Part of the Yoga Framework mobility glossary — browse all 100+ terms.
Your shoulders do a lot of quiet work: reaching, lifting, carrying, holding you up in a plank. The Shoulder CAR is the simplest way to check in with them. One slow, deliberate rotation takes the joint through its full range and shows you exactly where you’re stiff, weak, or compensating.
A CAR is exactly what it sounds like: you rotate the joint through its full range under your own control, no momentum. For the shoulder, that means tracing the biggest circle you can with a straight arm while keeping the rest of your body still.
The basic articulations:
- Flexion and extension
- Abduction and adduction
- Internal and external rotation
The Shoulder CAR:
- Start standing, or sit tall.
- Keep the arm straight. Externally rotate the shoulder to its end range while bringing the arm into full adduction.
- Holding that external rotation, raise the arm into full flexion, overhead.
- Begin internally rotating the shoulder as the arm moves out into abduction.
- Keep rotating internally into end-range extension, behind the body.
- Maintain the rotation as the arm returns to your side. Reverse the circle, or repeat in the same direction.
Cues that matter:
- Don’t shrug or arch your back to cheat the range.
- Move slowly enough to own every inch. This is assessment, not exercise.
- Repeat daily. Your available range changes; the CAR tells you where you are today.
Once the Shoulder CAR feels smooth, try the Hip CAR — same concept, lower body.
Move within a pain-free range, and check with your physician before beginning any new mobility program.
