How to Stretch Your Stiff and Painful Shoulder
Now that you have completed the self assessment of your shoulder range of motion and discovered which movements are an issue, it’s time to learn how to fix them! It’s important to note that you only need to do these exercises if you have failed the range of motion screening in my previous post. You should also do these exercises on the affected side only. If you stretch the uninvolved side (the side with normal mobility) you are at the very least wasting your time and at worst creating hypermobility which can lead to shoulder subluxation or dislocation.
One other important thing to consider is how hard to push the stretches (intensity). It’s crucial that you be gentle with these exercises – only work into stiffness/discomfort, not pain. If these exercises are painful, then you are moving too far/pushing too aggressively and you need to back off. If you want to be more aggressive with mobility work, increasing your frequency is more effective than increasing intensity. Doing the stretches more often, will afford your tight tissues with less opportunity to stiffen back up again and yield more rapid results!
Shoulder Flexion Stretches
- insert video for shoulder supine flexion on wall
- Lie on your back with feet flat on the floor
- Grab both hands together
- Use the unaffected side to guide the movement, reaching your hand up overhead
- Move into stiffness/discomfort, not pain
- Hold 15 seconds
- Lower back down and repeat
This exercise may not restore full shoulder flexion range of motion. If this is the case, you will need to progress to the version below
- insert flexion with arm on bench/chair
- Kneel in front of a chair or bench
- Place the elbow/top of the forearm of the stiff arm on the chair/bench
- Place other hand on the floor to support most of the weight of your body
- Slowly drop your chest down to the floor until you feel stiffness/discomfort, not pain
- Hold 15 seconds
- Return to the starting position and repeat
Shoulder Internal Rotation Stretches
- insert video for HBB with belt
- Stand up tall
- Throw a belt over the shoulder opposite to the side being stretched
- Grab the belt with the affected hand, palm facing away from your body
- Your hand should start at midline, at a level low enough that you don’t feel stretching/stiffness
- Use the unaffected hand to pull the top end of the belt down in front of you, pulling your affected arm up your back
- Work into stiffness/discomfort, not pain
- Hold 15 seconds
- Return to the starting position and repeat
If your shoulder is too stiff/painful to get to the midline starting position, then you will need to do this version of the stretch:
- insert video for HBB work to midline
- Grab belt with affected hand beside your hip, palm facing away from you
- Grab the other end of the belt with your unaffected hand
- Use the unaffected hand to slowly pull the affected side towards midline
- Work into stiffness/discomfort, not pain
- Hold 15 seconds
- Return to the starting position and repeat.
Shoulder External Rotation Stretches
- insert video for ER stretch in doorway
- Stand in a doorway with arm relaxed down by your side
- Place a rolled towel between your elbow and your side
- Bend your elbow to 90 degrees
- Place hand/wrist on the doorframe without reaching forwards (walk closer to the doorway)
- Your upper arm should be vertical, forearm parallel to the floor
- Slowly turn your body away from your hand/wrist
- Work into stiffness/discomfort, not pain
- Hold 15 seconds
- Return to the starting position and repeat
If you noticed your shoulder was stiff into external rotation at 90 degrees abduction during the assessment process, then you will want to do the stretch below:
- insert 90/90 stretch for ER
- Stand in doorway
- Bring arm up in front of you so your elbow is at the same height as your shoulder
- Bend elbow to 90 degrees and place your elbow and forearm on the doorframe
- Slowly rotate your body away from your arm
- Work into stiffness/discomfort, not pain
- Hold 15 seconds
- Return to the starting position and repeat
Programming for Shoulder Range of Motion Stretches
Sets: 1
Repetitions: 10
Hold: 15 seconds
Frequency: 3-5 times per day, 7 days a week
If your shoulder has been stiff for a very long time and/or you find the amount above is not improving your range of motion, then try this option:
Sets: 1
Repetitions: 5
Hold: 30 seconds
Frequency: 3-5 times per day, 7 days a week
NOTE: A frequency of 3-5 times per day needs to be fairly evenly distributed throughout the day. Doing 3 rounds of stretches in the morning and then doing nothing the rest of the day is not as effective as doing one round in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. The other way you can think about range of motion work is that any time you are not stretching, things are slowly stiffening back up again!