Shoulder injuries need time for recovery. If you’re trying to mend a shoulder, you’re in it for the long haul: most injuries take six months to a year to heal. While there’s no magic bullet for healing your shoulder, you may have control over how long you’re in recovery.
The right shoulder rehab exercises speed up recovery and can preserve your strength and range of motion. Learn how to gauge your exercise levels as you recover, plus the 10 best shoulder rehab exercises to speed up recovery.
How To Tell if You’re Exercising at the Right Level for Shoulder Rehabilitation
When it comes to joint injuries, if you don’t use it, you lose it. The same principle applies to shoulder rehabilitation. Gentle, regular movement preserves your range of motion, preventing stiffness and future injury.
The shoulder is a super mobile ball-and-socket joint, but that mobility comes at a cost. Your shoulder needs a lot of support from your muscles, including your deltoids, trapezius, biceps, triceps, and more. All of your muscles have to work together to stabilize the joint. In rehab, that means you need to strengthen multiple muscles and keep them flexible enough to support movement.
The upside is that you only need 15 minutes of movement, two to three times a day, to make a meaningful difference in your recovery timeline. Still, shoulder rehab is tricky. It’s very common to experience pain in the first two weeks of rehab, so you have to quickly learn how to distinguish “good” pain from “bad” pain.
Make the most of your shoulder rehab exercises with a simple rating system:
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Use a pain scale from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable) to log your baseline before exercising. You can use your phone or a notebook to keep track.
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Don’t let the pain exceed a 5 out of 10 during exercise. If it does, slow your movements, reduce reps, or take longer rests.
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Afterward, note your pain level.
You’ll probably feel some pain and discomfort at first, and that’s normal. However, you ultimately want to see a reduction in your pain over time, which is why we recommend logging your pain ratings. If you do feel pain, it shouldn’t last more than a few hours. If your pain is increasing, see your doctor.
Remember, you only need to do two or three reps at a time when you’re just starting out. We recommend spreading your exercises throughout the day so your joints can stay limber.
Feel free to add more reps each week as you feel ready. Avoid big jumps in reps; only add one or two a week to avoid reinjury. You can expect to do these exercises for four to six weeks, unless your doctor says otherwise.
10 Shoulder Rehabilitation Exercises to Try
Shoulder rehab can be challenging because you need to keep the joint moving, but you don’t want to overdo it. Try these 10 exercises to aid recovery without reinjuring your shoulder.
1. Bent Over Row
Bent over rows focus on the mid-back and lower shoulder muscles that support the scapula (your shoulder blade). With more support at the back of the joint, the front of your shoulder doesn’t experience as much stress. While dumbbells can work in a pinch, a smart cable trainer like the Speediance Gym Monster 2 makes it easier to set up and progress in weight as you recover.
How to do this exercise:
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Start with the cable weight at the lowest setting.
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Hold the cables with your palms facing each other. Hinge at your hips so you’re at a 45-degree angle, back straight.
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Squeeze your shoulder blades to pull the cables towards you. Your elbows will be at a 90-degree angle and pulled in to the sides of your body.
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Straighten your arms back to the starting position.
2. Wall Push-Up
Push-ups are great for building strength, but a shoulder injury makes traditional push-ups a no-go for now. Instead, do push-ups on the wall to build strength. Once you’re comfortable with wall push-ups, you can progress to knees and then a traditional push-up.
How to do this exercise:
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Stand about an arm’s length away from the wall.
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Place your arms on the wall slightly wider than your shoulders. Your body should be straight from your toes to your head.
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Bend your elbows to bring your chest to the wall. You should feel your shoulder blades come together.
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Slowly press away from the wall and straighten your arms.
3. Superman
Superman is a bodyweight shoulder exercise that builds strength in the back. In addition to supporting the shoulder, this exercise can also counter a rounded back or poor posture.
How to do this exercise:
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Lie on the ground, face down. Stretch your legs out behind you and your arms in front of you in a Y-shape. If your shoulders feel stiff, try bending your elbows at 90 degrees instead.
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Engaging your core, lift your arms and chest off the ground a few inches. Feel your shoulder blades squeeze together.
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Hold for three seconds and then release.
4. Shoulder Rotations
There are many small stabilizing muscles around the ball and socket of your shoulder. Shoulder rotations help reduce pinching sensations while giving you more control. You can perform these with no weight, a light dumbbell, or a light band.
How to do this exercise:
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Roll up a towel and put it between your elbow and ribcage.
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For external rotation, put your forearm across your belly at a 90-degree angle. Rotate your arm out while keeping your elbow lightly pressed into the towel.
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For internal rotation, you’ll start with your forearm out to the side. Rotate your arm so it comes to rest over your belly.
5. Pendulum
Pendulum is an early shoulder rehab exercise that reduces stiffness. Since gravity does all the work, you can get blood flow back to the shoulder without bearing any weight.
How to do this exercise:
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Place one hand on a chair for support.
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Let your other arm hang, relaxed. With the motion coming from your hips, swing your body in small circles, allowing your arm to move passively like a pendulum.
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Do this movement for 30 seconds. Pause and then repeat the movement the other way.
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Repeat on the other side.
6. Shoulder Raise
As a shoulder rehab exercise, you’ll do shoulder raises without any weight at first. Try cable shoulder exercises to increase intensity as you build strength and mobility.
How to do this exercise:
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Stand comfortably and lift both of your arms in front of you to shoulder height. Make sure your shoulders are away from your ears.
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Hold for 10 seconds before slowly lowering your arms back down.
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Repeat.
7. Walk-Ups
Walk-ups can help you restore range of motion and mobility after an injury. If you struggle to pick things up from a high shelf, this is the shoulder rehab exercise for you.
How to do this exercise:
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Stand an arm’s length away from a wall.
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Place your fingertips on the wall just below chest height using one hand.
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Walk your fingers up the wall a few inches at a time. Stop when you feel a stretch (pain level should be at a five or lower). Hold for 10 seconds.
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Slowly walk your fingers back to the starting position.
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Repeat on the other side.
8. Crossover Arm Stretch
This stretch is a staple for just about any exercise class. Like walk-ups, it targets the back of your shoulder, helping you restore range of motion.
How to do this exercise:
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Either sitting or standing, bring your arm across your chest at shoulder height.
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Use your other arm to apply weight to your elbow. Keep your torso still so the stretch comes from your arm, not your core. Hold for 30 seconds.
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Slowly release and repeat on the other side.
9. Standing Row
Want to get back to pain-free lifting? Standing rows bulk up the muscles around your shoulder blades. Use the Speediance Gym Monster 2 smart cable system to add weight as your muscles get progressively stronger.
How to do this exercise:
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Face the machine with a handle in each hand or gripping a barbell. Your palms should face each other. Bend slightly at the knees to stabilize yourself.
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Focusing on your upper back muscles, squeeze your shoulder blades together to pull the weight towards you. Make sure your elbows are in towards your body.
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Slowly return forward.
10. Elbow Flexion and Extension
It might sound odd to work the elbow if you have a shoulder injury, but it’s easy to irritate your shoulder by doing too much with your elbow. Strong elbows support healthy shoulders, especially for daily tasks like lifting or pushing.
How to do this exercise:
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For elbow flexion, stand with your arms at your sides, palms facing forward.
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Bring your forearms up, moving your hands toward your upper arms.
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For extension, you’ll lower your arms from the flexion position back to your starting point. Ensure you don’t let your shoulder roll forward as you lower down.
The Benefits of Shoulder Strengthening Exercises
Weak shoulder muscles or injuries not only make it impossible to work out, but they also limit what you can do at home, from unloading the dishwasher to changing a lightbulb. Shoulder rehab exercises have many benefits, from protecting your range of motion to reducing pain.
Increase Your Range of Motion
Shoulder rehab exercises can help restore your mobility and range of motion. You might not get back to 100%, but research shows that proper rehab can improve your range of motion. If you want to lift, reach, and move your arm without feeling limited, take rehab seriously.
Avoid Other Shoulder Injuries
Injuring your shoulder once can open the door to future injuries. In fact, if you get surgery for a torn rotator cuff, there’s a 22.8% re-tear risk on average. Focused exercises that strengthen the muscles around your shoulder will reduce the odds of future damage and injury.
Reduce Pain
There’s no way around it: acute shoulder injuries and rehab can be painful. Even after recovering, you still might feel some aches and pains. Fortunately, shoulder rehab exercises are proven to reduce pain for at least 52 weeks after rehab.
Improve Your Posture
Slumped posture isn’t just about aesthetics; it can cause problems in your back and shoulders. Doing exercises for rounded shoulders makes you look more polished, improves your posture, and keeps your back properly aligned. Over time, this decreases the strain on your joints, giving you more freedom of movement.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do I Rehabilitate My Shoulders?
Shoulder rehabilitation requires strengthening the muscles in your upper back and improving your range of motion. Light movements like pendulums and walk-ups will help you restore motion in early recovery, while standing rows, shoulder raises, and Supermans will help you steadily build muscle to support your joints.
Should I Exercise My Rotator Cuff if It Hurts?
It depends. A little discomfort is expected, especially in the first two weeks of rehab. However, you should stop if the pain is sharp or gets worse. As a general rule of thumb, you should never exercise beyond a 5 out of 10 on a pain scale.
How Many Times a Week Should I Rehab My Shoulder?
Short, frequent sessions are the way to go. Schedule 15 minutes two to three times a day when you’re early in recovery. As you build flexibility and strength, you can plan more structured workouts three times a week. Be sure to give yourself rest days in between workouts to prevent reinjury.
Shoulder Rehab Requires Consistency for Recovery
Shoulder rehabilitation is a long road, but proper recovery can shorten the amount of time you spend on the sidelines. Pay attention to your pain levels, start small, and gradually progress to build a more resilient shoulder joint.
These exercises will help you recover faster, but only if you stick with them. Consistency helps your shoulder heal more effectively and speeds up progress without pushing your joint too far. Track your progress and easily adjust resistance with a smart, compact in-home gym. Get the right tool for long-term progress: check out the Speediance Gym Monster 2.
