I usually do this stretch against the wall. This is another one of my favorite stretches. Just find that sweet spot where you can slowly stretch the hamstrings without triggering pain. When you are in pain, muscles tend to spasm and tighten up to protect the area that’s inflamed, so don’t force it. If you feel you’re lacking flexibility, that’s okay.
You can keep your knees bent and slowly stretch out one leg at a time. You want to start in the plank position, push your hips up and stretch out your back. But these two stretches are safe and, in my experience, the most effective. I recommend you keep stretching to a minimum if you have chronic sciatica because you don’t want to further irritate the nerve.
These two additional stretches are specific to sciatica. I added two more stretches below that are specific for sciatica below the video. And stretching the chest muscles will help you maintain alignment. So keep your back straight and if you need to bend forward, always initiate the movement from the hips. Spinal flexion can lead to not only chronic lower back pain but also contribute to spinal disc herniation and sciatica. And you want to avoid spinal flexion if you want to keep your back healthy. Any load or stress placed on the neck and upper back will have an effect on the lumbar spine, hips, and even the knees.Īnd because most of our daily activities involve typing, texting, driving, or writing, it’s easy to develop very tight chest muscles leading to rounded shoulders and a flexed spine. …The body is an interconnected kinetic chain. You may be wondering how stretching your pectoralis (chest) muscles are going to help your lower back pain or sciatica. You can use a door or a heavy item of furniture I don’t have anything heavy in my mini-gym space so I’m using a heavy kettlebell. You need something to hold on to so you can drop into that deep squat position without falling back. As I mention in the video, it’s important to not lean forward too much to target the PSOAS (the biggest hip flexor muscle). Make sure you always stretch your hip flexors after a long day of sitting and also working on strengthening your glutes.
The tight hip flexors will inhibit the glutes from working properly and the load will be placed on your lower back. The hip flexors get chronically tight after sitting for a long period of time. I find it’s easier to stretch one leg at a time as you’re working toward a complete 90-degree angle. So if you have to bend your knees, go ahead and do that. It’s normal to not be able to keep your legs completely straight. This stretch also helps re-align the hips and decompresses the spine. This will also help you fix the forward head-rounded shoulder posture which puts pressure on the spine. By getting into that 90-degree posture, you’re disengaging your shoulders and letting your chest fall forward, opening up your pectoral muscles.
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