Our review of Joe Muscolino’s Learn Muscles shows you the ins and outs of a website that justifies the title “The Netflix of Manual and Movement Therapy Continuing Education.”
If you’re looking to “bone up” on your anatomy for Pilates, yoga, or really any other movement practice, there are many options out there.
But if you are serious about learning anatomy in a way that will be immediately relevant to your teaching and practice, there’s really nothing better than Dr. Muscolino’s LearnMuscles.com continuing education.
What is Muscolino Learn Muscles?
LearnMuscles.com is a website directed by Dr. Joe Muscolino, who is a chiropractor, author, and workshop lecturer.
The site consists of thousands of:
- Video tutorials (live models and cadavers)
- Animated illustrations
- Lectures
- Articles
- Info pages and posters
- Pilates lessons
These materials are very accessible and immediately relevant to Pilates, yoga, and personal trainers (as well as medical professionals).
Why Use LearnMuscles.com?
Learn Muscles will help you learn anatomy no matter what your learning style is. You might have heard of four types of learners: visual, auditory, reading-based, and kinetic (i.e., movement). While most online and text-based resources limit you to one or two of these learning methods, LearnMuscles.com lets you learn many ways.
- Visual and auditory learners can watch the many videos where Dr. Muscolino narrates as he walks your through the body.
- If you’re a kinetic learner, you’ll love the palpation videos. You can practice on yourself or with a partner.
- If you prefer to read, there are also tons of articles and posters.
If you have a strong learning preference, you can focus on one of the methods above. But if you (like me) benefit from learning anatomy as many different ways as you can, then LearnMuscles’ different types of content is ideal.
Read our tips below on how to master human anatomy using Learn Muscles.
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LearnMuscles.com Pros & Grows
Pros
- Huge number of videos covering all angles of anatomy
- Great for diverse learning preferences
- Very clear presentation style
- Super value
Grows
- Vast content of site could be differently organized
- Options of various Master Classes is a bit confusing
For just $20 a month, you get access to thousands of hours of lessons.
And these aren’t boring PowerPoint presentations with endless slides riddled with bullet points. You can observe Dr. Muscolino working on real live humans. He carefully and clearly explains how to palpate, lectures on finer points of kinesiology and physical therapy, and explains the function and attachments of every muscle in the body.
The major area for improvement with the website has to do with the organization. While there is a ton of information, you need to know what you’re looking for to find it. While the search bar works fine, there are some real gems that can remain hidden. For example, there’s an hour-long workshop on stretching the neck, which is golden. Unfortunately you wouldn’t find it if you didn’t know to search for it.
See the section on some great videos we’ve picked out below.
There are various continuing education programs for credit that are available for professionals. But if you just want access to the materials and don’t need credits, sign up for LearnMuscles’ Continuing Education.
A Few Great Features
Learn Muscles provides you with much more than teaching you anatomy. Here are some extra gems that are worth your time:
- Manual therapy skills workshop
- 2 45-minute videos of mat classes with Simona Cipriani
- 9-hour “Cadaver Lab and Pilates Biomechanics Workshop”
- Video presentations covering each chapter of Dr. Muscolino’s kinesiology textbook
These are all in addition to the features already included with your membership:
- Access to over 3200 video lessons
- Over 320 free NCBTMB CE credits
- New videos added every week!
- Keep track by marking the assignments you’ve completed
Is Learn Muscles Program Worth It?
At only $20 per month (and a free month to try it), this is a great deal. The quality is top-notch, and there is a ton of material out there.
I am a student of the program myself and recommend the program for anyone looking for an advanced, practical knowledge of anatomy, body work, and real-world applications of exercise science.
How to Master Anatomy Using Learn Muscles
If you are a fitness instructor, understanding anatomy can greatly enhance your ability to communicate and bring out improvement in your clients.
Learning anatomy takes time, and it’s best if you have a method you follow to keep yourself on track.
This is the method I’ve used to learn anatomy using LearnMuscles.com. It focuses on one muscle at a time and incorporates various learning styles to increase comprehension and retention.
Say you wanted to learn about the transversus abdominis. Do a search for “transversus abdominis” and watch these videos in this order:
- Illustrated animation: gives a “textbook” presentation of the muscle’s location and attachments
- Cadaver study: see the muscle in the body; learn how deep it is compared to other muscles; learn about discrepancies between the textbook description and an actual person
- Palpation video: these are golden! Very careful exploration of what parts of the muscle you can actually feel, and tips for safe palpation.
- Muscle Action: focus on the actual function of the muscle using a live model
- Additional relevant material: for some muscles, there are videos or articles about stretching, trigger points, massage, release, and more.
In my experience, it’s best to focus on neighboring muscle groups, that way you can review as you go along. So if you to to the internal obliques after the transversus abdominus, you’d get some review along the way.
Conclusion
If you are serious about learning human anatomy to improve your skills as a fitness instructor, LearnMuscles.com is probably your best investment in terms of time and money. The material is presented through a number of formats, which caters to different learning styles. Dr. Muscolino’s presentation style is clear, and he shares from his decades of experience with different types of bodies.
While Learn Muscles is great for fitness instructors and even hands-on medical professionals, Pilates instructors get an added bonus of lessons and materials that are specified for the Pilates method.
