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Muscle Energy Technique
Muscle Reset TechniqueUses your own gentle muscle contractions against resistance to improve joint mobility, reduce pain, and restore the range of motion your body has lost.
By Dr. Ladd Carlston · Updated March 16, 2026
What it is
Muscle Energy Technique uses your own muscle contractions to fix what's restricted. Here's how it works: you push gently against my resistance for about 5-7 seconds, then relax while I take the joint further into its range. We repeat this 5-7 times. The magic is in reciprocal inhibition — when one muscle contracts, the opposing muscle has to relax. This bypasses the tightness your nervous system has been holding onto, often for months or years. It's particularly effective for joints that feel "stuck" — the ones where stretching alone never seems to help.
How this fits into Muscle Reset Technique
Muscle Energy Technique is one of the tools I use as part of my Muscle Reset approach. No single technique works in isolation — I combine multiple methods based on what your muscle testing reveals.
Common questions
How is this different from traditional chiropractic?
When a muscle stops firing, the muscles around it pick up the slack, and they’re often the ones that end up tight and sore. I work on those tight, sore muscles, and I use muscle testing to find the ones that stopped firing and get them working again, so the others don’t have to keep overworking.
How many sessions will I need?
How many visits you need depends on what I find. I'll tell you what I'm seeing and give you a realistic plan at the first visit.
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