Stretching. It feels sooo good to get a nice, deep stretch. In fact, a large part of our 10 Minute Sciatica Relief Program is based around stretching.

But the problem is, that’s where most people stop. They stretch, and that’s it. I know, because I use to only do stretches too!

Here is the problem with only doing stretching and not any strength-building exercises…

Stretcing the right muscles will help correct your muscle imbalances. However, the core reason (and definition) of muscle imbalances, is that one muscle group is stronger than the opposing muscle group. You won”t make the weak muscle group stronger by stretching.

For example, let’s take two common opposing muscle groups: your lower abs, and your lower back. Now if you stretch your lower back, great, that is going to help relieve whatever structural disorder your overly strong lower back and relatively weaker abs. However, your lower back is still stronger than your lower abs, so even after stretching, your structural disorer will return.

How do you fix this? By building strength in the relatively weak muscle group, in this case (and in most cases), the lower abs. Stretching will help you get immediate relief, but it’s effects are short-term. For long-term results for piriformis syndrome, you need to build strength in your lower abs (and other muscle groups as our program shows).

So next time you’re on the floor doing some stretches, throw in a couple simple strength building exercises to build up your relatively weak muscles, and correct your muscle imbalances for the long-term.