If one or both of your shoulders are starting to feel stiff after experiencing exercise or heavy lifting, it may be a good idea to complete exercises designed specifically to relieve this tension. Leaving it be or continuing to use it could cause further pain and discomfort.
Elevation
If one of your arms is experiencing the bulk of the stiffness, lay down on and use your good arm to hold the affected arm at the elbow. Using the good arm, raise the hurting arm in the air so it is perpendicular to your body. Push your bad arm back toward your head. Make sure not to apply so much pressure that it causes pain. Gently repeat.
More Elevation
Face a wall and place the affected hand against it at a level above the head. Slowly lean forward, moving your head down past your raised arm. Slowly raise your head back up, then repeat. In a variation of this exercise, you can re-create the same position by sitting next to a table and laying your arm out on it. Lean your head down in the same way, then raise it back up.
External Rotation
Lay on your back and hold a stick in both hands. Keeping the painful shoulder loose, use the other arm's strength to push the bad one out to the side using the stick. In the extended stance of this exercise, the forearm will be perpendicular to the body off to the side.
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