I'm doom scrolling IG and come across this one video and immediately… palm meet face

Oooh no, not this again.

And it wasn't that I disagreed with this PT. I actually use a lot of the same exercises she was showing but for low back pain...

*record scratch*

But let me back up a second.

I'm NOT a super duper fan of the terms "sciatica" or "piriformis syndrome". But I also get it: like what else are you supposed to call this pain in your booty?

But here me out: she was demonstrating exercises for "piriformis syndrome". And again, she wasn't wrong...

She was using the words YOU might use to describe that unrelenting tightness or shooting pain...

But here's the catch:

Both of these terms are pretty outdated language, not because we're trying to pull a fast one on you as part of the medical community, but because we know better now. They are no longer "good" descriptors for what's really going on with your body, which ties into...

STORY TIME.

I was talking with a runner recently who was describing her hip tightness that *could* easily be stashed in the "piriformis" box. She told me:

"I get bad hip pain, like shooting sciatica pain sometimes. I feel it most after a higher mileage week, so my right hip is normally the one that feels like a tight pinch, some shooting through my right butt cheek, but it can be on the left too. And then other times, my hips, like my butt and the sides, just feel very tight when I go to run. It's rare that it acts up while running, which is nice, but walking around at work or sitting on the couch afterwards, I feel it."

So here's the real question: what's actually going on?

I've got a sneaky suspicion it was actually her HIP JOINT. And specifically that she might be missing some hip internal rotation that your basic "dr google" stretches won't exactly help. (because yup, she tried hot yoga and deep hip stretches).

How does this stack up to piriformis/sciatica?

• These are typically understood as more nerve root or peripheral nerve pathologies. Like something is squished or not happy along your L2-L5 nerve roots.

So hip joint + cranky deep glute muscles vs nerve root? How could we possibly get these so mixed up?

Because your body puts the pain / tightness in the same dang spots. And it was details that this runner provided that really made me think NOT nerve issue.

*the magic of nuance*

If any of that sounded familiar, this is exactly who I made this week's MEGA-Circuit for:

• That deep, pinchy hip ache that shows up after your runs (but not during)
• The random “sciatica-like” shooting pain into your butt cheek that makes you second guess everything
• That hip tightness that creeps up as the miles build, even after warming up
• That post-run stiffness when you’re walking around, working, or just sitting on the couch
• The cycle of feeling fine… until your mileage increases and everything flares back up
• The frustration of doing yoga, deep stretches, and mobility work… but nothing actually sticks

Ready to dive in?

​
Inside this blog post, I’ll walk you through a mobility + strength circuit to help you create the range of motion you need, and actually keep it by “cementing” it in with running-specific strength work.

I'll see you over there!

Dare to Train Differently,

Marie Whitt, PT, DPT //@dr.whitt.fit

P.S. If you keep stretching your hips and they feel better… but the pain always comes back when mileage builds—this is exactly what you’ve been missing.

Looking for MORE ways to work together?

• ​RUNNING RESCUE CALL: Save your run and your race. Work directly with me 1-on-1 at the first sign of an ache, niggle, or repeat running injury. We'll deep dive into the why behind your injury and create a personalized exercise program that gets you out of pain, keeps you running, and helps prepare you for race day!
• Grab my NEWEST FREE Strength resources for runners: The Calf & Achilles Cure Toolkit, made for marathoners sidelined by stiff, painful achilles and tight, injury-prone calves who want to protect their training cycle and show up to the starting line strong, pain-free, and ready to race.
• ​STRONGER FEET WORKSHOP: Losing the battle to plantar fasciitis, posterior tib pain, or reoccurring Achilles tendonitis? Not with this workshop ;)

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© 2020- 2025 All Rights Reserved. You are receiving this message because you purchased a product from @dr.whitt.fit and/or signed up to receive content. This message is for informational purposes only and does not create a health care provider-patient relationship between you and Marie Whitt, and nothing you receive or view from Marie Whitt or @dr.whitt.fit, should be construed as medical advice.