Wall slide
Forearms on a wall, slide them up as far as is comfortable while keeping the shoulders down.
Practises raising the arms overhead with the shoulder blade rotating upwards and staying on the ribs — the position a hang starts from.
Starting dose: 3 × 8–10, resting 45 seconds between sets.
You need a wall.
No pull-up bar? See all the shoulder drills that need none.
How to do it
- Stand facing a wall with your forearms on it, elbows at shoulder height, a little in front of your feet.
- Push gently into the wall and slide your forearms up it, as far as is comfortable.
- Lift the forearms a centimetre off the wall at the top, then slide back down.
Think about
- Push into the wall
- Ribs down
- Only as high as is comfortable
Watch for
- Arching the back to reach higher
- Shoulders rising to the ears
- One arm stopping lower than the other
Easier: Stop at the height where it is still comfortable.
Harder: A light band looped round the wrists, pushed apart as you slide.
What it works
See all of them on the body model →
Checking it on camera
Side-on works best for a wall: phone two metres to the side, whole upper body in frame. Film each side if one arm is the problem. See it in the filming guide.
The pain rule
- 0–3 out of 10 during the drill: fine, carry on.
- 4–5: do less — a smaller range, fewer reps, or the easier version.
- 6 or more: stop that drill for today.
- Worse the next morning than before the session: that session was too much. Step back.
- 6 or more on waking, any morning: rest the shoulder that day.
Sharp or catching pain, or pins and needles, means stop regardless of the number.
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Where it is used
- Phase 1 — Set the shoulder blades — Shoulder: kipping works, strict pull-ups do not