9 Effective AAROM Shoulder Exercises For Range of Motion

Do you have limited mobility in your shoulder and shoulder pain? This is common after shoulder surgery, shoulder trauma, or even from wear and tear over the years. These 9 active assist range of motion or AAROM shoulder exercises with pictures will improve your shoulder mobility and get you back to a pain-free life!

Why Do I Have Limited Mobility?

You may have limited mobility in your shoulder joint for a variety of reasons that vary from various shoulder conditions.

It may also be due to muscle tightness in the front of your shoulder or anterior deltoid muscle tightness or even pain in the upper arm. The most common reasons for limited mobility in the shoulder include:

• Rotator Cuff Repair Surgery
• Rotator Cuff Tear
• Frozen Shoulders
• Shoulder Impingement
• Tightness of shoulder musculature
• Shoulder Fracture

What Is The AROM For The Shoulder Joint?

AROM stands for active range of motion. This is your ability to move your shoulder on your own without any help. The easiest example would be you actively lifting your arm above your head which is a purely active motion.

Active Assisted Shoulder Exercise For Shoulder

What is AAROM? AAROM is active assist range of motion or the ability for you to move your shoulder with some assistance. The easiest example would be you actively lifting your arm above your head with the help of your other arm guiding it over your head. All of these exercises included in this post are active assisted shoulder exercises.

An active assisted shoulder exercise for shoulder is when you are actively using your shoulder muscles to perform a motion, while also using an external force such as your other hand, a therapist’s force or pulleys to assist with the movement.

An active assisted shoulder exercise is typically done when patients are between active and passive motions or have specific post surgical precautions that only allow active assisted motions.

What Is Passive ROM?

PROM is passive range of motion and is the ability for someone else to move your arm. The key here is you are not helping to move your shoulder in any way. The movement is completely passive. Typically a physical therapist will perform passive ROM.

Physical Therapy AAROM Shoulder Exercises

These range of motion exercises will improve shoulder mobility and help you to better reach overhead, behind your back and rotate your arm outwards. All of these shoulder AAROM exercises with the exception of one are active assisted, meaning you will be actively performing them while using some assistance to help you achieve the motion.

Shoulder Flexion AAROM Shoulder Exercises

The following exercises focus on improving shoulder flexion or the ability of your shoulder to raise your arm above your head. These are all AAROM or active assisted range of motion shoulder exercises.

These exercises are 1. Shoulder Pulleys 2. Wall Slides 3. Shoulder Flexion with Towel or PB 4. Internal Rotation Towel Stretch 5. Wand Flexion 6. Wand Abduction 7. Wand ER 8. Wand Extension 9. Pedulums.

1. Shoulder Pulleys

• Start either sitting or standing with a pulley or resistance band above you.
• You will now grab either side of the pulleys with both hands.
• If your right arm is your unaffected arm you will pull down with your right arm, which will make your left arm move upwards, increasing your shoulder flexion.
• For all shoulder pulley exercises it is important to not pull too hard.
• This should feel like a gentle stretch and should not be severely painful.
• If the exercise is more than a 1 or 2/10 pain then stop or do not pull your hand down so far.
• You can buy a pulley system that works over your door here.
• *As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

2. Wall Slides

• Stand facing a wall with your hands holding up a towel at shoulder height.
• Now slowly push up with the towel and allow both of your arms to rise overhead while maintaining contact on the wall.

3. Shoulder Flexion on PB (physioball) or Towel

• Sit or stand while facing a table.
• Whether you will sit or stand will depend on the height of the table and if you are using a physioball or a towel.
  • I prefer to perform this exercise with a physioball but if you do not have one you can perform it with a towel as shown in the picture.
• Now slowly lean forward and slide your arms forward.
• The further you go the more shoulder flexion you will achieve.
• You can buy a physioball to perform this exercise here.
• *As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Stretch For Shoulder AAROM Exercises

The best AAROM or active assisted range of motion stretch is the 4. Towel Stretch, which stretches the shoulder internal rotators.

4. Internal Rotation Towel Stretch

• This stretch helps to stretch the muscles involved in internal rotation.
• You will start by holding a towel over your head and behind your back with your good arm.
• Now reach behind your back and grab the towel with your affected arm.
• Use your good arm to pull up which will force your affected arm into more internal rotation.
• Make sure that you are not overdoing this stretch. It should feel like a strong stretch but not painful.
• You can perform this exercise with a stretch strap that you can buy here.
• *As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Wand or Cane Exercises For Shoulder

A wand or cane can help to assist you in active assisted shoulder exercises. These wand exercises include 5. Wand Flexion 6. Wand Abduction 7. Wand ER 8. Wand Extension. For the following exercises, if you do not have a wand or cane, you can get creative. A broom or long umbrella will also work.

5. Wand Flexion

• The starting position for this exercise is on your back.
• You will hold onto the cane with both hands start with with the arms resting on your body with the cane.
• Now you will use your good arm to lift this cane up overhead.
• While doing this you will also be actively trying to lift the cane above your head with your affected arm.
• Your good shoulder is there to assist you and allow you to get a greater increase in range of motion.
• This is the #1 exercise to improve shoulder flexion through active assist range of motion!

6. Wand Abduction

• Hold the cane with both hands.
• If your affected shoulder is your right side then you will keep your arm straight and use your left arm to push your arm up and to the side and over your head.
• You can buy a shoulder wand or cane here to peform this exercise at home.
• *As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

7. Wand ER (External Rotation)

• Lie on your back with your affected arm bent to 90 degrees.
• Now use your good hand to push the cane and your affected shoulder outwards.
• This should be a rotation and your elbow should maintain 90 degrees throughout the entire exercise.
• If you are finding it difficult to perform this exercise with optimal form you can place a small rolled-up towel underneath your arm to maintain better alignment.

8. Wand Extension

• Stand while holding the cane behind your back with your left hand and right hand.
• Now push the cane further back by extending your arms.
• It is important to actively push with both arms as this is an active assist exercise.

PROM Shoulder Exercises

PROM or passive range of motion exercises can also be beneficial in improving shoulder range of motion. A passive range of motion exercise is when no muscle activation is used to move a body part.

9. Pendulum Exercise

• Pendulums are a great passive ROM exercise that can help to improve shoulder mobility.
• They are typically performed in big circular motions but can also be performed forward and backward and side to side.
• To perform this exercise you will lean forward and rest your good hand on a table.
• Now have your symptomatic arm hanging down.
• You will move your body in big circular motions which will move your shoulder.
• You can perform the circles in clockwise and counterclockwise circles.
• It is important that the motion is coming from your body moving and not the shoulder as this is not an active range of motion exercise.
• You can also perform this exercise forward and backward by moving your body forward and backward.
• Lastly, you can perform this exercise from side to side by moving your body in both directions.

When To Start Pendulum Exercises After Shoulder Surgery

You should start pendulum exercises after shoulder surgery when your surgeon or post up instructions instruct you to do so.

Depending on your surgery, your surgeon may want you to start performing pendulum exercises the day after surgery, while others may want you to wait until 1-2 weeks when you begin physical therapy. Other times surgeons want patients to wait 4-8 weeks prior to starting pendulum exercises.

Unfortunately when to start pendulum exercises after shoulder surgery is highly variable and only your surgeon can instruct you on when it is safe and appropriate to start pendulums.

Post-Surgical Patients

It is important to note that for post-surgical patients, such as patients who underwent a rotator cuff repair, or total shoulder replacement, you will have a specific range of motion precautions based on your surgery date, tear type, and progress.

For example, in most small to medium rotator cuff repair protocols patients cannot perform any active range of motion for the first 3 weeks. During this time the surgeon may only allow active range of motion of the elbow and wrist and scapula squeezes, or bringing your shoulder blades together.

At week 4 they are allowed to perform some active range of motion but within precautions. In most protocols at week 4 you can be can perform:

• 90 degrees of shoulder flexion PROM
• 20 degrees of shoulder ER PROM in the scapular plane

As always it is important to check with your surgeon about your specific precautions. You can find more information on specific protocols for rotator cuff surgery here.

Summary of Shoulder AAROM Exercises

If you have graduated from active assist exercises you can progress to active ROM exercises. An important note to remember is to start performing exercises without weight. Once you are able to perform the exercise with good form and with limited pain you can progress to light weight.

You should strengthen your shoulder muscles with light-weight and resistance bands before progressing to free weights. You can find more advanced shoulder exercises at 13 Helpful Exercises To Avoid Shoulder Replacement.