Sciatic pain in pike position

Hey Guys,

Whenever I stretch the Pike I get a huge amount of sciatic pain. I don't feel any muscle stretching. If I slighting bent my knees, all sciatic pain disappears and I feel all the appropriate muscle groups stretching.

I also feel that proper muscle stretch when bending forward in straddle position like in the side stretch series . 

As soon as I bring the ankles together and straighten the knees, it's all sciatic.

This is something I've experienced all my life and I'm curious if this is normal or am I in the minority?

Any thoughts would be great.

hi Darren, are you saying is sciatic because you suppose is sciatic or because a PT told you that? it is important to have a clear view of the situation.

Hi Alessandro,

Thanks for your reply.

I've had a chiropractor confirm that it sciatica (back in 2010). I'm also well acquainted with sciatic pain since herniating 4 discs in my lumbar spine, L4, L5 and the 2 above (back in 2010). 

The chiropractor suggested that I may have got the injury because of this peculiar condition.

I'm guessing that you, Alessandro, can't relate to this yourself since you asked that question.

Perhaps it's just a case of being really tight in that area.

Any thoughts will be appreciated.

Cheers

Darren,

You are definitely not in the "normal" ranges of pain and you should not be experiencing sciatica like pain in your stretches.

My suggestion to all my athletes if they have unique situations like your own, is to follow the golden rule of "no pain is okay, only very mild discomfort", meaning you do the stretches in the ways that DO NOT irritate your sciatica. 

"Whenever I stretch the Pike I get a huge amount of sciatic pain. I don't feel any muscle stretching. If I slighting bent my knees, all sciatic pain disappears and I feel all the appropriate muscle groups stretching."

Please apply this approach to everything you do inside GB, and modify everything around very little to zero pain.

If the pain is related to hips muscles you should be able to solve it with a decent piriformis stretch like the one on the middle split series.

Thanks guys!!!

Some great advice there... I'll be sure to do what you've suggested.

Cheers!!

Our pleasure Darren

It might also be worthwhile to check out some of the many nerve glide exercises that can be found on Youtube (or to consult a professional about them). If you perform these gently they should not provoke any pain and they might help alleviate your condition.