Our team of occupational therapists and physical therapists often recommend heavy work activities.

Heavy work activities are proprioceptive input for the body and brain that beneficial to most people, especially those with sensory processing difficulties to help increase attention, decrease defensiveness,  and modulate arousal.

Proprioceptive input is the performance of tasks that involves heavy resistance and input to the muscles and joints, and is essential in helping our bodies assimilate and process both movement (vestibular) and touch (tactile) information.

http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/ is the author of this quintessential explanation of heavy work and some example activities.  

Some categories of heavy work activities include:

• Whole body actions involving pushing, pulling, lifting, playing and moving
• Oral actions such as chewing, sucking and blowing
• Use of hands for squeezing, pinching or fidgeting

Follow our occupational therapy blog series about heavy work for a more detailed list of activities.