📖 Static demo — read-only snapshot

You’re browsing a static build of the Body IQ knowledge graph, so everything loads with no backend. A few things that need the live server are turned off here:

  • Global search (sidebar) is disabled — it queries the API.
  • The JSON API and the API “Try it” playgroundaren’t included.
  • The data is a snapshot — it refreshes only when the demo is rebuilt, not live from the database.

Everything else — the body map, progression ladders, coverage heatmap, exercise finder, and all anatomy/exercise/source pages — works fully. The full app (live search + API + database) runs from the source on GitHub.

Cross-Body Shoulder Stretch (Horizontal Adduction)

Draftstretch90%beginner⬤ strong evidence
View FHIR resourceFHIR R4 ActivityDefinition — the interoperable form of this exercise

Positions & Range of Motion

Start
standing or seated tall, working arm raised to ~90° and brought across the front of the body, opposite hand cradling the elbow
End
working arm pulled horizontally across the chest toward the opposite shoulder, shoulder blade pinned down, held at comfortable end range
Range of Motion
glenohumeral horizontal adduction to end range (~stretch across posterior shoulder), scapula stabilized

How to Perform

Standing or seated, pulling arm across body. Reduces GIRD by 14.77° and pain by 1.54 points — equivalent to sleeper stretch. Modified version increased IR ROM by 89.52% in tennis players. Reduces inferior posterior capsule shear modulus only (vs sleeper which affects both middle and inferior).

Watch on YouTube↗

Opens a YouTube search for “Cross-Body Shoulder Stretch (Horizontal Adduction)”

Starting position: standing

Coaching Cues

  1. 1

    Long, tall spine — back of shoulder lengthens

    (verbal)
  2. 2

    Pull the elbow toward the opposite shoulder

    (verbal)
  3. 3

    Reach the fingertips toward the far wall

    (verbal)
  4. 4

    Keep the working shoulder pinned away from the ear

    (tactile)

Evidence-Based Dosing & EMG Data

Recommended Dosing

3-5 reps of 30 seconds per side, daily for 4 weeks [de Araújo 2026]

EMG Activation Data

GIRD reduction 14.77° (95% CI -19.70 to -9.84). Modified version: 89.52% IR ROM increase in tennis players [D 2023]

Muscles Involved (3)

Primary Movers

Posterior Deltoid— Primary tissue being stretched
Infraspinatus— Posterior rotator cuff stretch

Secondary Movers

Teres Minor— Posterior shoulder stretch

Easier Variations ↓

1

Wall-Assisted Cross-Body

Stand sideways to a wall, let the wall assist horizontal adduction.

Harder Variations ↑

1

Cross-Body with Dorsal Glide

Combine with a posterior glide mobilization for additional 6° IR and 10° HA improvement [Kang 2020].

Target Movements (2)

Shoulder AdductionGlenohumeral Joint
Shoulder Horizontal AdductionGlenohumeral Joint

Why This Exercise Matters

Everyday activities this exercise helps you do — essential means it directly trains the capacity the task needs:

Reaching OverheadDressing — Upper Body

Goals This Helps With

Rehab, performance, prevention, and mobility goals this exercise supports — essential means it's a cornerstone:

Improve Shoulder MobilitymobilityShoulder Injury PreventionpreventionSubacromial Shoulder Painrehab

Research Notes

AUDIT[low]: Movements include frontal-plane shoulder-adduction; the stretch is produced by transverse-plane horizontal adduction only, and frontal-plane adduction does not lengthen the posterior deltoid/cuff. → Remove the frontal-plane shoulder-adduction movement and retain only shoulder horizontal adduction.

Evidence Sources (2)