One of the more common aches that shows up in pregnancy is a piriformis / sciatic pain.

Most often it shows up as a low back pain, specifically on one side, deep in your butt muscles and sometimes shooting down your leg as you walk.

It's caused because when you're pregnant, you're more flexible in your joints and in your pelvis. With the additional weight that the pelvis bears, our glute, quad and piriformis muscles have to work harder and sometimes tighten up to pinch the sciatic nerve. Pain can be relived by helping stretch and lengthen the glute and piriformis muscles and outer hips.

Here are 5 poses to help you stretch to alleviate piriformis / sciatic pain.

1. Squat: Great to build strength in your legs to help avoid hip and low back pain. Squats also help you stretch your glutes and pelvic floor.

2. Gomukhasana: Wonderful stretch for the outer hips and especially great for those who spin and run and have tightness in the IT band.

3. Ankle to Knee: Targets both hips at the same time.

4. Pigeon Pose: Stretches the outer hip and psoas.

5. Wide Leg Straddle: Lengthens your hamstrings and low back in addition to the glutes and piriformis.

You can also foam roll, use a tennis ball against a wall or the floor or mini butt punches. If the pain is intense and persistent, see a chiropractor that specializes in working with pregnant people.

Diastasis recti is the separation of your 6 pack abdominal muscles. It often occurs in pregnancy but can also occur in men from improper lifting and workout techniques. If the 6 pack abdominal muscles aren't able to expand as the baby grows, the small cartilage connecting the two sides can separate. It is measured in centimeters or fingers. It’s usually painless and can be fairly common occurring in ‘cross fit moms’. It’s why we don’t recommend crushes and sit ups in pregnancy. It’s also why we always recommend that you turn to one side and use your hands to help you sit up rather than lurching forward from laying back.

You can check if you have diastasis by laying down, lifting your head and shoulders to engage abs and feeling along the line of your 6 pack abs.

If you have a separation, wearing a belly band and doing the belly pull exercises can help reduce the separation. It’s important to do so because the separation weakens your core and can cause low back pain and hip pain but also potentially a malpositioned asynclitic baby that could make labor more challenging.

Separation is treated postpartum with targeted exercises to knit the abdominal muscles back together. Make sure to get the help of a specialized PT before you start your regular workout because you again want to make sure to avoid sit ups and crunches until the dialysis has healed.