A few weeks ago, I started doing the tracings for my study journal. I was amazed at how much more in depth I got and the volume of information I'd retained from having learned the material the first time. I honestly think I learned more about the muscles locations from having to trace them myself than I had by just looking at them to memorize the information for a quiz or test.
Additionally, I have been making flashcards along the way to help me study for tests. I used this website: http://homepage.smc.edu/wissmann_paul/muscleflashcards/. I printed the cards but they were missing the names of the muscles. This has caused me to have to play the hunt-and-peck game in my book, trying to match the muscle on the sheet of paper to the muscle in the book. It's caused me to examine and then re-examine every single muscle, assuring myself that the muscle on the paper is indeed the muscle in the book. I've had to check origins and insertions, verifying that where they're located is correct. It's definitely helped me more than just having been supplied with the information and studying from something someone else created.
There are two other methods of learning that I've applied to this class that can't be done by bookwork. First, since I'm new to this memorize the muscles thing, I try to picture the muscles I'm affecting when I'm massaging clients. I want to understand where they are and how they're affecting their stress or their pain. I try to tell myself (in my head of course) what I'm touching. If I can't remember it during the massage, I try to look up the information afterwards. Secondly, I TELL the client what I'm feeling. This works great right now because they know I'm a student and that I'm weird. But more importantly, they're beginning to understand what problems they might be having and why on a scale deeper than "my shin hurts." This knowledge is a powerful tool and it's driving me to be a better massage therapy student (and eventually, a great massage therapist). :)
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