Proprioception

You're here: Home / Training / Proprioception

What is proprioception ?

Proprioception is the perception, conscious or not, of the position of different parts of the body. It works thanks to numerous muscle and ligament receptors. For running, the receptors allow you to give information to your body, which, by acting on the leg muscles, stabilizes you. For various reasons, these receivers may be defective, so they need to be re-educated.

How to improve your proprioception ?

Here are some easy exercises to improve your proprioception, very useful for trail running where the floor contact is sometimes unstable. These exercises can be done at home or during your workouts.

At home :

- When you brush your teeth (if you do :)), put yourself on one foot and close your eyes. Change feet next time you brush. You will see that it will be easier and easier to keep your balance.
- Do jump rope, it's also very good for building calves. Be careful to stay straight during the exercises.
- With the help of a balance board, proprioceptive progress is rapid. You can find them for less than 15 euros on internet.

Here is how you can use the balance board :

During training :

- Try to vary the terrain during your runs, all situations where the floor contact are different can only improve your proprioception. "Practice makes perfect"
- Run in soft sand, there is nothing better. An alternative is to run in paths with a thick layer of gravel, the floor contact will be unstable but this will make the receivers work well.
- Train yourself to go up and down stairs in sidesteps.

I don't say it will be easy, I says it will worth it.

If you want something you've never had, you'll have to do what you've never done before.

Your attitude matters more than your abilities. Zig Ziglar

Motivation is when dreams put on their work clothes. Benjamin Franklin

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. Winston Churchill

I do it because I can. I can because I want it. I want it because I'm told that I can't.

If you're absent during my struggle, don't expect to be present during my success. Will Smith

Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. W. P. Kinsella

Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so. Belva Davis

Go to the end of things before giving up.

Not having tried is worse than failure.

Every expert was once a beginner.

If you don't succeed the first time, shake and try again. Aaliyah

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. Henry Ford

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. Henry Ford

Crying can give you sympathy, sweat will give you results. Laurent Vicente

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. Henry Ford

Crying can give you sympathy, sweat will give you results. Laurent Vicente

Don't think limits. Usain Bolt

Running is the only medicine that my legs and my head, but also my heart and my soul, need. Laurent Vicente

A man who conquers himself is greater than one who conquers a thousand men in battle. Bouddha

If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon. Zatopek

Is defeated only whoever believes it. Fernando de Rojas

I never lose. I either win or learn. Nelson Mandela

I often hear someone say I'm not a real runner. We are all runners, some just run faster than others. I never met a fake runner. Bart Yasso

I had as many doubts as anyone else. Standing on the starting line, we're all cowards. Alberto Salazar

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. Irish Blessing

Your legs are not giving out. Your head is giving out. Keep going. Jillian Michaels

No matter how fast you run, you'll always be faster than those who sit on their couch. Richard Paradis

Ask yourself: « Can I give more? ». The answer is usually: « Yes ». Paul Tergat

The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start. John Bingham

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. Oscar Wilde

No one ever drowned in sweat.

Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness. Edward Stanley

Experience is a lantern that is worn on the back and that never shines the path. Confucius

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. Lucius Annaeus Seneca

That little voice inside your head that says you can't do it, well... it's a liar!

Wake up with determination. Go to bed with satisfaction.

Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still.

Each step count.

Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or your predecessors. Try to be better than yourself. William Faulkner

We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves...The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. Roger Bannister

You do not get to the summit by overtaking others, but by overtaking yourself.

Life's battles don't always go to the strongest or fastest man, but sooner or later the man who wins is the fellow who thinks he can. Steve Prefontaine

To win a race, the swiftness of a dart availeth not without a timely start. Jean de la Fontaine

If you feels good racing an ultramarathon, don't worry, it will pass... Guillaume Millet

Never allow your fear to grow larger than your faith. Jillian Michaels

Why choose to fail when success is an option? Jillian Michaels