Forget pigeon pose — I use this powerful, corrective yoga stretch to help relieve hip stiffness and my sciatica

a woman lying on an exercise mat — (Image credit: Shutterstock)

I’m a marathon runner with sciatica who spends most of my day sitting down behind a desk. If I didn’t have tight hip flexors, I think I’d be superhuman. When it comes to relieving tight hips, I’ve tried everything, from pigeon pose to seated butterfly.

That said, the move that works for me time and time again is the prone figure-four, a powerful corrective stretch that uses your own bodyweight to apply deep pressure to the hip rotators.

This move is particularly effective for people with tight piriformis muscles, and it’s pretty easy to do. Read on to find out more, and why I swear by this deep stretch for relieving my tight hips.

How to do the prone figure-four stretch

This is slightly different from the figure-four stretch you might have tried before, as you’ll be doing it lying on your front. You’ll probably want to grab one of the best yoga mats to reduce the impact on your joints and prevent lying directly on the floor.

Here’s how to do it:

Lie face down on your exercise mat. Stack one hand on top of the other and rest your forehead on your hands, keeping your neck neutral.
Extend your legs away from your body, then bend your right knee and slide it out to the side — you’re looking for a 90-degree angle at your hip and knee.
Cross your right ankle over the back of your left thigh, just above your knee.
Allow your right knee to fall toward the floor, keeping your pelvis as square to the mat as possible.
Breathe deeply into your back and hip for 30-60 seconds, then switch to the other side.

Here’s why I use this yoga stretch to relieve hip stiffness and help relieve my sciatica

This stretch targets the small, deep muscles that rotate the hip — the piriformis muscles. When these are tight, they can compress the sciatic nerve, causing radiating pain down the back of the leg, as well as tingling or numbness in the buttocks. Pain in the piriformis muscle is often caused by overuse injuries from sports like running or cycling, or spending too long sitting.

In the prone position, you’re also able to unlock your hips and create space in the sacroiliac joint, which can easily become tight from prolonged sitting. As your hip is in external rotation, it can also help improve hip mobility and build functional strength in the joint, which is needed for lateral movements in sports like tennis and soccer.

I have found that when my sciatica gets bad, this is one of the best ways to relieve the tension, as gravity does the work here. One pointer my yoga teacher would always remind me to focus on was keeping both hip bones on the mat. If your hip lifts away from the mat, the stretch won’t be focused on your hip and will move into your spine. If you find your knee doesn’t reach the floor, place a yoga block or rolled-up towel under the bent knee.

Remember to relax into the stretch and breathe slowly in through your nose and out through your mouth — your hips will thank you for it, I promise!

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Jane McGuire is Tom's Guide's Fitness Managing Editor, which means she looks after everything fitness-related - from running gear to yoga mats. An avid runner, Jane has tested and reviewed fitness products for the past ten years, so knows what to look for when finding a good running watch or a pair of shorts with pockets big enough for your smartphone.