Everybody has been there. You’re in a massage class that requires, you to really study and you are wondering, “What is the best way to study?” Honestly, everybody is going to learn differently, so studying by using all the learning styles is what helps everything stick!
When I first started learning kinesiology in massage school, getting the muscle origins, insertions, and actions to stay in my memory was difficult. It was a different kind of information than I was used to. I found that writing the information about each muscle on flashcards helped, but I needed to really solidify it. Even though I had written each muscle and kinesiology term out at least twice, and drawn pictures and labeled them, I was still having trouble remembering them. I found that the best way to learn for me, was by teaching.
I would take whatever information I could remember, no notes, no flashcards, all from memory and try to teach the information to everyone who would listen. Even if I had trouble at first explaining the concepts and details, just getting it out of my memory and putting the content into words was what really helped. This learning strategy is most helpful after you’ve already been introduced to the muscles, and are having a hard time getting the information out of your head and verbally expressing an idea. Try reciting everything from your massage notes to begin with, and then gradually stop using the notes. Both ways can be effective, so try both to see which works the best for you. The act of speaking and verbalizing the information can help a massage student understand the information. *This ability is also important for massage therapists because our clients will ask us questions, and we will need to be able to give them a clear and easily understandable answer. Plus this strategy gives will give you some good practice for practical exams in school.
Learning muscles as a game
The next thing I would do when studying muscles or other massage subjects, was a “speed round”. This learning strategy taught me to not second-guess myself. I played this study game usually the night before a quiz. I would have the information all on 3×5 flashcards. It could be muscle origins on one flashcard, insertions on another, and so on. I would lay out all the muscle names, then shuffle the other cards into a big pile. I would pull a card from the pile read it and as quickly as I could, set it on the muscle that it belonged to. Try to go through the flashcards quickly and not stop (that’s why they call them flash cards). Double check your results at the end, to see what you need to review again. Massage flashcards are useful to study for the MBLEx too.
If you are a creative person, and any of the these massage study ideas don’t seem to work for you, don’t worry, I have something that might. If you are a visual learner, try drawing the muscles and labeling each origin and insertion with an arrow. This illustration can be as simple or as elaborate as you want to make it. You could even color it! Which brings me to my next study idea. Color coordinating your massage study notes. I know this sounds like the most OCD thing out there, but it really works.
Color coordinate your massage study notes
Assign each piece of information with a color which should help you to remember it better. For example, white flashcards for the muscles, yellow flashcards for bony landmarks, red flashcards for massage contraindications, and green flashcards for massage indications. This color coding strategy works with other classes such as anatomy and physiology, and pathology too! Highlighting bones or skeletal muscle names with different colored highlighters or colored pencils works just fine if you don’t have colored index cards. All these study tips work for the other massage class information as well, not just kinesiology.
Go ahead and try out these massage study strategies individually or combine them all together. But most importantly, try new studying techniques out for yourself. As each brain is unique to the person, studying will be different for you. None of these tricks are 100% guaranteed, but they could spark new ideas for you, and hopefully get you started on retaining information a little better. Good luck studying!
