Nicola is a neurophysiologist who focuses on the intersection of neuroscience and bodily efficiency—and one of the best workouts are ones that problem your physique and thoughts. “There is this sub-category of exercise which falls under cognitive exercise [called] proprioceptive training,” she shares on the mindbodygreen podcast. “It involves all of your senses: light, sound, touch…everyone should be involved in this type of exercise.”
Basically, proprioception is the sense of the place your physique is in area; your physique makes use of cues from the skin setting to ship to your mind, then your mind tells your physique methods to react. Your proprioceptive perform declines as you age1, however coaching these skills has been proven to enhance practical mobility, steadiness, gait, and threat of falls2 in older adults.
“You cannot achieve anything without understanding where you are in space and time,” Nicola notes, whether or not you’re an elite athlete hoping to boost efficiency or somebody who simply needs to enhance cognitive longevity. No matter your particular health targets, she encourages common coaching workouts that strengthen your physique consciousness.
For instance, she recommends a “really easy drill” by which you throw a tennis ball in opposition to the wall and catch it. “You’re training [your] visual acuity, because you have to see where the ball is going. You are training depth perception, which is part of the visual system. You’re training reaction time and hand-eye coordination,” she explains. “You’re doing so many different things just with this easy ball.”
Now, the place does pickleball come into play? Well, the game doesn’t practice your visible acuity the identical method because the aforementioned tennis ball drill, as catching a ball together with your hand requires rather more precision than whacking it with a paddle. But in pickleball, “you do have to have hand-eye coordination,” says Nicola. “You have to know where you are in space and time, which is a huge thing for proprioception.”