In shoulder pulley abduction, you sit with an over-door pulley above and behind you and pull down with your easier arm, so the stiff arm is drawn out to the side and up with the elbow straight (assisted range of motion). The voice guide asks you to stop at a stretch and stay upright, without leaning or shrugging.

How to do the shoulder pulley abduction

Set the pulley over a firmly closed door and tug the rope to check it holds. Sit upright on a firm chair, back to the door.
Take a handle in each hand. In the video both arms start out to the sides at about shoulder height, palms down. If the stiff arm will not go that high, start with it by your side, elbow straight.
Pull down steadily with the easier arm until the hand is beside your hip. The rope draws the stiff arm out to the side and up, straight and in line with your body rather than in front of it. As it passes shoulder height, let the palm turn up, so it faces your head at the top.
Stop when you feel a stretch and hold briefly.
Ease the pulling arm back up so the stiff arm lowers slowly to your side.

What you should feel

A stretch under the arm and down the side of the shoulder that is being lifted, mostly once it goes above shoulder height. The pulling arm supplies the effort.

Common mistakes

Tipping your body sideways, away from the stiff arm, to gain height.
Shrugging the stiff shoulder up toward your ear.
Letting the arm drift well forward, so the movement turns into a forward lift.
Pulling fast, or letting the stiff arm drop on the way down.

How often

Programs commonly use 10 to 15 steady pulls, 1 to 3 times a day, holding briefly at the stretch. Your physio will adjust this.

Stop and check with your physio if

A sharp pinch or catch as the arm goes past shoulder height, pain that gets worse with each pull, or pins and needles down the arm.
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

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. Pulley work is often treated as assisted movement, and many repair programs add it after helper or pendulum exercises, so check it is on your plan. If it is, pull only with the easier arm and let the operated one stay loose. After a dislocation, ask how high the arm may go out to the side, since the arm raised sideways and turned outward is the position a shoulder most often slips out in.

The video takes the arms in turn, one pull for each side. With only one stiff shoulder, keep pulling with the easier arm every time. If the arm pinches when it goes straight out to the side, your physio may have you guide it about 30 degrees forward of that line (the plane of the shoulder blade), which often suits a sore shoulder or a repaired tendon better.

Choose a pulley designed to hang over a door, with the anchor above a solid door that is shut firmly and opens away from you, and give it a firm tug before you sit down. Lock the door if you can and let others at home know, so nobody opens it mid-set. Check the rope and handles for fraying now and then. Without a pulley, shoulder abduction with a stick lifts the arm the same way, and shoulder pulley flexion uses the same setup to raise the arm forward.

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.

Shoulder pulley abduction