Powerlifting with Piriformis Syndrome

hey guys, a few days ago while squatting i began to experience some glute pain at the bottom and during the lockout.

first squat session i had mild pain that was very tolerable, but when i began squatting again 2 days later the pain was almost unbearable and i barely got through my 5 sets.

went to the chiro and he said theres a good chance its piriformis syndrome and my symtoms fit the description so thats my diagnosis for now.

i know i need to stretch/foam roll but is there anything else i can do to speed up recovery, and any of you who have dealt with this your input would be much appreciated, thanks.

One of my clients right now is recovering from it. Biggest thing to keep in mind is that frequency of the specific piriformis stretches and rolls is key. He suffered for a while with only moderate success in getting over it until he finally took my damn advice and did rolling and stretching at least 2x a day everyday. A week later he was 70% better, week after 95%.

I am assuming the chiro gave you specific stretches to hit the piriformis. Follow those and the apecifi foam rolling exercises. Btw, that hurts like a bitch when you find the hot spot.

My client noticed the most pain during deadlifts (conventional) & free squatting. Box squats helped him keep squatting with less discomfort, but depends on your stance I think. He squats narrow.

I would suggest piriformis stretches and rolls between sets of deadlifts and squats. Those help a lot too, to keep the damn thing from getting too extremely tight while training.

thanks for the input, the pain temporarily goes away after rolling but comes back after so i figure i need to up the frequency as you said.

i will try and squat tomorrow and if i cant i will see how box squats feel

thanks

I’ve been dealing with this, didn’t even know it was piriformis pain, and it was ruining my TFL, IT band and calf… I could barely sleep for 4 weeks and towards the end I was limping when I walked.

I tried a lot of different stuff, did the hurdler stretch and man sit stretch a lot, but it wasn’t until I bought a softball and rolled around on it that it got way better right away. It’s still acting up, but I just roll it out and the pain subsides.

So, use a softball, foam roller just doesn’t do as good a job.

Softball wprks great…but paaaaiiinful! Also instead of a foam foam roller, use a pvc pipe. That shit hurts but will do a much better job than soft foam

[quote]Aragorn wrote:
Softball wprks great…but paaaaiiinful! Also instead of a foam foam roller, use a pvc pipe. That shit hurts but will do a much better job than soft foam[/quote]

If you’ve got extra cash, I recommend the rumble roller. So much more intense than a regular foam roller and gets in way deeper. Still need a lax ball, hockey ball, or softball for the hips and shoulders.

thanks alot guys. i started to panic lol i will buy a softball asap and tryit out.

I NEED TO SQUAT

Hm, I’ve had some glute pain in the recent past, and the more I read about this, the more I think it may have been it for a little while, as I did have a bit of nerve pain going down my right leg for a day or two.

All I did was take a full week off of pulling and squatting, take a bunch of fish oil and NSAIDs for inflammation, and roll it out between sets, and now I squat and move pain free.