By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

Most likely you’ve heard the term before. Proprioception has become a sports buzz word whose use has increased exponentially within the last 10 years. If you practice yoga or martial arts, you may have noticed.

Somehow, I associate it with Vo2Max. We hear it, talk about it but most don’t know exactly what it is or what it is good for. Proprioception is important for runners, and I will dig into why. But first, let’s define it.

Our body has hundreds of thousands of sensors that tell the brain where we are with respect with our environment (Photo: Pexels)

According to JL Taylor’ in the 2009 Encyclopedia of Neuroscience: “Proprioception, or kinesthesia, is the sense that lets us perceive the location, movement, and action of parts of the body. It encompasses a complex of sensations, including perception of joint position and movement, muscle force, and effort. These sensations arise from signals of sensory receptors in the muscle, skin, and joints, and from central signals related to motor output. Proprioception enables us to judge limb movements and positions, force, heaviness, stiffness, and viscosity. It combines with other senses to locate external objects relative to the body and contributes to body image. Proprioception is closely tied to the control of movement.”

Yes, a dense definition, but worth reading a couple of times if necessary so you understand it. When we run, we are jumping from one leg to the other, so we must be in balance and aware of the position of our body in relation to its surroundings. Here is where improving it comes into play.

Every time your foot strikes the ground, hundreds of thousands of sensors throughout the body send instantaneous feedback to the brain, which immediately responds with adjustments. This is why when we step on something, instinctively your foot goes around it to avoid unpleasantries. The right response/reaction optimizes the control of your motor skills and allows you to work several sections of your body at once, finding the most effective and energy saving paths for motion.

Proprioception is fundamental for runners because it allows us to:

• improve balance.

• upgrade control and awareness of our body.

• enhance responsiveness.

• improve leg injury recovery.

• boost stability on uneven surfaces or when avoiding obstacles.

• regain balance quickly to avoid falls.

• create stability in our joints.

• enhances postural and joint stability.

• coordinates tendons and ligaments working in unison with the muscles to thoroughly absorb the impact of each step.

• expand our running efficiency to boost speed and endurance.

Walking barefoot is one of the best ways to improve your proprioception (Photo Pexels)

All this sounds great, sure, but how do we get better at proprioception, so we become better runners? Here are a handful of tips:

• walk barefoot.

• balance exercises with closed eyes.

• cross training such as yoga or tai chi.

• exercises over unstable surfaces.

• add movement and weight to floor exercises.

• one-leg exercises to challenge your balance.

• sitting and stability exercises on a Swiss ball.

• strength and plyometric exercises.

Since running is an exercise where we are in contact with the ground one leg at a time, balance is one of the most important aspects of the sport. One that gets lost amid the chit-chat about speed, distance and PRs. Yet, none of the previous conversations can occur if we don’t master our balance, which is done through proprioception. So, let’s work on it continuously so we may become better runners avoid injuries, especially those caused by falls that could have been prevented with proper balance.