Training Matters: Time to add proprioception to your skill tree

By Medicine Hat News on November 1, 2019.

Proprioception. It’s a bit of a mouth full to pronounce, and there is a good chance you probably haven’t heard this term thrown around a gym too often. It is, however, one of the most important and overlooked components of training.

So, what is it?

Proprioception is the brain’s ability to locate your body (limbs, joints, etc.) relative to your position in space. A more formal definition is “the sense through which we perceive position and movement of our body, including our sense of equilibrium and balance, senses that depend on the notion of force” (Jones, 2000). Proprioception, for the most part, is unconscious awareness of movement and joint positioning. However, there is a need to create conscious awareness by training proprioception.

The importance of proprioception is typically understated. Proprioception reduces the risk of injury, improves coordination, and can help athletes take their performance to the next level. When you are injured, proprioception in the injured joint is usually impaired. By not including proprioception as part of your rehab, you are likely not going to make a full recovery or will continue to have a higher risk of reinjury.

Let’s discuss the positives of improved proprioception. Reduced risk of injury; this is something that should appeal to all walks of life. Whether you are an athlete or a desk jockey, reducing the chances of injury should be important to you. Proprioception is the awareness of your body in space, so how does that reduce injury? It gives your body the unconscious ability to react in situations, such as slipping, to correct yourself. It’s when you start to roll your ankle but your muscles fire back, creating stability in the joint. That is proprioception at play.

Improved coordination; have you ever been told you are clumsy or have two left feet? That is a lack of proprioception. Improving that sense of clumsiness will also reduce the risk of injury; however, it also has a performance aspect as well. How many youth athletes out there have giant growth spurts and they can’t keep up with their quickly changing body? These athletes usually end up peaking early in sport. As their peers grow at a slower pace they are able to develop proprioception more efficiently; hence they maintain some of their higher-level skills and are less likely to become injured.

Finally, improved proprioception can significantly improve your performance in sport. Having a sense of where your body allows the skilled basketball player to cut and dribble the ball in all sorts of impressive ways. There is that unconscious knowing of where their arm is, where it’s going, how their feet are moving, etc. Dancers have some of the best proprioception and it is a critical component to their success. Having great proprioception doesn’t simply let you run, jump, land and cut well, but allows you to become a master of those movements, making them second nature.

Now that the importance of proprioception has been established, and hopefully, at this point, you have recognized the need to train it, let’s discuss how. There are four main ways to train proprioception: balance/unstable surface drills, eyes closed training, strength training, and plyometric/change of direction drills. Of the above four, that is the order that I would recommend you progress. Start with balance drills. This is one of the best ways to create proprioception in the ankle and foot. Then move on to unstable surfaces or loads, and so on through that list.

I will leave you with a few of my favourite exercises. Try them out and see if you feel more stable and controlled.

Balance: Single-leg 3D reach. You can do this on a foam pad or mat if you want to make it harder.

Unstable surface: Scapular protraction/retraction with hands on a monster band.

Strength: Single-leg Romanian deadlifts.

Plyometric: Speed-skaters.

Alex Graham, corrective exercise specialist and kinetisense performance specialist, is a strength and conditioning coach with Alberta Sport Development Centre – Southeast. She can be reached via email at agraham@mhc.ab.ca.