Stretching and splits training Reviews

Tight muscles can cause undue strain on the neighboring joints during normal daily function, or they themselves can become injured," Sasha Cyrelson, D.P.T., clinical director at Professional Physical Therapy in Sicklerville, New Jersey, tells SELF.

Because of this and the passive nature of the pose, it is an excellent and gentle approach to helping relieve symptoms associated with sciatica and knee pain," John Murray, yoga instructor and co-founder of Lyons Den Power Yoga, tells SELF.

And for good reason: "It's essential to help with posture-related pain or for people who sit for prolonged periods of time," says Dan Giordano, D.P.T., C.S.C.S., cofounder of Bespoke Treatments Physical Therapy in New York City and Seattle.

Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, arms by your sides.Exhale as you bend forward at the hips, lowering your head toward floor, while keeping your head, neck and shoulders relaxed.Wrap your arms around backs of your legs and hold anywhere from 45 seconds to two minutes.Bend your knees and roll up when you're done.

This modification of pigeon pose helps with internal rotation of one leg and external rotation of the other, "so you're hitting both movements of the hip at once," Atkins says.

"Deep internal rotators, while small, produce a lot of the movement at the hip and are often overlooked.Since the piriformis crosses over the sciatic nerve, "if it is tight, it can result in sciatic nerve irritation, Cyrelson says.

Incorporating some stretching exercises into your workout schedule will help you improve flexibility, reduce tightness, and ultimately, make your workouts more efficient and safe.

Stretching may not be the most exciting part of working out, but doing flexibility work is just as important for a well-rounded fitness routine as strength and cardio work.

"We need to take an active role in maintaining and improving the length of our muscles so we can continue to enjoy our abilities without pain.

Stretching this muscle can prevent potential future sciatica, or help treat it.

"It helps open your hips and improve thoracic (mid-back) mobility," he tells SELF.

"This specifically stretches the piriformis and iliopsoas muscles (essentially your hip rotator and flexor muscles) and the IT band.

Its primary role is external rotation, Atkins says.

Atkins notes that this stretch is commonly referred to as the World's Greatest Stretch (WGS) in the fitness community.