Nagging shoulder pain starting to get to you? You bought a muscle scraper to help you relieve shoulder pain at home? Nice move! But now what? Believe it or not, this is something we encourage all the time at Mobility-Doc. We love that our patients and community are taking muscle recovery and long-term movement health into their own hands. That said, muscle scraping isn’t just about dragging a tool over your skin and hoping for the best. There’s a little strategy involved.
Today we’d like to walk you through Dr. Chloe’s favorite quick upper-body muscle scraping routine. We’re going to focus on the bicep, tricep, forearm, deltoid, and upper trap. These muscles all play a major role in shoulder mobility, and when they get stiff or sticky, shoulder mobility tends to suffer.
What To know
Some shoulder pain relief routines can be kind of overwhelming. Between the amount of time it takes and number of exercises you end up not completing it because there’s just too much to do! That’s why this routine is so great. The entire thing takes about 10 minutes and can be done before or after activity depending on your goal. Before training, it’s a simple way to open up range of motion and prep the shoulder. After training, it becomes a powerful recovery tool to help calm things down and restore tissue quality.
If you’re brand new to muscle scraping and want a more complete, big-picture approach—including how it fits into warm-ups, stretching, and strengthening—we recommend starting with one of our deeper-dive blogs. This routine is perfect for the person who wants something effective, efficient, and easy to repeat, whether you’re lifting, throwing, a yogi, or just dealing with stiff shoulders from daily life.
Let’s get into it!
Before You Start: A Few Key Principles
First things first—pressure matters.
The goal of muscle scraping is not to bruise yourself or cause pain. Think of the scraper like a hairbrush. You’re guiding muscle fibers to lay straighter so they can move more freely, not yanking through tangles. Mild discomfort is okay. Sharp pain is a sign to back off.
Always use an emollient to reduce friction and protect the skin. We like ultrasound gel, but lotion, oil, or massage gel all work well.
Avoid scraping over:
- Open wounds
- Irritated or inflamed skin
- Bone!! (this isn’t helpful…. And you’ll probably bruise yourself)
The 2‑Minute Rule (Per Muscle)
For each muscle group, follow the same simple structure:
You’ll start with 60 seconds of “search.” This is where you slowly cover the entire muscle, looking for areas that feel tight, gritty, or sensitive. If you find a spot that really stands out, you can hang out there for up to 30 seconds—but this is optional.
Next, you’ll move into 60 seconds of dynamic movement while continuing to scrape the entire muscle. This is where the magic happens. Movement helps the tissue adapt in real time and reinforces better motion at the joint.
Two minutes per muscle. That’s it!
How To Muscle Scrape the Upper Body
Work from the front of the top of the bicep down toward the elbow, covering the full length of the muscle.
During the dynamic portion, slowly bend and straighten the elbow as you continue scraping. This pairs elbow motion with improved tissue glide through the bicep.
There are 2 ways you can attack this!
1 – Stay standing but raise your arm to 45 degrees above shoulder height. This helps elongate the muscle which is better for scraping. Scrape along the back of the upper arm, moving from the top of the muscle down toward the elbow.
2 – Get a box/bench or chair and do a tricep chair stretch. This will help open up your upper back and lats as well as help access the tricep a different way. Follow the same protocol as the first one!
Add dynamic movement by bending and straightening the elbow. This helps restore smoother motion through a muscle that often gets tight from pressing, pushing, and desk work.
This can be pretty sensitive, we usually like to use the concave side so it’s a little more gentile!
Cover both sides of the forearm, working through the flexors and extensors.
For movement, you can:
- Flex and extend the wrist
- Or gently rotate the wrist (twisting motion)
This is especially helpful for anyone who lifts, grips, climbs, or types!
The deltoid has 3 heads that attach up into your shoulder, so take your time here. Cover the front, side, and back of the shoulder.
As you scrape, move your arm:
- Forward to access the front head
- Out to the side to access the medial head
- And slightly behind you to access rear head
This combination supports smoother shoulder motion in multiple directions.
Scrape from the back of the neck (in the base area) town into the upper shoulder. This area can be quite sensitive so don’t do too much!
While scraping, gently move your head away from the side you’re working, then return to center. Keep the movement slow and controlled. Do not muscle scrape the front of the neck!
Watch Our How To Video:
Want a visual walk‑through? Check out our demo video with Dr. Chloe, where we go through this entire upper‑body routine step by step—with bonus tips you won’t want to miss.
Keep It Simple, Keep It Consistent
This routine shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes total, but the payoff can be big. You’ll see instant results in better shoulder mobility, have less stiffness, paired with faster recovery.
Muscle scraping works best when it’s paired with movement and done consistently—not aggressively. Listen to your body, adjust pressure as needed, and don’t be afraid to modify based on how things feel that day.
You’re not average. Your warm‑up and recovery shouldn’t be either!
Full Body Solution
Want a full body solution? Use this shoulder mobility program and combine it with our lower body tutorial!
Get Your Own Sidekick!
Ready to take control of your muscle recovery and mobility at home? Get your own Sidekick tool muscle scraper! They’re the ones we use in our physical therapy office on our patients every day! Plus we have our own personal ones we use at home!
We demonstrated this video using the Echo which is the one we use in office! They’re an amazing quality without breaking the bank. Get your own Sidekick muscle scraper here!
