Walking on grass and sand helps you connect with nature, but it also has one unexpected benefit you might not know about.
Turns out, walking on uneven surfaces will activate your body’s alert system known as proprioception, an overlooked but critical sense that subconsciously tells you where your limbs and body are at all times.
If a surface is suddenly slanted, proprioception tells your body that “the position of your joint is different and so it would activate muscles in a different way so that you don’t fall over to the right,” said Claire Morrow, a physical therapist with Hinge Health.
When proprioception is working well, it’s automatic. Your feet will know where to land on the slope of a hill to keep your ankles stable without you looking.
But proprioception declines as you get older or after an injury, which is why you don’t want to ignore training this internal awareness system. You might just lose it if you stop using it.
For example, if you sprain your ankle, you can lose ligament stability and the proprioception “feedback loop” that prevents you from re-rolling your ankle and injuring yourself again, Morrow said. The good news is that with a few simple adjustments, you can hone this sense and train it to get better.
Training this sense doesn’t have to be intimidating.
You don’t need to hike up a mountain to train your proprioception. Simply look for uneven surfaces that nature provides with grass, dirt or sand to give your body small challenges on your walk.
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Walking on beach sand or soft grass in a park instead of predictably flat pavement can “give your body a challenge to react to something that was a little unexpected,” Morrow said, which is what’s needed to train your lower body’s proprioception. She suggests starting on pressed dirt and then graduating to grass and sand. “If you don’t mind getting your feet dirty, then doing it barefoot is sometimes a fun way” to practice proprioception too, Morrow added.
If you’re nervous about your balance, you can use hiking poles on unstable surfaces to have the benefit of your foot testing different positions while still having support, Morrow said.
Since proprioception can decline with age, older adults at risk of falling should focus on honing this ability. One 2017 study of adults over 70 found that the loss of reliable proprioception was a key factor in why those adults were more likely to sway on their feet while standing.
Proprioception “can improve your balance, and with increased balance, you decrease the fall potential, especially in elderly people,” said Patrick Maloney, the lead athletic trainer at Tulane Institute of Sports Medicine in New Orleans.
“The danger of that impaired proprioception is you get into a position where you need to catch yourself, but you don’t have the quickness to catch yourself,” Morrow said.
Here is a quick proprioception test for yourself: Can you balance on one leg for 10 seconds? If you can’t, Morrow suggests working with a physical therapist who can give you exercises to improve this skill. She also suggests consulting with a therapist if your walking pace has significantly declined or if you need to touch a wall or a railing while walking to stay balanced.
So the next time you go for a walk, try walking next to the sidewalk on some soft grass or dirt. It will give you a break from your usual routine and will also help train your body’s awareness to protect your health in the future.