Sciatica and Training: Exercises That Help

What Sciatica Is and Why It Happens

Sciatica is not a diagnosis in itself but a symptom: pain that travels along the sciatic nerve, from the lower back through the buttock and down the back or side of the leg, sometimes all the way to the foot. Alongside the pain there is often tingling, burning, an electric sensation or weakness in the leg. The sciatic nerve is the longest and thickest nerve in the body, so irritation anywhere along its path can cause symptoms far from the actual source of the problem.

The most common causes are a herniated disc pressing on a nerve root in the lumbar spine, narrowing of the spinal canal, irritation around the piriformis muscle deep in the buttock, and the combination of long hours of sitting with weak hip and trunk muscles. I covered the disc itself in detail in my article on exercises for a herniated disc and low back pain; here I treat sciatica as its own topic: what to do when the pain runs down the leg. The good news is that most cases settle within a few weeks with smart movement, and properly dosed training speeds up recovery and greatly reduces the chance of the pain coming back.

Acute or Chronic Phase: Two Different Approaches

The first thing I clarify with clients is which phase they are in, because acute and chronic sciatica are trained completely differently. The same program in the wrong phase can hurt more than it helps.

Acute phase: calm it down, but keep moving

In the first days the pain can be so sharp that your instinct is to lie down and not move. Short rest is fine, but complete bed rest is the worst option: research consistently shows that gentle movement speeds up recovery. I recommend short walks of 5 to 10 minutes several times a day, frequent position changes, and relief positions such as lying on your back with your lower legs resting on a chair. The goal in this phase is not to train, but to give the nerve peace and the tissues circulation.

Chronic phase: build resilience

If the pain lasts longer than 6 to 8 weeks or keeps returning, avoidance alone is no longer the answer. What you need then is a structured program of core, glute and leg strengthening, with a gradual return to all the movements you have learned to fear. In my work, this phase is exactly what separates people whose sciatica returns every year from those who leave it behind for good.

Nerve Glides: Gentle Mobilization of the Nerve

Nerve glides, sometimes called nerve flossing, are gentle exercises in which the nerve slides through the surrounding tissues without strong stretching. With an irritated sciatic nerve this is often the first exercise I introduce, because it reduces the sensitivity of the nerve and the fear of movement, and it can be used even in the acute phase if dosed carefully.

Basic lying variation

• Lie on your back and hold the thigh of the painful leg with both hands, hip and knee bent to about 90 degrees.
• Slowly straighten the knee until you feel light tension, never sharp pain, while pulling your toes toward you.
• Return the knee to the starting position and relax the foot, then repeat calmly and rhythmically.

Do 10 calm repetitions, 2 to 3 times per day. The key rule: the pain must not intensify or spread further down the leg during the exercise. If it does, reduce the range of motion or take a day off. The most common mistake is turning the glide into an aggressive hamstring stretch, which irritates the sensitized nerve instead of calming it.

Core and Glute Strengthening: The Foundation of Recovery

A weak core and inactive glutes shift load onto the lumbar spine. When your backside does not do its job, every step, every flight of stairs and every lift from the floor goes through your lower back. That is why strengthening these areas is the central part of my sciatica programs, of course only once the acute pain has eased.

• Glute bridge: 3 sets of 12 repetitions, with a 2 second hold and a deliberate glute squeeze at the top.
• Bird dog: 3 sets of 8 repetitions per side, slow, without twisting the trunk or letting the lower back sag.
• Dead bug: 3 sets of 10 repetitions, lower back gently pressed into the floor the whole time.
• Side plank from the knees: 3 holds of 20 seconds per side, body in a straight line.

Progress is gradual: first longer holds, then more repetitions, then harder variations such as the single leg bridge or the full side plank. With my clients these exercises form the backbone of the first two months of the program, and only then do we add squats and deadlifts with light loads and clean technique.

The Piriformis: A Small Muscle That Causes Big Problems

The piriformis is a small muscle deep in the buttock, and the sciatic nerve runs directly next to it, in some people even through it. When the piriformis is overworked or shortened, usually from long sitting and weak hip abductors, it can irritate the nerve and produce symptoms very similar to classic spine related sciatica.

Lying stretch (figure 4)

Lie on your back, cross the ankle of the painful side over the opposite knee, and gently pull the thigh toward your chest until you feel a stretch deep in the buttock. Hold for 30 seconds, repeat 3 times per side, breathing calmly and without forcing anything.

Strengthening: the clamshell

Lie on your side with knees bent and lift the top knee without rolling your pelvis backward, 3 sets of 15 repetitions per side. This matters because weak hip abductors get overloaded quickly, leaving the piriformis to do someone else's job. In the long run, strengthening these muscles is worth more than stretching alone.

Too Much Sitting: The Quiet Trigger

Many of the sciatica cases I see in practice have no dramatic cause, just years of office sitting. Sitting keeps the hips flexed, switches the glutes off, and puts more pressure on the lumbar discs than standing does. Add an unprepared weekend effort on top, like chopping wood or carrying bags up the stairs, and the nerve easily rebels.

• Stand up every 30 to 45 minutes, even for just a minute or two of easy walking.
• Change your sitting position during the day, because the best position is the next one.
• Adjust your chair and screen height so you can sit tall without straining.
• Add 10 glute bridges and a short walk to every longer break.

I wrote about the complete approach to posture and your workstation in my article on posture correction for desk workers, which pairs well with this topic.

What to Avoid Until the Nerve Calms Down

Knowing what to temporarily remove is just as important as knowing what to do. While symptoms are present, I take the following out of my clients' routines:

• Deep loaded forward bends and lifting from the floor with a rounded back.
• Seated forward folds and aggressive hamstring stretching, because they add tension to an irritated nerve.
• Long uninterrupted sitting, especially on low soft sofas.
• Jerky movements and trunk rotations under load.
• Pushing through training when pain is radiating down the leg.

The most common mistake I see: people either stop moving completely or try to force the pain away with stretching. Both extremes prolong recovery. The rule I give my clients is simple: a movement that keeps the pain in the back, or draws it from the leg toward the back, is a good sign; a movement that pushes the pain further down the leg needs to be adjusted or temporarily removed.

When to See a Doctor

Training is a powerful tool, but there are warning signs neither you nor I should ever ignore:

• Marked or increasing weakness in the foot or leg, for example a foot that drops while walking.
• Numbness around the groin or inner thighs.
• Loss of bladder or bowel control, which is an emergency.
• Pain that keeps worsening for weeks despite everything, or pain accompanied by fever and unexplained weight loss.

In those situations a medical examination comes first, and training comes after. In my work I follow the recommendations of doctors and physiotherapists and take over the part of recovery that needs strength, movement control and a gradual return of confidence. With a little patience and the right program, the vast majority of people with sciatica return to everything they love, without fearing every bend.

The best results come from training built around your body and your goals, whether that is fat loss, coming back from an injury, or preparing for a test. I coach people in Vogošća and Sarajevo, and online across Bosnia. If you want a plan made specifically for you, see how I work and get in touch.