Piriformis Muscle Hack

I’m often asked for some basic at home self-care hacks for a variety of issues, today I’d like to cover the piriformis muscle. This muscle does SO MUCH WORK and when it’s tight it can cause further tightness in the leg, glute area (pelvic floor), and lower back. 

I could go into more detail but my goal is to keep this super simple for ya. Before I get too ahead of myself, please note the disclaimer.

Disclaimer: If you have any health risks consult your doctor or physical therapist or personal trainer first. This is simply a suggestion and I am not responsible for any outcomes. Try this stretch with your own discretion.

The piriformis muscle is a part of your glute muscles, think of your butt cheek as a circle, the piriformis would be near the top.

Now for the muscle “hack”...

I have a myofascial ball, you can use a lacrosse ball, golf ball, tennis ball, the hardness of the ball is a personal preference. The harder the ball the deeper you can get into the muscle to work but the tissues might be tight and sore and you may need to start out with a more gentle tool. You’ll be holding the position for a while. I also use a yoga block to support my thigh and will rest it on top of the block depending on how tight the tissues are. You can also have your knees bent to engage the piriformis, the trick is to get a little creative with movement to target the spot appropriately.

Place the ball of choice in the area of the piriformis (use the image above to help guide you), the goal is to find any spot in there that feels sore and support your body how you need with the yoga block or even a pillow and be in the moment with long deep breathing.

You can be in one spot for 1 minute and work your way to 5 minutes at a time. You might begin to notice muscles twitching in your legs or possibly your other butt cheek. That means that those areas have been helping because the spot you have the ball on has been so tight it needed help. You might even experience a sudden burst of pain from the spot. That is happening because you relaxed enough to get to a deeper layer that is also tight (nice work). Yes our muscles have layers of tightness in them kind of like the layers of an onion, no joke. 

You can do this as it feels comfortable, this is great to do between bodywork sessions. Retraining the fascia takes a great deal of time because the fascia is so used to how it’s been that it requires more attention to retrain it to not “rebound”.

If you have any questions or need some clarification, definitely reach out by replying to this email.