The 13 Best Shoulder Stretches, According to Physical Therapists

Stiff shoulders are no fun. When your shoulders are tight and achy, they prevent you from moving freely throughout your daily life. Shoulder tension can make even the simplest task — reaching for something on a high shelf or fastening your bra — into an impossible feat.

Static and dynamic shoulder stretches can help loosen muscle tightness, and, if you're feeling shoulder pain, these may even provide some relief. Before and after your next shoulder workout (or just throughout the day), give these 13 best stretches for tight shoulders a try.

Tightness in the back muscles along your sides (your lats) can make it difficult to reach above your head, according to Sam Chan, DPT, CSCS, a physical therapist at Bespoke Treatments in New York City. So, if your workout involves exercises like overhead presses, you'll want to loosen up your lats.

You'll feel this exercise in your armpits, lats and side rib cage.

This stretch can help open your upper back, according to physical therapist and personal trainer Sam Becourtney, DPT, CSCS, owner of Pillar Performance. But what does that have to do with your shoulders? In order to access your shoulders' full range of motion, the upper back needs to loosen up.

"If we're slouched or tight through our middle and upper back it's virtually impossible to have the full shoulder flexion or range of motion," he says.

You should feel this move in your armpits, lats, rib cage and upper back.

As mentioned above, tightness in your upper back and lats can limit your overhead mobility. But it can also cause shoulder pain or impingement, which is when your rotator cuff gets compressed by the shoulder joint, according to Chan.

You'll feel this stretch in your lats and upper back.

A common shoulder stretch in yoga, the child's pose is an excellent warm-up move, Becourtney says. In this pose, you stretch the shoulders in an overhead position without having to actually lift your arms up. Since your muscles are in a relaxed position, this helps you get a deeper stretch.

You should feel this in your upper back, armpits, rib cage and the top of your shoulders.

Stretching your triceps promotes overhead mobility, making this stretch great before you workout or even before you clean the house. Tightness in the triceps can limit you from reaching fully overhead and may even cause aches and pains, according to Chan.

You should feel this stretch in the muscles around your neck, your armpits and your lats.

Considering most day-to-day activities are done in front of the body, it's easy to forget your back side, shoulders included. The cross-body shoulder stretch will get deep into the rear shoulder joint, allowing your arm to move more freely.

You should feel this in the back of your shoulder and shoulder blade.

This stretch gets deep into the shoulder joint, whereas traditional stretches emphasize the flexibility of the muscle, according to Becourtney. But as this is a deeper stretch, you don't want to press your hand down too hard. Keep the pressure gentle and gradual.

You should feel this stretch in the back of your shoulder.

To totally loosen up your shoulders, you need to stretch the muscles attached to the shoulders, not just your delts. The longer part of your biceps muscle inserts into the shoulder, Chan says. So, tightness in the biceps can cause tightness in the shoulders.

You should feel this stretch in the front of the shoulder, chest and biceps.

As most Americans tend to work on their computer all day, tightness through the chest and front shoulder muscles is pretty much inevitable and a common cause of shoulder pain, Becourtney says. Stretching these muscles regularly can help counteract these negative affects, relieving tension in the upper body.

You should feel this stretch across the chest and in your front shoulder muscles.

Especially if your workout involves pulling motions, tightness in the muscles around your neck (aka your trap muscles) may be causing your shoulder tightness.

"This muscle is commonly tight and leads to upward shrugging of the shoulder when lifting the arm up," Chan says. "It's important to avoid holding excess tension in this area."

You should feel this stretch in the trap muscle between your spine and shoulder.

For many people, shoulder tension is a result of bad habits. Hunching over a laptop, slumping behind a steering wheel or carrying heavy over-the-shoulder bags every day can all worsen your posture — rounding your upper back, tightening chest muscles and raising your shoulder toward your ears.

The way you work out might make shoulders tighter, too. Exercises like chest flies can stress your shoulders, especially if you do them incorrectly. Over time, bad form can create muscle imbalances in the shoulder complex, according to Geoff Tripp, CSCS, certified personal trainer and head of fitness at Trainiac. The result? A decrease in mobility and strength.

The telltale sign of a muscle imbalance in your shoulders is asymmetry. Is one shoulder higher than the other? When you turn to the side, can you see part of your upper back? Can you barely raise one of your arms above your head or maintain a neutral alignment? If you answered yes, your shoulders may be weak and tight.

For most people, sitting at a desk throughout the day is inevitable. But you can optimize your work space to help improve your posture. Start by adjusting your monitor to eye level, according to the Mayo Clinic. Pro tip: You can stack books under your machine if you don't have a monitor riser.

Adjust your chair so that your feet are touching the ground, hips in line with the knees. And also check to make sure your hands are at elbow level.

You don't want to wait until your lunch break to get some movement. Shift your position around as often as possible to help fix poor posture and stiff muscles, recommends the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Try and get up as often as possible, whether you're sitting at a desk or not. And if your day-to-day job involves a lot of standing or walking, wear low-heeled supportive shoes.

As mentioned above, pay close attention to your exercise form. Even seasoned gym-goers need to brush up on correct exercise form every now and again.

Also, don't put weight before proper mechanics. If you're unable to do an exercise properly with a specific weight, drop your dumbbells for a more appropriate load.