Shoulder Stretches to Improve Your Flexibility

From stiff-as-a-fridge powerlifters to desk jockeys, sometimes you need some good shoulder stretches to loosen up.

Here are 10 excellent ones for better flexibility, range of motion, and a good time in general. Well, maybe not that last one.

What Are the Shoulder Muscles?

When you talk shoulder muscles, chances are you mean the deltoid. It’s a big triangular muscle with three parts – the front, side, and rear delts – not three different muscles.

The front fibers lift your arm forward, the middle fibers lift it out to the side, and the rear fibers pull it back.

Unlike most other muscles, you can more or less isolate the different parts of it when you train it, thanks to the shoulder ball-and-socket joint with its huge range of motion.

Underneath the deltoid, you have four smaller rotator cuff muscles: the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis (SITS). They suction-cup the head of your arm bone into its socket while you lift and rotate your arm.

Should You Stretch Your Shoulder Muscles?

Maybe. But if you already train your shoulders, chest, and back through a full range of motion, you probably need less stretching than you might think. If you actually need any at all.

That’s because full-ROM strength training builds as much flexibility as stretching.^{1 2}

Ask yourself:

Can you perform your exercises and movements comfortably and with good technique?

If you said yes, you probably already have the shoulder mobility you need.

Adding 20 minutes of static shoulder stretching for the sake of it won’t make you bench more or protect you against injury.

And being able to move your shoulder joint into extreme positions isn’t very useful unless you’re a gymnast or something, especially if you don’t have the strength and control to use that range.

No, I’m not saying shoulder stretches are useless.

If you feel restricted in a shoulder position, stretching can work wonders. There is no doubt that it improves your flexibility. And a neat fact: it’s more effective the less baseline flexibility you have.³

Or, if a few minutes of stretching allow you to move better, feel better, or train better, they can be an awesome part of your routine. Essential even.

When Should You Stretch?

Before a workout, dynamic movements like arm circles, shoulder dislocates, and band pull-aparts are the way to go.⁴ After that, do your actual ramp-up sets with full range to get ready.

That routine’ll get you warm and improve performance.

Static stretching is better left for after training or for a mobility session all its own.

A short static stretch to get the range you need for your behind the neck presses is fine, but long or intense stretching decreases your power output for several hours afterward.⁵

Plus, your strength gains might be slightly compromised if you do hardcore stretching before your workouts regularly, according to some research.⁶

10 Great Shoulder Stretches

Note: these stretches are for tight but healthy shoulders and for improving a normal range of motion, not for rehabbing shoulder injuries.

If you’ve hurt your shoulder, don’t just start stretching it. It doesn’t improve healing and might even make things worse by tearing an injury open even more.

Talk to a physio, and if they say go ahead – stretch away. But if not, keeping your shoulder moving as much as possible and getting blood to the area is usually a better idea than random stretching.

1. Arm Across Chest Stretch

One of the easiest and most effective stretches for the rear delts.

There’s a simple trick to make it even better: pull your shoulder blade down and back away from your ear. If your shoulder hikes up into your neck, the rear delt stretch fizzles out.

How to Do the Arm Across Chest Stretch

1. Bring one arm horizontally across your chest.
2. Use the other hand or forearm to pull it closer to your body until you feel a nice stretch in your rear delt.
3. Hold the stretch.
4. Switch sides and repeat.

2. Elbows Behind Back

The side deltoid is the hardest to isolate with stretching, but the elbows behind back stretch is a good one. Easy to scale, too.

You can start by holding your hands or fingers behind you, then the opposite wrist, then your forearm, and finally the elbow – if your mobility (and proportions) allow you to do so. There’s no need to make elbow-grabbing the goal.

How to Do the Elbows Behind Back

1. Bring your arms behind your back and grab the opposite hand, wrist, forearm, or elbow. Don’t force range.
2. Draw your shoulders slightly back to increase the shoulder stretch.
3. Hold the stretch.

A lifting strap or towel between your hands is even easier.

You can also do this stretch with one arm at a time by grabbing hold of something sturdy with the arm of the shoulder you’re stretching, behind your back:

3. Shoulder Dislocates

This is an excellent shoulder mobility drill you do with a dowel, PVC pipe, resistance band, or towel (a band is more forgiving toward rusty shoulders than a stick). Great before any kind of overhead pressing. And despite the alarming name, you’re not dislocating anything.

Do them as a dynamic warm-up exercise, not an aggressive flexibility challenge.

How to Do Shoulder Dislocates

1. Stand with your arms straight in front of you and hold a stick or resistance band with a wide overhand grip.
2. Raise your arms overhead.
3. Continue moving your hands behind your body as far as comfortable.
4. Reverse the movement and return to the starting position.
5. Repeat for reps.

4. Shoulder Rolls

The shoulder roll is one of the most basic dynamic mobility exercises for the entire shoulder girdle. They’re great for beginners and perfect at the start of a warm-up, before you do any more intense movements.

What you want are big, smooth circles with relaxed arms, not windmilling your shoulders without control.

How to Do Shoulder Rolls

1. Stand or sit tall with your arms relaxed by your sides.
2. Slowly lift your shoulders toward your ears, roll them backward, draw them down, and then bring them forward to complete a circle.
3. Repeat for reps.

You can also reverse the direction and do the circles both backward and forward.

5. Shoulder Stretch With Clasped Hands

This is a nice beginner-level stretch for the front delts and chest, with a little biceps bonus. You can do it both standing and seated, so do whichever feels best.

If you can’t clasp your hands without rounding forward, you can hold a towel or a lifting strap between them.

How to Do the Shoulder Stretch With Clasped Hands

1. Stand up straight or sit down on a bench or chair without a backrest.
2. Reach both hands behind your back and lace your fingers together.
3. Straighten your arms and draw your hands downward and slightly away from your body.
4. Hold the stretch.

6. Thread the Needle

This is a classic mobility stretch that combines shoulder movement with upper-back rotation.

It’s a true bang-for-your-buck mobility exercise as it involves much of your upper body, including the rear delts and several rotator cuff muscles.

You also get a nice stretch in the muscles around your shoulder blades and upper back through spinal rotation and scapular movement.

How to Do Thread the Needle

1. Start on your hands and knees.
2. Slide your right arm underneath your left arm.
3. Lower your right shoulder and head toward the floor.
4. Hold the stretch.
5. Return to the starting position.
6. Repeat on the other side.

7. Wall Prayer Stretch

A good shoulder stretch to combine with the more common “arm-behind-you front-delt stretch”. Unlike that, which works shoulder extension, this one builds overhead shoulder flexion mobility. You get a decent lat stretch as a bonus, too.

It’s really good if you’re working on mobility for overhead pressing, pull-ups, or handstands.

How to Do the Wall Prayer Stretch

1. Stand facing a wall.
2. Hinge forward at the hips and place your hands on the wall with your arms straight.
3. Hold the stretch.

You can increase the shoulder-flexion angle (and make the stretch harder) by putting your palms higher on the wall.

8. Wall Shoulder Stretch

Probably the most common chest stretch you see in gyms, but also a terrific front delt stretch. You can do it with your arm straight or bent at 90 degrees. The first option is the best one if you want to sneak in a biceps stretch, too.

How to Do the Wall Chest Stretch

1. Stand facing a wall and extend one arm against it. Keep your arm straight or bend the elbow.
2. Rotate your chest and torso away from the wall until you feel a stretch across your chest.
3. Hold the stretch.
4. Switch sides and repeat.

Don’t force your arm far behind you if you don’t have the mobility to do so.

9. Wrist and Shoulder Stretch

This is a combination of a wrist/forearm stretch and an overhead shoulder/lat stretch.

You can do it as a mobility check for overhead training (overhead presses, pull-ups, front rack work) and as a cooldown stretch. And it feels great if you’ve been sitting for a long time and suffer from computer posture.

How to Do the Wrist and Shoulder Stretch

1. Stand or sit up straight.
2. Interlace your fingers and reach upward.
3. Hold the stretch.

10. Doorway Stretch

Another front delt stretch, this is also one of the best for the pecs (chest muscles). You can easily scale the intensity by stepping forward more or less.

The biggest benefit of this one over the wall shoulder stretch is that you can take care of both sides simultaneously, thus getting your stretching over with twice as fast. Although you can do it one side at a time if you want.

How to Do the Doorway Stretch

1. Stand in a doorway.
2. Place one forearm on the doorframe, or place both forearms on either side of the doorway.
3. Keep your elbows bent and around shoulder height. How much bend depends on how wide the doorway is, but somewhere between 45 and 90 degrees.
4. Step forward until you feel a stretch across your chest and front shoulder.
5. Hold the stretch.
6. For the one-arm version, repeat on the other side.

Avoid These Stretching Mistakes

Your shoulder joint can move in almost every plane, so it’s easy to stretch it and the shoulder muscles. But it’s also fairly easy to make one of these mistakes.

1. Forcing range you can’t control. The fact that it’s your most mobile joint also means that you can pull your arm into a position where you can’t stabilize the stretch.
2. Stretching too aggressively. At least not if you haven’t worked up to that intensity. Lifters in particular often stretch as hard as they train – hard – but hanging on the joint or the tissue usually won’t be the answer to your mobility issues.
3. Mistaking tight-feeling shoulders for short muscles. That tight feeling can also come from weak or tired muscles, or the rotator cuff muscles having to work too hard. In those cases, progressive full-ROM strength, not more stretching, is what you want.
4. Compensating in other places. For example, if you do an overhead stretch and arch your lower back, it both looks and feels like you’re getting into a deeper stretch, but you’re actually moving it away from the muscles you’re after.

Then we have the mistakes that aren’t shoulder-specific, like stretching cold, bouncing, or through pain. There is a time and place for those – at least the first two – but for regular mobility training, stretching warm muscles and going into the hold with full control is both safer and more effective.

Also, having the most flexible shoulders in the gym doesn’t give you a trophy. It shouldn’t be a goal in itself. Shoulders that are strong in the ranges you use them and don’t constrain you in the exercises and movements you do – that’s the goal.

A Simple Shoulder Stretch Routine

Here’s an effective routine for shoulder flexibility that only takes a few minutes.

Do it after your shoulder- or upper-body workouts, or in a separate mobility session (in which case you’ll want to warm up first, perhaps with some dynamic movements like arm circles and band pull-aparts).

Stretch	Time / Reps
Arm Across Chest	30–45 seconds
Elbows Behind Back	30–45 seconds
Wall Shoulder Stretch	30–45 seconds
Shoulder Rolls	10 each direction

You stretch all three parts of your shoulder muscles – the rear, side, and front delts – and finish with some dynamic movement.

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You can find all the shoulder stretches in this guide in our free workout log app, StrengthLog, along with many other neat mobility exercises for the entire body.

The above stretch routine is also free in the app:

Where the app really shines is for tracking your training. If you don’t track your training, making progress becomes much more of a challenge than it needs to be.

The app is also filled to the brim with excellent programs and workouts, including several dedicated to building stronger and bigger shoulders. StrengthLog’s Shoulder Workout is free and hits all parts of your delts.

It looks like this:

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Overhead Press	3	5
Upright Row	3	10
Dumbbell Lateral Raise	3	10
Barbell Front Raise	3	10
Reverse Dumbbell Flyes	3	12

Final Rep

Stretching works great for improving flexibility and range of motion when you need it. Plus, what feels better than a good shoulder stretch if you’ve been hunched up for hours?

But if your shoulders feel tight no matter how much you pull on them, stop and assess. Maybe you need more strength in the right places, or maybe it’s your thoracic spine that’s locked into a desk-bound posture?

What I’m trying to say is: know why you’re stretching, and do it with a purpose. It’s not the answer to every sensation of tightness, but if you do need that extra range or if it makes your shoulders feel more comfortable, try some of these shoulder stretches.

Thanks for reading, and good luck with your training (and stretching).

And for more great stretching exercises, check out these resources:

• Adductor Stretches to Improve Your Flexibility
• Chest Stretches to Improve Your Flexibility
• Glute Stretches to Improve Your Flexibility
• Hamstring Stretches to Improve Your Flexibility
• Hip Flexor Stretches to Improve Your Flexibility
• Quad Stretches to Improve Your Flexibility

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Last reviewed: 2026-09-29

References

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3. Sports Med. 2025 Mar;55(3):597-617. Optimising the Dose of Static Stretching to Improve Flexibility: A Systematic Review, Meta-analysis and Multivariate Meta-regression.
4. BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil. 2023 Aug 29;15(1):106. A systematic review and net meta-analysis of the effects of different warm-up methods on the acute effects of lower limb explosive strength.
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