Avoid These 7 Exercises If You Have Sciatica

Your sciatica pain is already a problem. The shooting sensation down your leg makes every movement feel risky. And now you're hearing you should stretch and exercise.

Here's your fear, and it's legitimate: What if the wrong exercise makes everything worse?

The truth is: not all sciatica is the same.

The exercises that help someone with sciatica caused by lumbar spinal stenosis can harm someone with sciatica caused by a lumbar herniated disc, and vice versa.

Understanding which exercises to avoid based on your specific diagnosis can prevent weeks or months of unnecessary setbacks.

If your sciatica is from a herniated disc, avoid forward bending exercises

1. Toe Touches and Forward Bends

What it looks like:

• Standing and bending forward at your waist to touch your toes
• Seated forward folds in yoga
• Any movement where you round your spine forward

Why it’s harmful: Bending forward increases pressure on the front of the disc which in turn pushes the herniated material further backward near the nerve.

The diagnosis connection: Herniated discs are already bulging backward. Forward bending makes that bulge worse, increasing nerve compression and sending more intense pain down your leg.

2. Traditional Sit-Ups and Crunches

What it looks like:

• Lying on your back and curling your upper body toward your knees
• Any abdominal exercise that requires you to flex your spine forward repeatedly

Why it's harmful: Sit-ups create compressive forces on your lumbar spine which in turn push the disc material toward the back of the spine where the nerve is.

The diagnosis connection: This type of repetitive forward bending further strains the herniated disc and has the potential to create sharp shooting pain down the leg.

3. Straight-Leg Hamstring Stretches

What it looks like:

• Lying on your back, lifting one leg straight up and pulling it toward your chest
• Standing and propping your straight leg on a bar or the back of a chair and leaning forward

Why it's harmful: These stretches place direct tension on the sciatic nerve, which is already irritated. Stretching an inflamed nerve can increase irritation rather than provide relief.

The diagnosis connection: Increasing tension on the sciatic nerve is likely to increase pain and inflammation. The nerve needs decompression, not stretching.

If You Have Spinal Stenosis or Spondylolisthesis: Avoid Backward Bending

4. Back Extensions and Cobra Pose

What it looks like:

• Lying on your stomach and using your hands to push your shoulders and upper body up while arching your back
• Yoga poses that involve deep backbends (upward dog, camel pose, wheel pose)
• Standing and leaning backward

Why it's harmful: Extending your spine backward narrows the spinal canal even further (stenosis) or increase the forward slip of the vertebra (spondylolisthesis), which in turn tends to increase compression on the affected nerve root.

The diagnosis connection:

• Spinal stenosis: Your spinal canal is already too narrow. Backward bending collapses that space more, increasing nerve pressure and worsening leg pain, numbness, and weakness.
• Spondylolisthesis: When a vertebra has already slipped forward over the one below it, arching the back tends to increase instability and the slip, putting more pressure on nerve roots.

Exercises to Avoid Regardless of Diagnosis

5. High-Impact Activities (Running, Jumping, Burpees)

What it looks like:

• Running on pavement
• Jump squats, box jumps, jumping rope
• Any exercise with repetitive jarring forces

Why it's harmful: Each impact sends a shock wave through your spine, repeatedly compressing already stressed discs or narrowed spinal canals. Your body weight, multiplied by the force of impact, hammers your lower back with every step or jump.

6. Heavy Squats and Deadlifts (Especially with Poor Form)

What it looks like:

• Back squats with a barbell, particularly going below 90 degrees
• Deadlifts where your back rounds forward under the weight
• Any heavy lifting that loads the spine while bending

Why it's harmful: The combination of spinal loading plus flexion or extension creates pressure on your discs and compresses nerve pathways. For example, heavy squats tend to significantly increase posterior shear forces with spondylolisthesis.

Even with perfect form, heavy barbell work may be too much stress for a compromised spine. Talk to your doctor about safe weight limits.

7. Twisting Exercises Under Load

What it looks like:

• Golf swings or tennis serves (especially with poor form)
• Any exercise combining rotation with lifting
• Certain yoga poses that require deep spinal twists

Why it's harmful: Twisting creates uneven pressure across your discs and shearing forces through your spine. When combined with weight or resistance, this can shift disc material or pinch nerves in narrowed spaces.

Sciatica is a symptom; exercises should be guided by your diagnosis

Here's what makes sciatica so confusing: the same exercise can help one person and hurt another.

The general guideline for sciatica exercises?

• Herniated disc patients need backward bending (extension) to push the disc material forward and away from the nerve
• Spinal stenosis and spondylolisthesis patients need forward bending (flexion) to open up the spinal canal and reduce the slip

This is why following generic "sciatica exercises" can backfire.

You're not just dealing with sciatica — you're dealing with a specific structural problem that requires a specific approach.

The bottom line: Before starting any exercise program, get a clear diagnosis from a spine specialist. Once you know what's causing your sciatica, you can exercise with confidence instead of fear.