The full can raise works the muscles that lift the arm, including the rotator cuff tendon across the top of the shoulder (supraspinatus), with the thumbs pointing up as if you were holding a full can. Here you do it sitting on an exercise ball with a light dumbbell in each hand, raising both arms up and out from your sides and lowering them slowly. The ball adds a balance task, so your trunk has to keep you steady while the arms work.

How to do the full can raise on a ball

Set the ball on a non-slip mat next to a wall, counter or sturdy chair you can grab. Sit tall on top with both feet flat and a little wider than hip width apart.
Hold a light dumbbell in each hand with your arms by your sides and your thumbs pointing forward.
Raise both arms up and out from your sides, elbows slightly bent, keeping the thumbs turned up so that at shoulder height the palms face forward.
Stop when your hands reach shoulder height, as the voice guide says, unless your physio has asked you to go higher. In the video the arms carry on until the hands are above the head in a wide V, which is a harder version to use only once your physio sets it.
Lower the weights slowly back to your sides, keeping your trunk upright and the ball still.

What you should feel

Work at the tops and fronts of both shoulders, and steady effort around your stomach and back to keep you balanced on the ball.

Common mistakes

Turning the thumbs down as the arms rise.
Shrugging toward your ears, or leaning back to swing the weights up.
Letting the ball roll as the arms lift.
Picking weights so heavy that the elbows bend a lot or the lift turns jerky.

How often

Many programs start with 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 slow raises with light dumbbells, such as 0.5 to 2 kg (1 to 4 lb), a few days a week. Your physio will adjust this.

Stop and check with your physio if

The ball rolls or you lose your balance. Put the weights down, plant both feet and hold your support before you carry on.
You feel dizzy, lightheaded, faint or sick, or the room seems to spin. Hold your support, sit down and get medical advice the same day before you practice again. If you faint, it does not settle within a few minutes of sitting still, your vision suddenly blurs or goes double, or you cannot stand or walk steadily, call emergency services.
A sharp pain or a painful catch in either shoulder as you lift.
Pain, pins and needles or numbness spreading down your arm or into your hand.
Pins and needles in your arm or hand that do not go away after you stop, or part of your arm or hand goes numb. Get medical advice the same day. If one side of your face or body suddenly goes numb or weak, or your speech becomes slurred or muddled, call emergency services, even if it goes away.
A sudden pop or tearing feeling in the shoulder that brings sharp pain, new weakness or trouble lifting the arm. Stop and contact your surgical team the same day, or get medical advice the same day if you have not had surgery.
The shoulder feels as if it has slipped out of place, looks a different shape or suddenly locks so you cannot move the arm, or your hand turns cold, pale or blue. Go to an emergency department straight away, without driving yourself, and do not try to put the shoulder back in yourself.

From the clinic

In the video the arms travel up and out to the sides. Many physios set a full can raise a little forward of that, in line with the shoulder blade, partway between straight ahead and straight out to the side, and that angle often feels more comfortable. Use the angle your physio gives you. Keep the thumbs up all the way, since that is what separates this from the empty can version, where the thumbs point down.

Choose a firmly pumped ball tall enough that your hips are level with or just above your knees when your feet are flat. Keep your support close on one side. A firm chair without arms gives the same shoulder work without the balance part, so start there if you have fallen in the past year, often feel unsteady or dizzy, or have low bone density (osteoporosis), and ask your physio when to move onto the ball. If you have high blood pressure, breathe steadily through every repetition and never hold your breath.

If you have had a hip replacement, get the go-ahead from your surgeon or physio before you try the full can raise on a ball. Sitting on a low ball, and getting on and off it, can bend the hip past a right angle, and many surgeons ask you to avoid that for the first months after some operations.

After shoulder surgery, including a rotator cuff repair, or after a shoulder fracture or dislocation, follow your surgeon's or physio's plan, and do only the movements and range they have cleared. Many plans allow only passive movement at first, where the arm is moved for you and its muscles stay relaxed. Lifting weights in this position loads the supraspinatus tendon directly, so after a cuff repair it usually comes late in the plan. If your shoulder has ever dislocated or feels loose, ask your physio how high to lift, because an arm raised out to the side and turned outward is the position in which a shoulder that has come out at the front can slip again. If you have had surgery on your spine, chest or heart in recent months, get the go-ahead from your surgical team or physio first.

The lateral raise is a standing sideways lift to shoulder height with straight arms and the palms facing the floor, and the seated ball arm raise is a lighter start on the ball.

Written and checked by the PocketPhysio editorial team. Last updated 2026-09-28.

This page is general education, not a diagnosis or a personal treatment plan. If you have pain, an injury or a health condition, see a physiotherapist or doctor before starting new exercises.

Full can raise on a ball