Earlier this year I published this video below with 9 fantastic shoulder exercises that are great for rehab, preventative purposes and serves as a fantastic warm up as well.
Since it is faster to read some of this information, this blog post is going to be very helpful. I have included GIF’s of the exercises below so you don’t have to watch the whole video each time and can use this page as a quick reference.
Note: If an exercise hurts, don’t do it. You have to try them all and avoid the ones that are aggravating your shoulder. And see a doctor or physical therapist if the pain isn’t improving!
The Exercise Demonstrations
Simply click the arrows to flip through the 9 different GIF’s below.
The List of Exercises for Easy Reference
- Straight Arm Pull Apart
- Straight Arm Pull Down
- Straight Arm Push Forward
- Shoulder Dislocate
- Adducted External Rotation (Adducted meaning the elbow stays down, close to torso)
- Abducted External Rotation (Bottom Half of Range, Elbow stays up at shoulder level)
- Abducted External Rotation (Top Half of Range, Elbow stays up at shoulder level)
- Straight Arm Delt Raises (Bottom Half of Range, target all the different angles)
- Straight Arm Delt Raises (Top Half of Range, target all the different angles)
Which band to use?
I highly recommend the theraband-brand as they have excellent smoothness and quality to them. They are color coded for different resistances.
- For rehab, I recommend the red and green bands.
- For prehab/warmup purposes, I recommend the special-heavy black band.
How many sets and reps?
If you’re focusing on rehab, choose a very light resistance band and focus on 3 sets of 25-30reps each day for each exercise without going to failure. Not going to failure is very important, which is why a very light resistance band is ideal. And you don’t have to do them all in one session. You could break up the sets and do them throughout the day.
If you’re focusing on prehab or warming up, choose a higher resistance band and focus on 1 set of 10 reps for each exercise.
Final words
If you have shoulder pain, a lot of the exercises they’re going to share with you are often the same as the ones in this post. Just know that I am not in your body. You know your body best. So listen and pay attention to the signals your body is telling you. If any of the exercises hurt, lay off of them. And if you aren’t sure what’s going on, see a doctor or physical therapist to get it checked out and have more peace of mind.
