Muscles. There are hundreds of them, and somehow you’re going to be expected to know a thing or five about most. Luckily, most come in pairs or larger sets, cutting the number down by half. Some are outside of your scope of practice (although we still got tested on stuff like sphincter urethrovaginalis, for God only knows what reason), and some are next to useless and often not even there (take that, psoas minor). That just leaves you with …

a buttload of muscles to learn by rote. People may tell you that using note cards is one of the best ways to memorize your muscles. They’re right. But how exactly are you supposed to get from a pack of 3X5s and a ballpoint pen to knowledge?

How to Make a Useful Note Card

First of all, keep it simple. Limit the information on your card to the absolute barebones (baremuscles?) and leave the extra stuff for your notebook.  Origin, insertion, action, innervation, and a maximum of ONE pertinent fact, if any.

One side of your card should look like this:

Origin: ribs 1-8
Insertion: vertebral border & inferior angle of anterior surface of scapula
Action: abducts scapula & rotates it upward; RMA: elevates ribs when scapula is stabilized
Innervation: long thoracic nerve

  • mnemonic SALT (serratus anterior, long thoracic)

The other side of the card is even simpler. It simply says:

serratus anterior

This is all very lovely and such, but what do you actually DO with note cards once you’ve written them? Check out Muscle Up With Note Cards, Part 2 for the the dirt on how to use them for your anatomy and massage study.

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