Intermediate Shoulder Rehab Post Fracture

Program Overview — Intermediate Shoulder Rehabilitation After a Fracture

This six-week program is for someone recovering from a shoulder fracture who has moved past the earliest healing phase and is ready to build strength and motion. The goal is to gently restore shoulder movement, improve rotator cuff and shoulder-blade control, and rebuild everyday function. It blends mobility drills, scapular (shoulder-blade) work, rotator cuff strengthening, and progressive resistance using a stationary bike for general warm-up, cable machine, barbell, therapy putty, and TRX. Progress is gradual, and your clinician guides each step.

Before You Start

Always warm up first and cool down after each session, and stop if pain increases. Certain conditions — such as severe osteoporosis — make some loading unsafe, so confirm with your clinician that this program fits your bone health. Stop and call your clinician if you have sharp or worsening pain, new swelling, numbness, or you cannot move the arm as well as before. Never push through increasing pain. This guide supports, but does not replace, hands-on clinician supervision and personalized advice.

Weekly Structure

The plan spans six weeks with three sessions per week, about 20 minutes each. Weeks 1–2 focus on protection and pain control: gentle pendulum swings, shoulder-blade setting, and light isometrics. Weeks 3–4 move into early mobilization: active-assisted range of motion, progressing cuff work, and shoulder-blade control. Weeks 5–6 build controlled strength with bands, cables, and functional patterns. Each session uses a short bike warm-up, then targeted shoulder work, then a light cool-down.

What a Typical Session Looks Like

Start with a few easy minutes on the stationary bike to warm up the whole body. Then do pendulum and active-assisted range-of-motion drills, shoulder-blade setting and retraction, and progressive rotator cuff isometrics, adding therapy putty or a light band as you advance. Later weeks add controlled cable-machine or barbell movements and TRX-assisted patterns for shoulder-blade and cuff strength. Finish with gentle stretching and easy bike pedaling to cool down, keeping the arm relaxed and pain-free throughout.

Tracking Progress

Your clinician uses progression criteria — like pain at rest staying low, improving flexion range, and pain-free shoulder-blade control — to decide when to move from protection to mobilization to strengthening. Outcome measures such as a pain scale, range-of-motion checks, strength testing, shoulder-blade assessment, and a shoulder function score are tracked over time to show real change. Don't self-advance phases; these checkpoints help your clinician keep progress safe and steady.

Recovery and Self-Care

Manage pain with rest and position changes, and avoid heavy lifting or overhead strain between sessions. Some mild soreness is normal, but rising pain, night pain that worsens, new weakness, or numbness are reasons to pause and check in with your clinician. Keep up gentle movement on rest days, stay hydrated, and prioritize sleep. Do not add medications or new exercises on your own without your clinician's guidance.