6 Great Shoulder Rehab Exercises

As Physical Therapists, shoulder injuries are one of the most common we see in our daily practice. While many common rehab exercises for the shoulder are suitable and effective, one thing that often gets left out is weight bearing exercises for the shoulder.

The shoulder is still meant to be a weight bearing joint at least some of the time. So shoulders respond well to loading in this way. We find that this simple truth is often forgotten when prescribing rehab exercises.

Getting some weight through the shoulder can be a great way to work on everything from range of motion, strength, stability and alignment. During the shoulder rehab process, we pretty much always use some form of weight bearing exercises. Read on for 6 great shoulder rehab exercises.

Weight Bearing Shoulder Exercises

Simple weight shifting for shoulder health

We like to use this as a basic introduction to weight bearing if patients are hesitant or in a lot of pain. It helps learn to connect their upper body and core as well as learn what a stable shoulder feels like.

All Fours Shoulder Blade Press

We use this exercise to help patients learn to move their shoulder blades on their rib cage. For people who have trouble reaching away from their body or overhead, this can be a great early phase exercise to learn to reach with proper mechanics.

All Fours Reach, Roll and Lift

This is a nice progression to use once a patient has learned to maintain a stable shoulder position. This exercise asks them to maintain a stable shoulder on one side, which reaching with proper mechanics on the other side.

Bear Crawl

Bear crawling is an awesome exercise that can be used for many things. It is a good progression to continue to teach patients to connect their upper/lower body with their core and introduces more movement to work on coordination. We like to use the forward and backward variation for people having difficulty reaching and when rehabilitating throwers and other overhead athletes. The lateral variation is great to work on controlling protraction and retraction of the shoulder blade.

Push up Variations for Shoulder Health

The good old push up is a great way to progress weight bearing shoulder strength and incorporate core strength. A full push up with emphasis on allowing the shoulder blade to move is an under utilized exercise, in our opinion. There is also a lot of value in holding the high plank position and shifting weight via shoulder or hip taps.

Turkish Get Ups For Shoulder Pain

The Turkish get up is a great advanced exercise that works on multiple things, including shoulder stability, core stability, lower body strength and coordination. For shoulder health, the emphasis is on maintaining a good overhead position for the hand that is holding the kettlebell. For weight bearing stability, the arm underneath the body is a great way to work on maintaining an active and stable shoulder while moving through a more complex movement.

As you can see, these exercises can be scaled to be very basic or advanced. The point is, these types of exercises give the shoulder a different stimulus than endless theraband exercises and fit in well with the function our shoulders are designed for.

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