Gentle Range-of-Motion Exercises for Shoulders (Pendulums, Wipers and Beyond)

Your shoulder is a ball-and-socket joint. The top of your upper arm bone (the ball) sits in a shallow socket on your shoulder blade (the scapula). Soft tissue around the joint lets the arm move in many directions.

When an arm spends long periods still, the tissues around the joint can tighten. Long desk hours, sleeping on one side and little overhead reaching are often blamed. Stiffness often builds slowly. Many people notice it first when they reach for a high shelf or put on a coat.

Stiffness is not always the same as tightness. Some stiffness comes from the joint capsule, the tissue that wraps the joint. A serious cause called frozen shoulder is covered below.

For the bigger picture, read Why do shoulders get stiff as we get older?. You may also find Shoulder mobility vs flexibility useful, and Shoulder mobility in cold weather if winter makes your shoulders feel tight.

• Exercise helps. A 2026 review of middle-aged and older adults with rotator cuff-related shoulder pain found that exercise reduced pain and improved function and range of motion [R04].
• Mobility work has some support. A 2025 review of exercise types found that mobilization and stretching improved function and pain over about two months [R03]. Those were structured programs. The review does not tell us how a home version compares.
• Gentle movement alone may not move pain much. Resisted exercise that gets a little harder over the weeks probably helps more, while unloaded movement on its own probably does not change pain much [R01]. Range is one goal. Strength is another.

Only start if you have been cleared for gentle shoulder movement, or if your symptoms are mild and you have none of the warning signs listed below. Move slowly and breathe normally. A mild stretch or a dull feeling that settles is common. Sharp pain, or pain that lingers the next morning, means back off.

1. Seated pendulum swings. Sit tall on a firm chair. Lean forward and rest one hand on a table. Let the other arm hang and sway in small circles, then small front-to-back swings. Switch arms. Standing works too, with the same forward lean.
2. Table slide. Rest one hand on a table and slide it gently forward and back. Let the arm reach a little further each time, without forcing it. Seated only.
3. Small arm circles. Make small, slow circles forward, then backward. Widen them only as far as feels comfortable. Seated or standing.
4. Hand-to-opposite-shoulder reach. Bring one hand across the chest toward the opposite shoulder. Use the other hand to help if needed. Hold lightly, breathe, and return. Seated or standing.
5. Wall walk. Face a wall, or a surface about the height of a wall, and walk your fingers up as high as is comfortable. Pause, then walk them back down. Seated works if you sit close to the surface.

These moves need no equipment at all.