conceptshoulder-exercises
Glenohumeral mobility stretching
Notes
Glenohumeral mobility stretching
One-line summary: Sleeper stretch and cross-body stretch (alone or with dorsal-glide mobilization) increased internal-rotation and horizontal-adduction PROM in retrieved abstracts.
This page is research synthesis, not medical advice.
The insight
Local posterior-shoulder stretching — sleeper stretch and cross-body stretch — moved IR and horizontal-adduction ROM in people with IR loss or IR deficit. Adding a clinician mobilization to cross-body stretching increased the change; adding a one-session thoracic manipulation before sleeper stretch or glenohumeral mobilization reduced IR gains. From 2026-08-22-academic-research-effective-shoulder-exercises-strength.
Evidence
- From 2026-08-22-academic-research-effective-shoulder-exercises-strength: Swanson et al. 2024 (n=40 with clinically meaningful IR loss) — a single session of grade-III posterior glenohumeral mobilization or sleeper stretching improved IR and horizontal-adduction PROM within group; the two local interventions did not differ from each other.
- From 2026-08-22-academic-research-effective-shoulder-exercises-strength: Swanson et al. 2024 — adding a supine HVLA thoracic manipulation at T3–4 before those local drills produced smaller IR gains (mean difference 4.4° after mobilization, 6.4° after sleeper).
- From 2026-08-22-academic-research-effective-shoulder-exercises-strength: Kang et al. 2019 (n=40 with GH IR deficits) — cross-body stretching alone increased IR, horizontal adduction, and a shoulder-mobility measure; combining it with simultaneous dorsal-glide mobilization produced larger changes (IR +6°, HA +10°, mobility −2 cm vs stretch alone).
Contradictions / tensions
- Thoracic manipulation (one session) reduced IR gains; multi-week thoracic extension exercise is a different intervention. See thoracic-extension-and-shoulder-rom.
Open questions
Related
Referenced by