How to Maintain Shoulder Range of Motion as You Age

Range of motion is how far a joint can move. For your shoulder, that means how high you can raise your arm, how far you can turn it outward, and how far you can reach behind your back.

Many people notice this range shrinking with age. Movement often slows down when we do less of it. Pain, long hours sitting and guarding an old injury can also reduce how far the arm travels.

Range is not the same as flexibility. Flexibility is how far a muscle can lengthen. Range is how well the whole shoulder moves, which also depends on strength, control and the shoulder blade. A stiff shoulder is often a shoulder that has not been asked to move through its range for a while.

• Exercise-based programs reduced pain and improved function and range of motion in middle-aged and older adults with shoulder pain [R04].
• In a 12-week trial of Thai Yoga in sedentary adults over 60, participants improved on a back-scratch test, which measures shoulder reach, compared with a control group [R11].
• Mobility, strength, body composition and posture are each linked with shoulder pain and disability in adults over 60. These are modifiable targets, though the evidence for posture specifically is limited [R28].
• Official guidance says adults 65 and over benefit from activity that builds balance and strength at least three days a week [R07].
• Stiffness that gets worse, rather than better, should be checked. Frozen shoulder does not reliably resolve on its own, so waiting it out is not supported, and a clinician should assess it [R19].

1. Move through your comfortable range daily. Gentle daily movement helps keep the joint familiar with its full range. Seated option: sit tall in an armchair and make small, slow arm movements.
2. Try the back-scratch reach. Reach one hand over your shoulder and the other behind your back, then switch. Go only as far as is comfortable. Seated option: this move is done sitting.
3. Make slow, large circles. Let your arms draw one large circle in front of you, slowly, then reverse. Seated option: sit with your back supported and keep the circles within comfort.
4. Combine range with strength. Range work alone does not build the muscle control you need to use the range. Add light resistance a few days a week, for example by pressing one hand against the other, or with a light band. Resist a little harder, move through a bit more range, or hold longer sets as it gets easier. Seated option: all of this works in an armchair.
5. Keep moving through the day. Get up and move your arms every hour or so. Short, frequent movement is easy to keep up.
6. Notice the trend. Track how far you can reach each week. Small, steady gains are a good sign. Sudden loss of movement is not, and needs a clinician.