Piriformis is an Internal Rotator Too!

3 Actions of the Piriformis Muscle:
(Depending on the angle of the hip joint)
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🤔 If the piriformis is an external rotator of the hip joint, then why the hell does pigeon pose (which externally rotates the hip and you'd think would SHORTEN the muscle) stretch the piriformis???
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🔹 If the femur is in neutral, the piriformis mainly is an external rotator.
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🔹 At around 90 degrees of hip flexion, there is no rotation moment arm, meaning the piriformis doesnt cause any rotation at all when pulling on the greater trochanter. Instead, its only line of pull is one which causes aBduction of the femur.
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🔹 BEYOND 90 degrees, the moment arm switches. The femur is essentially upside down from the vantage point of the piriformis muscle, and so now the piriformis (and many other external rotators of the hip, uncluding the superior fibers of the gluteus maximus) becomes an INTERNAL rotator.
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💡 This is why the most common stretch for the piriformis (any variation of pigeon pose) is a pose that involves TONS of external rotation at the hip joint!
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