Monday, July 06, 2015

Proprioception and aging

I'm not into fitness, but I will have to add a new routine to my core and bursitis routines and work on proprioception. That's your body's ability to know where it is without having to look. If I close my eyes, I probably couldn't stand in the shower, and walking home in the dark after the fireworks the other night was just plain difficult.

Proprioception is your ability to sense where your body and limbs are positioned in space. It's what allows you to navigate in a dark room, walk up stairs without looking at your feet and brush your teeth without peering in a mirror. Your muscles, joints and skin are equipped with tiny sensory receptors that provide vital information to your brain, so you can maintain control, react quickly to sudden changes in your environment and move about safely. Proprioceptive ability tends to weaken as people age, because message transmissions to and from the central nervous system become more sluggish. In turn, poor proprioception can negatively affect balance, agility and coordination, all of which increase your risk of falling.

http://livehealthy.chron.com/geriatric-proprioceptive-exercises-10002.html

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