Piriformis and glute rehab guide
Stop chasing that deep glute ache: 12 weeks that go beyond stretching
A web-based, 12-week video rehab guide for piriformis and glute pain, built from what works with the cases we treat in clinic. Movement-based corrections you can do at home, starting with a short test that tells you which direction your body wants to move. Not a stretching routine, no cracking backs.
Who this is for
Does this sound like you?
- A deep ache in your piriformis or glute that hasn’t gone away.
- Sitting, bending forward, lifting, or running can set it off. Any of them works as your test movement.
- Stretching feels good for a minute, then the ache comes right back.
- It comes with hamstring, IT band, SI joint, or sit-bone symptoms. The same first-aid test covers all of them.
Built for both ends: the program was written to cater to people who are having more trouble than most, and to stay challenging for those who are generally fit.
The problem
Why the sore spot keeps winning
Care that targets the sore spot instead of the reason it’s sore usually gives only temporary relief. If what you repeat only works for a while, something is being missed.
The route this guide takes
Most people never had the right first aid.
Most of the time people do not feel better from the care they get because they don’t have the correct first aid selected.
So it starts with a test.
Pick a movement that bothers you, do one first aid, and retest. A 30 percent improvement means you’ve found your direction.
Then cool it down and rebuild.
A week or two of first aid, then the support your hips have gotten lazy about providing.
Not a stretching routine
Patterned before it is loaded
Every movement is learned before it carries weight: “if you don’t have control over the movement, why would we load it?” Nothing in this guide should be painful. Sore is normal; painful is not.
What's inside
Twelve weeks, three parts, 57 videos
12-week online course
Weekly classroom lessons with written sets, holds, and days per week
57 videos
43 exercise and first-aid demos plus 14 classroom lessons, including Start Here and a closing lesson
Start Here video
The first-aid test that tells you which direction to work in
Week 4: optional session offer
A one-time discounted video session if you get stuck (not included)
Weeks 1 to 2
Cool down
- Test the first-aid options: extension press ups, a side-bend opener, and gentle flexion positions like 90-90 breathing and the door jamb squat
- Keep the one that changes your test movement, dosed in small amounts across each day for 5 to 10 days
- Breathing, daily walking, and easy patterning: birddogs, side bridges, wall bugs, dowel split squats
Weeks 3 to 8
Support, mobility, and glute priming
- Circuits 3 to 5 days a week that build the guy-wire system around a pressurized trunk: hard style planks, side planks, birddogs, quad rocks
- Re-pattern the hips with a dowel, then core endurance and glute priming: glute accordions, banded glute bridges
- Spinal mobility and light loaded patterns (kettlebell deadlift, box and goblet squats, farmer’s carries) along the way
Weeks 9 to 12
Foundation of strength
- The five basic human movements, push, pull, carry, squat, and hinge, at a “rule of eight” load you can repeat
- Movement flows to get your heart rate up, unilateral work (suitcase carries, bear rows, halos), and reactive-posture work in week 12
- Deliberately sustainable: “you shouldn’t crush yourself.” A closing lesson covers what’s next
How it works
Four steps from first aid to strength
Week 1: find your direction.
Watch the Start Here and Week 1 videos. Pick a real-life movement that bothers you, do one first aid, and retest. Keep the one that improves it by about 30 percent, and only that one.
Dose it in small amounts.
Week 1 first aid is spread across every day, not done all at once, for 5 to 10 days.
Weeks 2 to 12: one session a day.
Circuits 3 to 5 days a week, roughly 25 to 50 minutes, plus a recommended hour of walking broken into chunks.
Finish with a routine you can keep.
The five basic movements, movement flows, and loaded carries, yours to keep for years.
“These things don’t need to go on forever. You just haven’t found the right thing yet, but you will.”
Why Performance Place
Performance Place Sports Care is the Costa Mesa, CA clinic of Dr. Sebastian Gonzales, DC: “We are specialists at low back, hip, piriformis, SI joint, hip flexor.” The guide runs on the same core stability model (Stuart McGill) and five-movement strength model (Dan John) we coach in person.
Reviews
- Verified ownerLenka SchroederOctober 22, 2020
I had this mysterious piriformis pain just laying in bed on my right side. Just from walking and sitting. I stumbled across Dr. Gonzalez video on line. I'm so glad I did. I didn't realize I was over stretching my hip muscles without isolating the problem. Very grateful for Dr Gonzalez specific understanding of referred pain. The exercises got me back to no pain in honestly less than 4 weeks. His knowledge is so specified that I could have saved myself a good chunk of change on massage, chiropractic and acupuncture. Highly recommend.
- Verified ownerMike SickleAugust 11, 2020
I will try and make this short and sweet. Before meeting Dr. Gonzales I was diagnosed with a C5/6 degenerative disc, lower back pain, SI joint sprain and could not run, walk or sit in normal intervals without having pain. I had at best a pain level of 4-5 out of 10, 24x7x365 and this lasted for 5 years. I tried everything and met w/ multiple different physicians and PT's. Using Dr. Gonzalez's exercises and videos, I am now back to being fully active!! I trail run, play basketball, surf and most importantly play with my 3 young kids. Life saver!
- Verified ownerKayli AndersonJanuary 25, 2020
I have had issues with what I thought was a strained and overtrained hamstring and glutei weakness/inactivation for months. It affected my whole last training cycle, including all the races leading up to the marathon and the marathon itself. I was foam rolling daily, doing strength training, and frankly, getting massage and acupuncture more frequently than I could afford. My running coach pointed me in Dr. Gonzales' direction and I seriously cannot thank him enough. The Piriformis Syndrome guide is very straight forward. It uses simple techniques to identify the driver of the issue and simple exercises to resolve the issue. I did first aid for two days before moving into the strength and the pain in my leg decreased over 50% in just one session of the strength work. I couldn't believe it! I had my first pain free long run on Sunday and the pain is still gone. I've been continuing the simple side plank exercise a few times a day and all of the miles I've run this week have also been pain free. I'm ecstatic to have seen such results with such simple movements.
- Verified ownerZareena JafferyDecember 14, 2019
The guide is quite helpful in breaking down and explaining the cause/drivers of the issue and the available solutions. At first, I felt it was too simple but then realzied that's what makes it effective.
What you get
Everything in the guide
- The complete 12-week course: cool down and first aid, support and glute priming, foundation of strength
- 57 videos with written sets, holds, and days per week for the circuits, and the rule of eight for picking weight
- A first-aid test you can re-run if symptoms return
Informational guide. Not a substitute for medical advice.
FAQ
Fair questions
- Is this right for my case?
- A deep piriformis or glute ache that worsens with sitting, bending forward, lifting, or running, especially when stretching hasn’t helped, and the hamstring, IT band, SI joint, and sit-bone symptoms that travel with it.
- How is this different from free YouTube videos?
- The guide is extremely detailed on purpose; there are subtle nuances to these movements, and the weeks are sequenced so each phase prepares you for the next. That, plus the week 1 first-aid test, is what scattered videos can’t give you.
- What equipment do I need?
- Household items for the first weeks: a chair, a towel or yoga block, a door jamb, and a broomstick or dowel. From week 3 a kettlebell or dumbbell, and from week 8 a cloth glute resistance band. By weeks 9 to 12, real load: a kettlebell or dumbbell in the 25 to 55 lb range and something to carry in each hand.
- How soon might I notice a difference?
- Everyone differs. The week 1 first aid is designed to give relief early, but it takes “reps and reps and reps” over 5 to 10 days, and in some people the pain briefly moves toward the back before it leaves. Some will not find a first aid that works on their own; that is when a one-on-one session helps.
- When should I stop or get help?
- If a first aid makes any pain, tingle, or tightness travel further down your leg, stop it and try another. Don’t run a first aid past 5 to 10 days unless you’re told to, and never more than one at a time. If by the end you cannot push, pull, carry, squat, and hinge, ask for professional help.
- What if I get stuck?
- Week 4 includes an invitation to book a discounted video session, and you can email the office for one-on-one coaching (not included).
Stop treating the sore spot. Find the reason it’s sore.
One test to find your direction, a week or two to cool it down, then the support and strength that keep it from coming back.