How to Do a Figure 4 Stretch

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Stepfanie Romine is a yoga teacher (RYT 500), ACE-certified health coach and fitness nutrition specialist who writes about natural health, plant-based cooking and yoga. A runner and hiker based in Asheville, N.C., her books include The No Meat Athlete Cookbook and Cooking with Healing Mushrooms. Follow her on Twitter.
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Tight hips can be a real pain in the behind, but the figure 4 stretch can improve flexibility and mobility in your hips, glutes, and piriformis—a small muscle that can become inflamed when your hips are tight.
This hip stretch can be helpful any time you feel sore and tight. Ideally, the figure 4 stretch should be performed after a dynamic warm-up or during a post-workout stretch, says Tom Biggart, a physical therapist and strength coach in the greater Boston area.
Here’s how to perform the figure 4 stretch — and how to work it in your routine.
For more stretches to improve flexibility check out Openfit’s Yoga 52 program for free today!
How to Do the Figure 4 Stretch
Want to change the intensity of the figure 4 stretch? One of the easiest ways is to change the angle at which you bend the knee on the leg you’re stretching. “More knee bend will increase the stretch, and less knee bend will decrease the stretch,” Biggart says. You can also interlace your fingers in front of your shin instead of behind the knee for a deeper stretch.
How Does the Figure 4 Stretch Help?
Sure, it feels good, but what is the figure 4 stretch actually doing for you?
The figure 4 stretch can help keep your hips and glutes healthy and mobile. There are six different muscles that are stretched when performing it, Biggart says — the piriformis, gemellus superior, obturator internus, gemellus inferior, obturator externus, and quadratus femoris. This group of muscles helps to rotate the thigh outward at the hip joint. “One stretch plus six muscles equals warm and fuzzy feelings,” Biggart adds.
In particular, the stretch you feel deep in your glutes is a muscle called the piriformis, which runs from the base of the spine to the top of the femur and helps with hip rotation and stability.
Because of its close proximity to the sciatic nerve, problems with the piriformis muscle (like swelling, tightening, or muscle spasms) can irritate the sciatic nerve and cause pain and discomfort in the hip and buttocks — a painful condition called piriformis syndrome. “Keeping the piriformis mobile can reduce irritation or compression of the sciatic nerve,” Biggart says.
Figure 4 Stretch Variations
Want to get even more out of the figure 4 stretch? Try one of these variations..
Figure 4 Pose at the Wall
Seated Figure 4 Stretch
(Looking for even more variety? This list of glute stretches includes two more figure 4 stretch variations!)