physiology on top of it all!  When the first day of class began, I chose my seat, way in the back furthest from the instructor so to avoid being called on. I also remember thinking maybe I’ll learn what the physiological name is when a human is experiencing nervousness and needs to go to the restroom all the time, because I was experiencing it! 

To my surprise and delight I found that my instructor was not only an animated teacher, but highly passionate about what he was teaching. He cared less that we memorize anatomy and muscles but rather learn, understand and also share in his passion of the human anatomy. His enthusiastic approach to helping massage students learn anatomy enabled me to not only retain highly complex names of various body structures, but to also form a real love for the human body even down to the cellular level. I gained desire to research on my own to learn more. Learning in this anatomy class was fun, entertaining and empowering.  Here’s why…

Make learning muscles fun and simple

Unless you know Latin or Greek, learning muscles and anatomy is like to learning another language. The secret is to simply translate the Latin or Greek names to your own language that you are already familiar with, and create anatomy mnemonics to help remember groups and associations between terms. For example, the “deep six” buttock muscles are piriformis, quadratus femoris, gemellus superior, gemellus inferior, obturator internus, and obturator externus. Clear as mud! However if we translate all that heavy Latin to English you get the PEAR, the SQUARE, the TWINS, and the COVERS.  The Latin names refer to their shapes and positioning!

Sgt. Goosefoot is another favorite. The longest muscle in the human body is the sartorius.  Its Latin name roughly translates to “the tailor’s muscle”. Along with gracilis and semitendinosus, it inserts and makes up part of the pes anserinus or “goose foot” tendon. Pes or (pedis) translates to “foot” and anserinus translates to “goose”.  With sartorius, gracilis and semitendinosus all inserting together to form a triangular shape, often resembling a goose foot. So to help remember the pes anserinus, use Sgt. Goosefoot (sartorius-gracillis-tendinosus).  

Have you heard of rectus femoris and the Vastus Brothers? Or maybe biceps femoris and the Semi-Sisters? If you’re thinking of popular music bands you would have been misled. Together these two groups make up seven muscles that are most responsible for the movements of the knee. Grouping muscles together and packaging them up in a unique and memorable way can help you remember them in a fun way. For example, the muscle group known as the “hamstrings” can be referred to as the Biceps Femoris and the Semi-Sisters (semimembranosus and semitendinosus). Using the same approach, the “quadriceps” were taught to us as Rectus Femoris and the Vastus Brothers (Vastus medialis, Vastus intermedus and Vastus lateralis).

To conclude, the human body is a complex but well-organized system. Rather than getting upset at our early ancestors for their mixed up method in naming body structures, we can just grab a Latin or Greek translation book and have fun learning why they were named the way they were. Or if you’re good at creating acronyms, have fun with that too! Using these learning strategies can help students pass massage exams in school and study for the MBLEx massage licensing exam. 

This post was an essay submitted by massage therapy student Ryan W.