Seated Figure-4 Stretch
The seated figure-4 is the desk-friendly version of the supine piriformis stretch. It works particularly well for office workers whose sciatic symptoms flare after extended sitting, because the hip flexion required puts the piriformis on stretch in the exact position where it has been shortened all day. The trade-off is that the lumbar flexion involved makes it less appropriate for true discogenic sciatica.
Illustration. Follow the steps for the actual technique.
How to do it
- 1
Sit on a sturdy chair with both feet flat on the floor
Sit tall
- 2
Cross your right ankle over your left thigh, just above the knee
Figure-4 the legs
- 3
Flex your right foot (toes back toward your shin) to protect the knee
Foot flexed
- 4
Keeping your back long, hinge forward from the hips, not the lower back
Hinge from hips
- 5
Hold 45 seconds, breathing into the right buttock. Switch sides
Breathe and release
The evidence
The seated figure-4 is the desk-friendly version of the supine piriformis stretch. It works particularly well for office workers whose sciatic symptoms flare after extended sitting, because the hip flexion required puts the piriformis on stretch in the exact position where it has been shortened all day. The trade-off is that the lumbar flexion involved makes it less appropriate for true discogenic sciatica.
Citation: Cass SP (2015). Piriformis syndrome: a cause of nondiscogenic sciatica. Current Sports Medicine Reports