You use all of your senses to process information and to make sense of the world, but most people favor one sense over the others. Some people are highly visual; they think in pictures and need to see illustrations, diagrams and demonstrations to learn. Others learn best by listening; these people thrive on lectures and audio recordings. Kinesthetic learners need to touch and manipulate the material; they learn best by moving and doing, rather than by sitting in a classroom or studying a book.
Pay attention to the way you think. You won’t fit one of these styles exclusively all the time, and you may often overlap, but you’ll probably feel most comfortable with one of them. You can also take a quick free inventory online to find out which one suits you. Once you know your learning style, you can choose the most effective ways to study.
The human body has well over 600 skeletal muscles with Latin names. If you haven’t studied Latin before, you may find it difficult to remember them. Keep in mind, though, that a vast number of English words were derived from Latin. See if you can connect the Latin name to its English derivative. For example, “orbicularis oculi” is easy to remember when you realize that “orbis” is Latin for circle or orb (think of the Earth in orbit around the Sun) and “oculus” is Latin for eye (you probably already recognized the English word, ocular). Look it up once, compare the Latin word to the English meaning, and many of the muscle names will be much easier to recognize and remember.
You can also find associations to help you. For the trapezius muscle, try thinking of “that daring young man on the flying trapeze” and the well-developed muscles on his upper back and the top of his shoulders. It doesn’t have to make sense. Anything that you readily connect with the term you need to remember—a shape, a color, a sound—can help you learn it.
You may think they belong in elementary school, but coloring books and flash cards are powerful learning tools, no matter how old you are. Flash cards are especially helpful because they’re portable. Carry them with you and take advantage of spare time and odd moments throughout the day. If you make them yourself, you can use wording and associations that work for you, and you can add pictures or diagrams.
Coloring is fun. Get a copy of "Anatomy Coloring Book" (see References) and follow the instructions for coloring the detailed drawings of the muscle system. You’ll be using both visual and kinesthetic modes of learning, and it won’t even seem like work.
Set up a study group with a few friends. You can talk about things that confuse you, test each other with flash cards, share your own memorization tricks and pick up some new ones. If you’re lucky enough to have access to an accurate three-dimensional model, you can take it apart and reassemble it together. By interacting with the group, you’ll be combining all three basic learning styles, making it as easy as possible to learn and remember the muscular system.