Intermediate Shoulder Rehabilitation Post-Fracture

Program Overview This is a five-week, intermediate-level shoulder rehabilitation guide for someone recovering after a shoulder fracture. It combines gentle hands-on techniques, guided mobility work, and graded strengthening to restore comfortable movement and shoulder function safely.

Who This Program Is For and Its Goal This program is for people whose fracture has healed enough to begin guided movement and strengthening, and who can follow instructions with clinician oversight. The goal is to steadily rebuild shoulder motion, rotator cuff and biceps strength, and scapular control so daily tasks feel easier, while protecting the healing shoulder throughout.

Before You Start Please review this plan with your physical therapist or doctor before beginning, and have them confirm it matches your stage of healing. Do not push into ranges of motion that have not been cleared by your clinician, and always warm up before and cool down after each session.

Safety Notes, Contraindications, and When to Stop Do not work into shoulder ranges that have not yet been assessed and cleared by your clinician. Stop and contact your clinician if you develop sharp or worsening pain, new swelling, a feeling of the shoulder slipping or giving way, numbness or tingling, or if pain at rest rises above a mild level. Never push through symptoms to finish a session.

Weekly Structure The plan runs five weeks with four sessions per week, about thirty minutes each, using a tennis ball, barbell, rower, and bosu ball. Sessions progress through four gentle phases—protection, early mobility, progressive strengthening, and advanced strengthening—each building on the last as your shoulder tolerates more.

How the Five Weeks Are Organized Week one focuses on protection and gentle movement. Week two adds early mobility and scapular control. Week three introduces progressive strengthening, and week four moves into advanced strengthening and functional tasks. Week five consolidates gains and prepares you for the next stage. Your clinician decides when to advance based on how your shoulder responds, not the calendar alone.

What a Typical Session Looks Like Each session follows a warm-up, main work, and cool-down pattern. Expect to spend a few minutes preparing the shoulder, most of the session on mobility and strengthening drills, and the final minutes cooling down to settle the shoulder before you finish.

Warm-Up, Main Work, and Cool-Down Begin with easy warm-up movement, such as gentle arm swings and light rower work at an easy pace. The main work includes scapular stabilization drills like prone Y-T-W and wall slides, band or light-weight resistance, tennis-ball control work, and bosu-ball balance tasks as cleared. Finish with a cool-down of slow, comfortable range-of-motion and stretching.

Tracking Progress Keep a simple log of your pain levels, how far you can move your arm, and which exercises feel easier or harder. Bring this to your clinician visits so they can compare it against formal measures like the SPADI, ASES, VAS pain scale, range-of-motion measurements, manual muscle testing, and QuickDASH.

How Progression Criteria and Outcome Measures Are Used Your clinician uses specific checkpoints—such as comfortable resting pain, cleared range of motion, stable shoulder joint, and adequate strength—to decide when you move to the next phase. Outcome measures like the SPADI, ASES, VAS, and QuickDASH track your overall progress over time. Never advance phases on your own; let your clinician confirm each step.

Recovery and Self-Care Rest between sessions and give your shoulder time to recover. Use ice or heat only as your clinician advises, keep up gentle movement on rest days if cleared, and prioritize sleep and good posture. Pace yourself—consistency matters more than intensity in early recovery.

Pain Management Cautions and Red Flags Do not use this program to self-manage escalating pain, and avoid any medication decisions without your clinician. Seek prompt care for sudden severe pain, visible deformity, new weakness, numbness, or a shoulder that feels unstable. Mild soreness that settles with rest is common; anything sharper or worsening should be reported.