What Many People Feel but Few Can Explain

What Many People Feel but Few Can Explain

Across New Zealand, a quiet but widespread change has occurred since COVID. People report feeling less coordinated, slower to react, less balanced, and more disconnected from their bodies. Falls are more common. Movement feels awkward. Learning physical skills—especially dance, skating, or sport—takes longer than it once did.

This is not imagination, nor simply “deconditioning”. What has declined is proprioception—the nervous system’s ability to sense position, movement, force, and timing.

What Proprioception Actually Is

Proprioception is the body’s internal positioning system. It relies on:

• Muscle spindles (muscle length and speed)

• Golgi tendon organs (tension and load)

• Joint mechanoreceptors

• Cutaneous receptors, especially in the feet

• Integration through the spinal cord, cerebellum, basal ganglia, and motor cortex

• Constant calibration with the vestibular (inner ear) system

When functioning correctly, proprioception allows you to:

• Adjust balance without thinking

• React before falling

• Coordinate complex movement

• Move confidently without watching your feet

• Connect physically with another person in partner movement

When impaired, strength alone does not compensate.

Why Proprioception Declined After COVID

1. Neurological and Inflammatory Effects of COVID

Even mild COVID infections can trigger:

• Neuroinflammation

• Small-fibre sensory nerve dysfunction

• Disrupted cerebellar processing

• Slower afferent sensory signalling

This produces real, measurable effects:

• Delayed reaction time

• Poor foot placement

• Clumsiness

• Reduced balance confidence

These effects are consistent with known post-viral neurological syndromes. COVID simply affected far more people, simultaneously.

2. Vestibular Deconditioning During Lockdowns

Proprioception does not operate alone. It relies heavily on vestibular input.During lockdowns and lifestyle changes:

• Head movement variety collapsed

• Rotational and lateral motion decreased

• Screen fixation increased

• Movement environments became predictable

The vestibular system atrophies without challenge, leading to:

• Visual over-reliance

• Poor balance in low light

• Dizziness with sudden movement

• Slower postural correction

3. Loss of Type II Muscle Fibres

Extended sedentary behaviour disproportionately deconditions:

• Fast-twitch (Type II) muscle fibres

• Elastic recoil capacity

• Reflexive stabilisation

Type II fibres are essential for proprioception because they:

• Respond rapidly to instability

• Protect joints

• Enable quick corrections

Their loss results in slow, rigid movement, even if overall strength appears “adequate.”

4. Sensory Neglect of the Feet

Feet are one of the body’s densest sensory organs.Post-COVID habits reduced:

• Barefoot exposure

• Terrain variation

• Natural foot articulation

As plantar sensory input degrades:

• Balance becomes visually dependent

• Ground reaction timing worsens

• Ankle-hip coordination weakens

This produced a coordination debt that accumulated silently.

Why Gym Training Alone Does Not Fix This

Traditional gym training:

• Is linear and predictable

• Minimises instability

• Over-relies on vision

• Avoids multi-directional uncertainty

It builds strength without sensory intelligence.

Proprioception improves only when movement includes:

• Instability

• Variable timing

• Multi-directional load

• Continuous micro-correction

Why This Matters Long-Term

Loss of proprioception accelerates:

• Falls

• Joint degeneration

• Fear-based movement

• Cognitive decline

Rebuilding it improves:

• Confidence

• Coordination

• Injury resistance