hey everybody it's Doctor Jo, and today I'm gonna show you my top 5 sciatica
exercises for piriformis syndrome. so let's get started.
so if you haven't subscribed already, make sure you
click on the button down there. so again these exercises are for piriformis
syndrome when you have that sciatica. so if it's a herniated disc issue check out
my other video for that. so we're gonna start off lying down, and get yourself a
resistive band. so I would usually start off with the lightest depending on the
brand is probably going to be a different color, so mine is just kind of
a medium light, but you're gonna wrap it around your thighs just above your knee
and then lie all the way down on your back. you can do this on a bed or a couch.
you don't have to lie down on the floor especially if you have a hard time
getting back up. so with this one you can keep your feet about hip width apart.
some people do like to bring them in together that side I feel like it does a
little bit better if you have them slightly apart. so this one is just going
to be rolling your knees outwards with the band. so just go as far as you
comfortably can. you don't have to go very far, but really control coming back
in. that's the key, so make sure you're controlling the band going out and
coming in. so not just kind of going like that because that's easy, you're not
really getting any resistance with that. you can go further than this if you want
to, or you can even go a little bit less than that if you want to. so if you just
want to go out that way you can. a lot of times the best way to do it is also to
give yourself a pelvic tilt to get that core activated as well. so
hold that pelvic tilt and do those as well. so basically that pelvic tilt is
just trying to flatten out your back with your core muscles. so you're not
pushing in with your feet, you're just tilting it back and being able to
breathe comfortably and then rolling out nice and smooth coming back in. so I
would just start off with about 10 of those, then you can do two sets of ten,
two sets of 15 ,working your way up if you get to 20-25 and it's easy, then you can
get a more heavier band. so then the next one, still keeping that
band just above the knees on your thigh there, we're gonna go into a bridge. so
what you want to do is keep the tension on the band like this. so if you feel
like your knees are coming inwards the the resistance is probably too much. you
want to be able to hold this position the whole time, and then go up into a
bridge. so when you're going into a bridge, you want to go one segment of
your spine at a time, but you want to do it smoothly. so you're just coming up and
then nice and slow coming back down. so your knees are going forwards that way a
little bit, so you're not pushing up with your heels, you're rolling forward using
those gluts using those hamstrings and nice and slowly coming back down. so if
I'm lifting up and my knees come in like that because I can't hold that band out,
then it's probably too much resistance. but that's what's activating those
muscles down there, so keeping it nice and still and then nice and slow coming
back down. so again just starting off with about ten of those working your way
up. if it becomes easy then you can get a heavier resistive band. so the next one
is going to be clam shells I would recommend starting off without the band
doing the clam shells, but I'm going to do it with the band on just so you can
see what it looks like. so again I'd start off without it then make sure you
can do it correctly in good form because with the clam shells, you want to make
sure your hips are perpendicular to the floor or the bed or the couch that you're
on. so when you're doing the exercise, if you feel like you're rolling back, you're
not quite doing it because you're not activating the muscles that you want to.
you're not getting that piriformis working, you're not getting those glutes
working. so make sure it stays in this position the whole time. your feet stay
together and then the top knee comes up. so make sure you're lying down, keeping
yourself nice and comfortable and then just roll up like this and then slowly
come back down. so if I'm doing this to get the band up if I have to work to get
the band up like that, then I'm probably not ready for a resistive band. but just
rolling up, you don't have to go high and just control it coming back down. so
again I would just start off with about 10 of these and then work your way up
from there because again if you're having a hard time with the band, just
take the band off and do them without the band. so I'm gonna take the band off
for the next exercise, but again you can use the band if doing it without it is
pretty easy. so this time you're gonna roll over onto all fours. so the big
thing is for this is when you're in quadruped, or all fours, you want your
hands to be almost directly under your shoulders. so if they're here our they're
way up under there, you're going to end up getting a shoulder injury while
you're trying to fix your sciatica with your piriformis syndrome. so make sure
you have a good technique that everything is kind of level with each
other and your hips and your knees are pretty close in alignment as well. and
then this one is just what we call sometimes a fire hydrant like when a dog
comes up to a fire hydrant. so what you want to do is try and keep your hips
level the whole time, and then just bring your leg out and come back in. so if I
have to lean over and go like that then that's not quite doing it right. you want
to try and keep your hips pretty level and just come out and then back in. so
with this one and all the exercises really I would do this on both sides
because especially for this one I have to stabilize this side while I'm lifting
this side. so they're working in different ways. so I would do maybe five
on one side, and then switch and do five on the other side, and then you can work
your way up from there. but if you feel like you're rolling shifting your weight
or if you're you know kind of dropping your hip when you're working, you're
probably not quite ready for this one yet. so the last exercise is going to be
standing up. so the last exercise is going to be a squat with a resistive
band. so the band is going to be what makes you work those outer muscles the
piriformis muscles, those outer glutes. so what you want to do is have the band
again just above your knees around your thighs, but what you want to do
is make sure that it doesn't pull your knees inwards. so if you're squatting
down and your knees are going in like that, you're either not ready for the
band or you need to get a lighter resistive band because you want your
knees to stay in the same position the whole time. so for a good squat you want
equal weight shift on your feet. so not just back on your heels not up on your
toes, and you really want to stick your booty
back when you're squatting so your knees don't go in front of your toes. keep your
back straight and just bend at your hips. so you're coming down this way and then
coming back up. so if I went down and my knees did this,
then either I don't need that band or I need to try lighter bands. so make sure
that you're keeping an eye on that because you don't want to end up making
another imbalance by trying to strengthen something. so keeping those
knees fairly in one spot, keeping the knees behind the toes, sticking your
booty back, and keeping equal weight shift on your feet. so again I would just
start off with about ten of these and see how you feel. if you feel really
off-balance, again try it without the band put a chair behind you so if you
feel like you have to sit down there's something for you to sit down with. so if
you want to try it first with a chair there definitely do that be safe while
you're doing it. so just going down into that squat and coming back up. so those
were my top five sciatica exercises for piriformis syndrome. if you'd like to
help support my channel, find out how about on the link up here, and don't
forget to subscribe by clicking down there. and remember be safe, have fun, and
I hope you feel better soon.