The best sciatica exercises are the ones that make your leg pain ease or pull back UP toward your spine. Start gentle, keep moving, and let your leg tell you what’s working.
In the first days the aim is to calm the nerve down, not stretch it. Toe touches and hard hamstring stretches often make sciatica WORSE. Short walks and easing positions do more.
Most people move through three phases: calm it down, get the nerve moving, then build strength so it’s less likely to come back.
For how long sciatica lasts and why the disc often heals on its own, see sciatica.
The rule that matters most: watch where the pain goes
- Pain pulling back toward your spine is good. Physios call this centralization. Your back may ache a bit more, but a leg that hurts less means the movement is helping
- Pain spreading further down the leg is a warning. Stop that movement and try a different one
- More pins and needles or numbness during an exercise means ease off or skip it
- Some people are the other way around. Their leg eases when they bend forward, not back. This is more common with narrowing of the spine. See spinal stenosis exercises
Phase 1: Calm it down (the first days to two weeks)
These are starting points. Adjust the amounts to what your leg tolerates.
- Calves on a chair: lie on your back with your lower legs resting on a chair or sofa, hips and knees bent. Rest here for 5 to 10 minutes whenever the leg flares
- Lying face down: lie on your stomach, with a pillow under your hips if you need one, for 2 to 5 minutes. If the leg eases, try the next exercise. If it gets worse, skip both
- Press-ups, only if they centralize: lying face down, push your upper body up while your hips and back stay relaxed on the floor. Start halfway, propped up on bent arms. Try 10 slow reps, every few hours through the day
- Knee rocks: lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat. Let your knees sway gently side to side in a small, comfortable range. 10 each way, 2 to 3 times a day
- Short walks: 5 to 10 minutes at an easy pace, several times a day. A few short walks beat one long one
Phase 2: Get the nerve moving (usually from about week two)
The sciatic nerve needs to slide freely again. The trick is to move it without pulling it tight.
- Seated nerve glide: sit tall on a chair. Straighten the knee and pull your toes up while you look up at the ceiling. Then bend the knee and look down as the foot comes back. 10 gentle reps, 2 to 3 times a day. You should feel a mild pull at most, never a zing
- Cat and camel: on all fours, slowly round your back up, then let it sag gently down. Stay in the range that doesn’t bother the leg. 10 slow reps, twice a day
- Longer walks: build toward 20 to 30 minutes a day in total, split into chunks if you need to
Phase 3: Build strength (from around weeks three to six, as pain allows)
- Bridges: lie on your back, knees bent. Squeeze your buttocks and lift your hips until your body makes a straight line from knees to shoulders. Hold 3 seconds. 10 reps, once or twice a day, building to 3 sets
- Clams: lie on your side with your knees bent and feet together. Lift the top knee like a clamshell opening, without rolling your hips back. 10 to 15 reps each side
- Bird dog: on all fours, slide one leg straight back while keeping your back level, hold for 5 seconds, then swap. Add the opposite arm once that’s easy. 8 to 10 each side
- Sit to stand: stand up from a chair without using your arms, then lower yourself slowly back down. 2 sets of 10
Stretching an angry nerve makes it angrier. Moving it gently calms it down.
The pain rules
- During the exercise: mild back discomfort, up to about 3 or 4 out of 10, is fine. Leg pain should not spread further down
- Afterward: any extra soreness should settle within an hour or so
- The next-morning test: if your leg is worse the next morning than it usually is, you did too much. Halve the reps for a couple of days, then build again. Don’t stop completely
- When to progress: once an exercise feels easy and the next morning has been fine for two or three days running, add reps, then sets, then a harder version
What to avoid early on
- Toe touches and hard hamstring stretches. They pull on a nerve that’s already irritated
- Sitting for long spells, especially slumped on a soft sofa. Get up every 20 to 30 minutes
- Sit-ups and crunches. They load the disc in a bent position. Leave them out for now
- Heavy lifting and twisting while the leg is at its worst. This is a pause, not a lifetime ban
- Days in bed. Rest when you need to, then get up and move again
- Pushing through spreading leg pain. Back discomfort is OK. A leg that’s getting worse is not
If you’ve had a microdiscectomy, your surgeon’s plan comes first. See microdiscectomy recovery.
Go to the emergency department now if
These can be signs of cauda equina syndrome, where the nerves at the bottom of the spine are badly squashed. It is rare, but it needs hospital treatment straight away.
- Sciatica in BOTH legs, or both legs feeling weak or numb
- Numbness around your genitals or buttocks, the area that would touch a saddle
- New trouble peeing, not being able to pee, or not being able to control it
- Not noticing when you need to poo, or not being able to control it
- New problems getting an erection, or loss of feeling during sex
Get it checked soon if
- Your foot slaps down or catches when you walk, called foot drop, or the leg is getting weaker
- Every exercise makes the leg pain spread further, even at the gentlest level
- You’re no better after four to six weeks of doing the right things
- You also have a fever, weight loss you can’t explain, or a history of cancer
Your back can complain while you exercise, but your leg should always be heading the right way.