Here’s the truth: most shoulder pain isn’t from a serious injury. It’s from the simple stuff you do every day.

👉 Sitting too long. When you spend hours hunched over a desk, your chest tightens, your upper back stiffens, and your shoulder stabilisers switch off. That leaves your shoulders stiff, achy, and ready to complain the moment you reach overhead.

👉 Weak stabilisers and lazy upper back. Your shoulders rely on the muscles around your shoulder blades and rotator cuff for support. If those are weak or switched off, your shoulder joint takes all the pressure. The result? Strain, inflammation, and pain. Think of your shoulders caught in a tug of war between tight chest muscles and weak upper back muscles. A simple routine can switch the right muscles back on, loosen what’s tight, and stop the pulling.

👉 Bad habits. Slouching at your desk. Shrugging your shoulders while you lift. Carrying heavy bags on one side. Training with poor technique. Over time, these stack up into big pain.

And this isn’t just about your shoulders. Shoulder pain makes life harder:

  • Reaching overhead.

  • Washing your hair.

  • Lifting a shopping bag.

  • Sleeping comfortably.

  • Training the way you want to.

It makes you feel like your upper body is trapped in a cage of stiffness and soreness.

Now of course - if your shoulder pain comes from a medical condition or serious injury, that’s different. Go get it checked by a doctor or physio if you haven’t already. This routine might still help, but here we’re mainly addressing the kind of pain caused by sitting, weakness, and bad habits.

And the good news? That pain is 100% fixable.

👉 In the next section, we’ll look at what NOT to do - the common mistakes that make shoulder pain worse, and how to avoid them.