Proprioception: Your 6th Sense

Proprioception according to wordnetweb means, “The ability to sense the position, location, orientation and movement of the body and its parts.”  It comes from the Latin “prorius” meaning “one’s own” and perception. It is often considered the 6th sense and is equally important to our senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. Proprioception is a function of the nervous system and taken as a whole includes, balance, coordination and agility because the body’s proprioceptors control all these factors. Proprioceptors consist of both sensory and motor nerves that send and receive impulses to and from the central nervous system from stimuli within the skin, muscles, joints and tendons (Houglum 2001).

Simply put, proprioception is your ability to know where your limbs and body are in space without having to look at or focus on them. This function is so automatic that we basically do it unconsciously with everyday movements like: standing, walking, stepping, lifting or carrying. Take driving a car, for example, it is your proprioception that allows you to focus on the road and not on how your feet are working the pedals or hands are holding onto the steering wheel.

Because of the automatic and unconscious nature, proprioception is often overlooked from a fitness perspective. Improving proprioception has many benefits for everyone from athletes to seniors and can be easily included into any fitness program with a simple progression of exercises. Studies have shown that athletes who train for proprioception are quicker, more balanced, can change direction faster, make more precise movements and are less prone to injury. The benefits of this type of training for the general population including seniors are equally as impressive and include:

• Improved balance and stability
   
• Improved agility to help you quickly change your body’s direction in a situation such as tripping up a step
   
• Improved overall coordination
   
• Reduced risk of injury and helps to prevent falls
   
• Improved body reaction time to outside changes such as stepping on uneven terrain or something slippery

Exercises Progression Recommendations:

• Standing with eyes closed for 30 seconds
   
• Standing on 1 leg for 30 seconds – then on the other leg
   
• Standing on 1 leg with eyes closed for 30 seconds – then on the other leg
   
• Progress to using stability equipment and a sequence of exercises and movements such as step over’s, standing balanced, marching, calf raises and squats. Start with more stable equipment such as a ‘Thera-band’ cushion, then move on to a wobble board, a core board and finally, a Bosu.  Make each more challenging by using a weighted medicine ball
   
• The next progression is dynamic balance activities including: forward, backward and lateral movements and sports specific training
   
• Finally, advanced training would include plyometric type exercises with jumping, twisting and pivoting

Start slowly when adding the above exercises into your fitness routine. Focus on form and quality of movement first.Then, as you progress, focus on adding speed.  Proprioception is an amazing ability and now it’s easy to make yours even better!

Be Fit, Be Healthy, Be Happy! - Tanya

Tanya Stroh, B.S., NSCA, ACE, is the founder and creator of GetinShapeforFREE.net featuring a “6 Week Shape UP Challenge” with Sequential Progression. This brand new fitness and exercise website is completely Free and available to everyone who has the desire to be fit & healthy. Tanya's philosophy has always been that a fit & healthy lifestyle is a process that you build upon; that’s why her approach to exercise with Sequential Progression is so effective. Tanya’s clients have successfully improved and achieved their health and fitness goals because of this approach to fitness. And now with GetinShapeforFREE.net so can YOU!

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