Thirty sessions.
Twelve minutes each.
A shoulder that reaches.

Five phases, 180 different movements, no repeats — from pendulum swings on a frozen shoulder to overhead pressing and the get-up. Built for stiff shoulders, painful arcs and weak cuffs alike. At home, with a wall, a chair, a table, a broomstick, a towel and a backpack or two water jugs.

Before you start

See a doctor first — do not start — with an arm you cannot lift at all after an injury; visible deformity or a suspected dislocation; a hot, red or swollen shoulder with fever; chest tightness, breathlessness or arm pain on exertion; progressive weakness or numbness; or unexplained night pain with weight loss.

The pain rule: up to 4/10 during, back to your normal by the next morning, no worse week to week.

Stiff or frozen shoulder: work at the edge of range with a mild stretch. Gentle beats aggressive — forcing a capsule makes it angrier and slower.

Painful arc: if it catches between shoulder and head height, stay below that line and raise it week by week. Every session has a lower option.

Progression: every movement has an easier and a harder version. Two clean sessions on a level earn the next.

Kit: a wall, a chair, a table, a broomstick, a towel and a loaded backpack or two water jugs.

Phase 1Settle and glide

ALet it hang. Let it glide. Let it settle.Six movements that unload the joint, restore the first degrees of glide and switch the cuff on without lifting the arm. BAssist it up. Let the good arm do the lifting.Active-assisted range: the good arm carries the sore one through the movement, so the joint gets range without effort. CWalk it up the wall. One finger at a time.The wall does the work: fingers climb, the arm follows, and the joint gains range without the muscles fighting it. DTurn it out. Reach behind. Take the range back.Outward rotation goes first in a stiff shoulder and behind-the-back reach goes next — today both get worked. ESmall circles. Steady tension. Bigger range.Rotation under gentle tension, protraction for the shoulder blade, and the first pectoral opening. FSix sessions in. The arm goes higher than it did.Phase 1 check-in: active-assisted range to the wall, a long isometric hold and the first unloaded raise.

Phase 2Range and scapula

GSet the blade. Then lift the arm.Phase 2 opens at the shoulder blade: a third of overhead reach comes from it, and it is the part nobody trains. HHigher. Wider. Under control.Active range in every direction, plus the two prone raises that expose the back of the shoulder. ITake the arm all the way round.Controlled articular rotations, the scapular push-up and the first closed-chain loading through the hand. JNinety degrees. The angle that matters.Rotation at shoulder height is where throwing, reaching and lifting live — introduced today, supported. KPush the wall. Hold the plank. Own the blade.Closed-chain day: weight through the hand compresses and settles the joint while the blade learns to hold. LTwelve in. The arm goes where you send it.Phase 2 check-in: full active range, the first loaded rotation and abduction to shoulder height.

Phase 3Cuff strength

MSmall muscles. Big job. Train them properly.Phase 3 opens on the rotator cuff itself — resisted rotation in both directions, then the back of the shoulder. NRaise it. Thumb up. Every time.Raising in every plane, with the thumb leading so the joint keeps its room. OPull more than you push.Pulling day: the back of the shoulder takes at least as much work as the front, or the joint loses its balance. PRotate at shoulder height. Where sport lives.The 90/90 position: the angle that throwing, serving and reaching overhead all pass through. QHold it overhead. Walk with it. Do not drop it.Overhead stability: the cuff and the blade holding a load above the head while the body moves underneath. REighteen in. The cuff holds.Phase 3 check-in: full wall slide, the first pressing and the first real pull.

Phase 4Overhead and load

SOverhead. Loaded. Earned.Phase 4 opens with the strict press — the movement most painful shoulders give up, rebuilt properly. TPress it. Turn it. Hold it up there.Pressing with rotation, the pike position and the first crawling — the shoulder under load from every angle. UKneel. Press. Nothing else moves.Take the legs out and the shoulder cannot cheat: kneeling presses, rows in a plank and the wall lean. VDrive it. Catch it. Control the way down.Power up, control down — and the pulling to match every press. WOne arm. Overhead. Nothing wobbles.Single-arm overhead under real load, plus the overhead squat — the honest test of shoulder range. XTwenty-four in. Overhead is yours again.Phase 4 check-in: the carry medley, the thruster and the hardest pressing and pulling in the programme.

Phase 5Strength and return

YFast hands. Steady joint. Reflexes back.Phase 5 opens with rhythmic stabilisation: small, quick, unpredictable loads that train the reflexes holding the joint centred. ZThrow it. Stop it. That is the skill.Accelerate and decelerate: the shoulder must brake a moving arm, which is where most injuries actually happen. AAPush hard. Pull harder. Stay square.Full-strength pushing and pulling with a stable trunk, plus getting a load off the floor and overhead. ABHold longer. Last longer. The cuff is endurance.Endurance day: the quality that decides whether the shoulder is still comfortable at the end of a long day. ACUpside down. Full range. Full strength.The hardest shoulder work in the programme — the full get-up, the wall hold and the dive-bomber. ADThirty sessions. Both arms. Same numbers.Graduation: the range test, the press test and the endurance test — left against right, written down.