2 Quick Stretches to Do Whenever Your Butt Feels Tight

There’s nothing pleasant about a tight, crampy butt, especially when it comes out of nowhere. Fortunately, there are a few butt stretches you can do to stop butt tightness in its tracks—and we’ve got all the details right here.

First though, let’s talk about what causes butt cramping. There are a few main reasons your butt can get tight or crampy, Elizabeth Lamontagne, PT, DPT, assistant director and physical therapist at Recovery Physical Therapy in New York City, tells SELF.

The first: You’ve been sitting a lot. Sitting for more than 30 minutes can cause the glute muscles to turn off, explains Lamontagne. So if you’ve been stationary for a long period of time—say, you’re locked into back-to-back-to-back Zoom meetings for two, maybe three hours—and then you try to move, you’re suddenly using a muscle group that’s been used to not doing a whole lot. This burst of energetic movement can cause the glutes to cramp, explains Lamontagne. Cramping at first can feel like tightness, but then the tension will build and feel more like a strong spasm, she adds.

Another reason your glutes may feel tight or crampy is because the muscle group has been overworked, either during your lower-body workouts or during chaotic everyday life. 

“When you continuously try to use the same muscle over and over during high intensity workouts or prolonged walking, then that muscle can cramp up,” says Lamonta

Butt tightness can also occur when the muscles that surround your glutes are tight.

Lamontange explains it this way: Your hip is a ball and socket joint that slides and glides as you step or rotate your legs. If the hip joint becomes stiff—from arthritis, for example, or a recent injury that caused inflammation—then the sliding and gliding movement can become restricted and create resistance that your glutes has to work against.

“Without a smooth gliding joint, the muscles are working harder to move you in the direction you’re trying to move,” she explains. All that hard work can lead to muscle overuse, and ultimately, a tight crampy butt.

The final reason your glutes could cramp up? Your nutrition may be off, says Lamontage. Being dehydrated and not getting enough electrolytes like potassium, calcium, and magnesium in your diet can also contribute to cramping, per the Mayo Clinic.

Now, onto the positive news: There are tried-and-true antidotes for a tight butt. Of course, drinking enough water and eating a well-balanced diet is important if you want to prevent butt cramping caused by nutrition issues. But beyond that, there are certain movements or butt stretches you can do to relax tight muscles and gently wake up inactivated glutes—and Lamontagne has two in particular that she recommends.

The following moves can be done daily as a preventive measure against tight, crampy glutes, or can also be performed in the moment when you feel your butt cramping. Ready to loosen up your lower half? Read on.

The Stretching Routine

What you need: Just an exercise mat for comfort.

The Moves

• Pigeon stretch
• Glute bridge

Directions

• Do these moves back-to-back for the prescribed amount of time or number of reps. If you’ve been walking around or it’s at the end of a workout, you can start with pigeon pose, recommends Lamontagne. If you’ve been sedentary for more than 30 minutes, do the glute bridges first to warm up your muscles before getting into the pigeon pose.

1

Pigeon Stretch

• From a kneeling position, get into downward dog and extend your right leg high behind you. Then bring your right leg underneath your body and place it in front of you with your shin parallel to the top of your mat. (The goal isn’t to create an L-shape with your right leg; your foot can be tucked as close to your hips as needed.)
• Extend your left leg long behind you and rest the top of your foot on the mat.
• Keep your right foot flexed and try to keep your pelvis neutral and your left hip as close to the mat as you can. If your hip lifts off the floor, bring your right foot a little closer to your body.
• Hold for 30 seconds. Switch sides and repeat.
• Stretch each side twice, for 60 seconds total of stretching on each side.

This stretch helps loosen tight fibers in the gluteus maximus (your biggest butt muscle) as well as the smaller gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. It also targets the piriformis muscle, which is located deep in the glutes.

2

Glute Bridge

Lie faceup with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor, and heels a few inches away from your butt so that your fingertips graze your heels when arms are at your sides.

• Squeeze your glutes and abs and push through your heels to lift your hips off the floor until your body forms a straight line from your shoulders to your knees.
• Pause and squeeze your glutes at the top, then slowly lower your hips to return to the starting position. That’s 1 rep.
• If you’re new to the glute bridge, do 10 reps. Progress to 2 to 3 sets of 10 reps, and eventually shoot for 20–30 reps.

If your butt cramping is caused by sitting too much, which turns off your glutes and tightens up the piriformis muscle, doing glute bridges can help gently reactivate your glutes and decrease painful piriformis cramping. The caveat: Glute bridges are only a remedy for butt cramping caused by prolonged sitting, so avoid this move if you suspect your glute tightness is caused by overusing the muscle or nutrition issues. If you’re in a setting that doesn’t allow you to get down to the floor (for instance, you’re at a coffee shop or in an in-person meeting), do glutes squeezes from a standing position. Walking up and down a flight of stairs can also help, adds Lamontagne.