How many reps of banded shoulder CARs should you do when you are new to the exercise?

Three or four circles each direction per arm, using a genuinely light band, is a full session. Move to a slightly firmer band or a longer end-range hold only once you can stay in active control the whole way around.

What can I use instead of a resistance band for banded shoulder CARs?

A towel gives no comparable resistance, so do bodyweight shoulder CARs without added resistance until a band is available. Skip anything heavier than a light band, since the point is feedback, not load.

What do banded shoulder CARs add over the bodyweight version, and when should you skip the band?

The light tension sharpens joint awareness and gives the cuff and delts resistance to control at end range, a smart progression once plain shoulder CARs feel easy. Skip the band if your shoulder is currently painful or unstable, since outside tension pulling on a compromised joint calls for guided rehab rather than a mobility drill.

Intermediate

Banded Shoulder CARs

Holding a light band during a shoulder CAR gives the joint something to work against and adds resistance that builds as the arm rises toward the top of the range. That tension sharpens your sense of where the joint is in space and forces the cuff and delts to control the circle actively. It is a smart progression once bodyweight shoulder CARs feel easy and controlled.

Equipment: Band
Body part: Shoulder
Type: Functional, Stretching
Browse by muscle: Deltoid Middle, Infraspinatus
Browse by movement: Mobility Drill

How to do it

1
Anchor a light band low and hold the free end in one hand with the arm down at your side.
2
Take up light tension, then trace the arm forward and up overhead, keeping the band taut.
3
At the top, externally rotate the shoulder while holding the arm up against the band, which pulls hardest here and tries to drag the arm down out of the overhead position.
4
Sweep the arm out to the side and down behind you into extension against the band.
5
Internally rotate to close the circle and return to the start position under control.
6
Keep the torso still and the band tension smooth throughout, breathing steadily.
7
Perform equal circles each direction, then switch arms.

Tips

Use a genuinely light band; too much tension turns a mobility drill into a strength grind and shrinks your range.
Keep the shoulder blade set down and back rather than letting the band yank it up.
Work against the band at end positions rather than letting it pull you there, and stay in active control the whole time.

Variations

Common mistakes

A band with too much tension turns the drill into a strength exercise, which shortens the very range you are trying to open.
Letting the band go slack anywhere in the circle removes the feedback that is the whole reason to add it in the first place.
The shoulder blade gets yanked up toward the ear when the band pulls hardest, instead of staying set down and back the whole way around.
Going passive and letting the band drag the arm through the circle, rather than staying in active control, turns a CAR into a stretch with no owned range.

Frequently asked

How many reps of banded shoulder CARs should you do when you are new to the exercise?: Three or four circles each direction per arm, using a genuinely light band, is a full session. Move to a slightly firmer band or a longer end-range hold only once you can stay in active control the whole way around.
What can I use instead of a resistance band for banded shoulder CARs?: A towel gives no comparable resistance, so do bodyweight shoulder CARs without added resistance until a band is available. Skip anything heavier than a light band, since the point is feedback, not load.
What do banded shoulder CARs add over the bodyweight version, and when should you skip the band?: The light tension sharpens joint awareness and gives the cuff and delts resistance to control at end range, a smart progression once plain shoulder CARs feel easy. Skip the band if your shoulder is currently painful or unstable, since outside tension pulling on a compromised joint calls for guided rehab rather than a mobility drill.

Related exercises

Other movements among FitRay's 2,000+ exercises that load the same target muscle — same equipment and level first.

All Shoulder exercises