Wall angel
A wall angel is a standing move with your back and head against a wall: you slide your arms slowly up and down, like a snow angel. It trains the shoulder blades and upper back to move together, and quickly shows you where your shoulders feel tight.
How to do the wall angel
- Stand with your feet a small step from a wall, knees soft, and your bottom, upper back and head against it.
- Raise your arms to a goalpost shape: elbows at shoulder height, forearms pointing up.
- Slide them up only as far as feels comfortable with your ribs down, then back down.
What it works
- Shoulder blades
- Upper back
How long and how often
In a movement break it's 6 slow reps, about 30 seconds in total, and it can come up in the “Neck & shoulders”, “Upper back & chest” and “Full-body reset” classes. It's meant to be repeated through the day in short breaks rather than done once; doing it regularly matters more than the exact timing.
Tips
- Ribs down
- Slow and smooth
- Your hands don't need to touch the wall
Who should skip it
- Shoulder dislocation or instability
- Poor balance or a fall risk: choose a seated move instead (Moveful does this for you when it's ticked in the health check)
Move gently, in a comfortable range. Stop if you feel sharp pain, numbness, tingling or dizziness.
Try it with the guided 3D figure →
Shoulder-blade squeeze
Doorway chest stretch
Seated chest opener
Upper-back extension over the chair