Currently viewing the tag: "proprioception"

Happy to be back from a much needed hiatus. I’m hoping you have been exercising, particularly planking. Planking seems to be a new-ish craze, despite it’s ancient yogic roots; and of this I am pleased, because if there’s gonna be a craze, may as well be something as powerful for your health and body as plank pose.

So this post is to show you the next level of plank pose, which is the side-plank. Remember that plank pose is an outstanding strengthener for the abdominal core–EMG studies have shown it to be one of the strongest contractions of the rectus abdominis muscle–so if you want a strong core and cut mid-section, then definitely plank, baby.

Side plank is similar, but now the difficulty is increased by going up on one arm and balancing. The transition from plank to side plank alone is a powerful strengthener, because you are taking a static position and now adding movement. It’s what we call “functional”- ity. Along with strengthening the core,both the plank and side plank will also strengthen the shoulders. Balancing on one arm adds proprioception to the mix, and thus you get an all around great challenger for the core and shoulder girdle. Yes, this should be a craze.

Watch the video below to get a glimpse on how to transition from a plank pose to a side plank…and then plank away, baby.

Have you ever fallen?  Think it can’t happen to you?  Falls are not as uncommon as you might think, and for the elderly they can be deadly.  But new research shows that balance and movement exercises combined with music do more to prevent falls.  This post is not just for seniors. One out of every three adults age 65 and older falls each year; and of these, tens of thousands die from injuries sustained from falls.  Almost two million seniors visit emergency rooms every year as a result of falling.
Because of these staggering numbers, experts in fall prevention are continuously looking for ways to help the elderly (and others) stabilize themselves. There are effective ways of training people of all ages to maintain balance, including proprioceptive exercises like rocker and wobble boards, yoga, and other movements.  But now a recent study shows that adding music to these workouts can increase these already powerful practices.
Swiss researchers looked at 134 Swiss adults, mostly women, average age 75.5 years, who were at increased risk of falling. They were assigned to either an intervention group that did a music-based multitask exercise program or a control group that did normal exercises. The intervention program used an instructor-led one-hour weekly exercise class that featured multitask activities, including movements that were designed to challenge balance and become increasingly difficult over time. These exercises included walking in time to piano music and responding to changes in the music’s rhythm. People in the intervention program showed a greater improvement in balance and had 24 falls (a rate of 0.7 falls per person per year), compared with 54 falls in the control program (a rate of 1.6 falls per person per year).  It increased participants’ walking speed and stride length while performing one task at a time, and increased stride length and decreased stride length variability while performing multiple tasks at the same time.  This improvement in gait (manner or style of walking) and balance helped reduce the risk of falls.

Not bad, not bad.  I do balance or proprioceptive training with many of the clients at my Los Angeles sports chiropractic office.  Not only do these exercises prevent falls, but they improve athletic performance, add grace to the gait, and believe it or not, help reduce low back pain (check out the article here to find out how). So whether you are a chiropractor, physical therapist, or other movement therapist, try adding music to your training program.  If you are just into working out and keeping fit, then do so to the rhythm of your favorite music.  Moving rhythmically to the beat will improve your balance by syncing your proprioceptors, muscles and brain.  Trust me when I say this is the greatest thing you can do for yourself physically.  Balance, in all areas is the name of the game.



Beverly Hills Chiropractic Knee PainOne of the most important things you can do to strengthen and stabilize the knee is to condition the proprioceptive system. One-legged balance is a great place to start, but you might want to learn the ‘short foot‘ beforehand.

Proprioception is a major part of our balance mechanism, and so conditioning it will improve your ability to cut, turn, jump and land without one part of your body going one way, while another goes the other way. Proprioceptive training is good prevention, period (and good rehab too!).

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