Standing shoulder abduction with the palm forward strengthens the muscles that raise the arm out to the side, using only the weight of the arm. You stand with your arms by your sides, turn the palm to face forward, and lift the straight arm out and up, thumb leading, as far toward your head as is comfortable, then lower it slowly. Turning the palm forward rolls the arm outward. The shoulder normally turns outward like this as the arm rises high out to the side, which lets the top of the arm bone pass under the bony point of the shoulder.

How to do the standing shoulder abduction, palm forward

Stand tall with your feet about hip width apart and both arms hanging by your sides.
Turn the working arm so the palm faces forward, keeping the elbow straight. The hand can be relaxed or in a loose fist, as in the video.
Lift the arm out to the side and up in a slow, smooth arc, thumb leading. Go as high toward your head as is comfortable. In the video the arm finishes straight up beside the ear.
Keep your body upright and the shoulder low as the arm rises, without leaning away or hitching the shoulder toward your ear.
Lower the arm back to your side just as slowly, then repeat.

What you should feel

Work at the top and outside of the shoulder, and around the shoulder blade once the arm passes shoulder height.

Common mistakes

Leaning the trunk away from the arm to get it higher.
Hitching the shoulder up toward your ear as the arm climbs.
Letting the palm turn down on the way up, which rolls the arm back inward.
Letting the arm drop on the way down.

How often

Many programs use 1 to 3 sets of 8 to 15 slow lifts, once a day or a few days a week. Your physio will adjust this.

Stop and check with your physio if

A sharp pain or a painful catch at the top of the shoulder as the arm rises.
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

Some people feel pain in one band of the lift, often somewhere around shoulder height, that eases again higher up or on the way down. If that happens, stop just short of where it starts and let your physio know, rather than pushing through it. The voice guide's one warning is about leaning and hunching, and a mirror in front of you makes both easy to spot.

Once it feels easy, a small weight of about 0.5 to 1 kg (1 to 2 lb) in the hand makes it harder, and shoulder abduction with a band is another common next step. If the arm cannot yet lift sideways on its own, shoulder abduction with a stick lets your other arm help.

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. Raising the arm sideways by itself asks a lot of supraspinatus, the rotator cuff tendon across the top of the shoulder, so after a cuff repair it normally waits until your surgeon clears the arm to lift under its own power. If your shoulder has ever dislocated or feels loose, ask your physio how high to go, 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.

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.

Standing shoulder abduction, palm forward