Our Top 6 Exercises for Shoulder Impingement Relief
Dealing with pinchy shoulder is the WORST! Especially if you enjoy overhead activities like swimming, tennis, golf, CrossFit, combat sports, or even cycling and running. One of the most common injuries we see that causes shoulder pain is a subacromial (external) impingement (pinch when you lift your arm), which can often be caused by limited thoracic mobility, a tight pec minor or levator scapulae, or poor scapular movement control.
So this week, we wanted to share our five favorite exercises to get rid of a pinchy shoulder.
#1 Prayer Stretch
We love the prayer stretch because it is easy to set up on a bench, couch, or chair, and you don’t need any equipment. If you focus on arching your upper back, this becomes a great thoracic mobility exercise, and if you tuck your butt under, you’ll feel it more in your lats. Additionally, you can grab a PVC pipe with a wide grip, and the lats and external rotators will be placed under more stretch. Basically, there is a massive bang for the buck.
#2. Face Pull + Y Press
The Face Pull (pulling rope or band toward forehead with external rotation) and Y Press (pressing overhead into a Y shape with scapular control) are a highly functional movement pattern that trains scapular retraction, posterior tilt, upward rotation, and rotator cuff activation all at once.
#3. Levator Scapulae and Lacross Ball Mobilization
Tackling the levator scapulae helps restore scapular positioning and mobility, which directly increases the subacromial space and improves shoulder mechanics.
#4 Shoulder External Rotation with Slow Down
A shoulder ER slowdown (eccentric external rotation control) trains the rotator cuff—especially infraspinatus and teres minor—to control humeral head motion, reduce anterior glide, improve joint centration, and protect the shoulder during high-velocity or overhead movements. It’s fantastic for both rehab and performance.
#5 Teres/Posterior Cuff Mobilization
Teres minor lacrosse ball release helps restore posterior shoulder mobility, improve external rotation mechanics, and reduce humeral head anterior translation—which directly improves subacromial clearance and protects the shoulder joint.
#6 Bottoms Up Kettlebell Press
A bottoms-up kettlebell press is quite possibly the best exercise for rehabbing a shoulder impingement. It forces co-contraction of shoulder stabilizers, activates deep rotator cuff muscles, trains scapular control, and improves motor control of the humeral head—without overloading the joint. It’s stability + mobility + motor control in one move. You can’t ask for more.
We want to leave you with this: the most essential thing when fixing a shoulder impingement is to let it heal. If you continue to do activities that cause the pain, the inflammatory (healing) response will stay activated, and you will keep pinching. TREATMENT (such as shockwave, laser, and massage) can help reduce the time it takes to heal, but only if you don’t keep poking the bear.
Still Suffering from Shoulder Pain?
Ready to get serious about improving your shoulder health and getting out of pain? We’d love to help you out. We aren’t the standard PT office that gives you mini bands and tells you to stretch more. We create customized rehabilitation programs and combine them with state-of-the-art treatment techniques to help people recover better, faster.
