MRT1: How a muscle can be

Here there is a selection of contents that can help you understand the basic vocabulary of Muscle Response Testing (MRT). When testing one of the muscles of our body, we are using it either as a specific muscle (a.k.a. Specific Indicator Muscle) or as a “generic” Indicator Muscle (IM). 
To test a muscle follow the instructions in the Muscle Test you are using (you can find it from the Muscle Atlas, the Joint Atlas or directly from the search bar in the Homepage).
While Testing a Muscle we are searching for a Muscle Change (if working with a specific muscle) or an Indicator Change (if working with a muscle as a “generic” Indicator Muscle (IM)). 
A muscle can actually be, in the most accurate description (as taught in Applied Physiology), in 7 different "states". In practical application, the 5 “testable” states collapse into 3:

1. An Hypertonic Muscle
2. A Normotonic Muscle
3. An Hypotonic Muscle

And, if you are using a "ternary testing" like this, you are familiar with these terms. These categories treat the muscle response testing as a “digital” test with extreme answers as the only possibilities: totally hyper, totally normal, totally hypo. If you want to go beyond this limit to find more subtle muscle states, you should consider Analogue Testing. 
Many modalities (Modality – School – Branch) use a Binary Testing and search only for 2 states with the test:

1. An Hypertonic Muscle or Normotonic Muscle
2. An Hypotonic Muscle

In this case, when we are monitoring a muscle (Muscle Monitoring) to obtain a Balance, we tend to say that a muscle can be:

1. “strong” (Strong Muscle) or
2. “weak” (Weak Muscle),

but these terms are inaccurate and we should avoid them. 
Read also Muscle Response Test 2: Different ways of testing and Muscle response Test 3: refine your skills to hone your skills.  This text is modifiable, you can add useful information and, if something important is missing, add it in the appropriate Unit of Knowledge. Collaboration always wins.