RedSalmon
New Member
Hey guys, I’ve got a lumbar disc protrusion on the left side, and because of it, my right side, especially the hip/pelvis area tends to take over and compensate. As a result, I pretty frequently get sciatic nerve flare-ups in my right glute, which sucks big time. I’ve got a desk job, and even though I try to get up regularly and do some stretching or light movement, it definitely takes a toll. I’ve seen a rehab specialist, and they gave me a specific set of back exercises. When I actually do them daily, I feel way better. But, like life happens… sometimes I skip a few days and pain and tightness come back full force.
In the gym, I spend like 20–30 minutes just on warm-up and core activation before I can even touch any real training. The whole lower back situation is making it really hard for me to properly train glutes, which is frustrating, because I’m trying to build them up mainly to support my knees. I play a lot of beach volleyball in the summer, and I know strong glutes help a ton with jumping and landing.
Right now, my glute-focused exercises look like this:
1. Bulgarian split squats
2. Romanian deadlifts
3. Cable kickbacks / glute abductions
But lately, that third one keeps triggering my sciatic nerve again. My girlfriend suggested I try hip thrusts (she swears by them), but every time I do them, even with proper form, they just destroy my lower back. Doesn’t feel right at all. So yeah, does anyone have suggestions for glute exercises that are more lower-back friendly, or maybe ideas to tweak my plan so I can keep training without setting off the sciatica again? Any help would be super appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
In the gym, I spend like 20–30 minutes just on warm-up and core activation before I can even touch any real training. The whole lower back situation is making it really hard for me to properly train glutes, which is frustrating, because I’m trying to build them up mainly to support my knees. I play a lot of beach volleyball in the summer, and I know strong glutes help a ton with jumping and landing.
Right now, my glute-focused exercises look like this:
1. Bulgarian split squats
2. Romanian deadlifts
3. Cable kickbacks / glute abductions
But lately, that third one keeps triggering my sciatic nerve again. My girlfriend suggested I try hip thrusts (she swears by them), but every time I do them, even with proper form, they just destroy my lower back. Doesn’t feel right at all. So yeah, does anyone have suggestions for glute exercises that are more lower-back friendly, or maybe ideas to tweak my plan so I can keep training without setting off the sciatica again? Any help would be super appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
