Moving safely and steadily helps build the muscle support and control your joints need to feel steadier and hurt less. Exercise strengthens the muscles that protect loose joints, improves balance and body awareness, and increases your ability to cope with everyday loads. Rest alone often makes muscles weaker and raises the chance of more instability; guided, progressive activity is the core recommendation in current clinical guidance.1 2
Effective exercises for hypermobility
Not every exercise is right for every person. If a movement causes sharp pain or new symptoms, stop and consult a medical provider.
1. Wall-supported mini squat
Why it helps: Builds safe knee and hip strength and trains you to control depth without dropping into end-range positions.
How to do it: Stand with your back to a wall, feet hip-width apart and a few inches out. Slide down into a shallow squat (about 30 degrees of knee bend), hold 3–5 seconds, then push back up. Do 8–12 reps, 2–3 sets, progressing depth slowly as it feels controlled.3
2. Glute bridge with holds
Why it helps: Strengthens the hip extensors and core to support the pelvis and lower back.
How to do it: Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat. Lift your hips until your body forms a straight line from shoulders to knees, squeeze the glutes, hold for 3–5 seconds, then lower slowly. Aim for 8–15 reps, 2–3 sets. Add single-leg progressions later only when the bilateral version feels stable.3
3. Scapula retraction holds
Why it helps: Improves shoulder girdle control to reduce slipping, pinching, and strain around the shoulder.
How to do it: Sit or stand tall. Gently draw your shoulder blades down and together as if trying to hold a pencil between them. Hold 5–10 seconds, relax, repeat 8–12 times. Progress to light resistance rows once control is stable.3
4. Single-leg balance with light fingertip support
Why it helps: Trains core stability without heavy loading, useful for many adults with pain or fatigue4.
How to do it: Stand by a countertop if it is more comfortable, touch it lightly with one finger for balance, lift one foot a few centimetres off the ground, keep soft knees, hold for 20–30 seconds. Repeat 3 times each side, progressing to less support as balance improves.3
Helpful stretches for hypermobility
Gentle stretching can relieve tight muscles that develop when you avoid movement, but avoid pushing joints past comfortable range. Focus on feeling a gentle stretch, not going farther.
1. Chest opener (gentle)
How it helps: Reduces tightness across the front of the shoulder and chest that can develop from guarding.
How to do it: Standing next to a wall, place your hand and elbow against the wall at shoulder height, with your fingers pointing backwards. Then rotate your body to the other side until you feel the muscles stretching. Hold 10 to 20 seconds. Switch sides and repeat 2 times.
2. Hamstring ease (gentle)
How it helps: Releases tightness behind the thigh without forcing long range at the hip.
How to do it: Stand tall. Take a step forward with one leg and lean forward slightly from your hips until you feel a gentle stretch in the back of the thigh. Hold 15 seconds, then switch sides. If you feel more comfortable, you can also perform this stretch in a seated position with one leg forward.
3. Neck mobility within comfort
How it helps: Maintains comfortable, pain-free neck motion and reduces tension-related headaches.
How to do it: Slowly rotate the head within a pain-free range, 8–10 repetitions each direction. Avoid forceful end-range holds.
4. Calf rocker (gentle)
How it helps: Keeps ankle flexibility without stressing ligament end-ranges.
How to do it: Stand facing a countertop, rock gently onto toes then back to heels, or perform ankle pumps while seated. Repeat for 30–60 seconds.
Did you know?
Digital, supervised exercise programs have produced similar improvements in disability and pain compared with high-quality in-person physical therapy in randomized trials for chronic low back pain and shoulder pain, supporting remote options for building strength and confidence at home.5 6
Exercises to avoid with hypermobility
These guidelines help reduce flares and protect tissues. They are not absolute rules; use them as cautious suggestions and discuss specifics with your clinician.
Deep end-range loaded positions (for example, heavy loaded deep squats or full overhead lifts at end-range) can repeatedly stress already lax tissues and increase instability.4
Forced stretching that pushes joints past comfortable range — this can increase laxity rather than help control.4
Sustained hyperextension activities such as prolonged backbends or locking the knees when standing, which may place repeated stress on passive structures.4
Clarification: exercise should feel challenging but tolerable. Mild soreness after a new workout is common, but sharp pain, new numbness, or increased instability are signs to stop and seek advice.1
Clinical insight
Major clinical guidance for hypermobility emphasizes exercise, education, and graded return to activity as primary treatments, not rest or immobilization. This approach targets strength, proprioception, and motor control as the foundations of safer movement.1
Engelbert RHH, Juul-Kristensen B, Pacey V, et al. The evidence-based rationale for physical therapy treatment of joint hypermobility and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Am J Med Genet C Semin Med Genet. 2017;175(1):158–167. DOI:10.1002/ajmg.c.31545.
2
Demmler JC, Atkinson MD, Reinhold EJ, et al. Diagnosed prevalence of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and hypermobility spectrum disorder in Wales, UK. BMJ Open. 2019;9:e031365. DOI:10.1136/bmjopen-2019-031365.
3
Buryk-Iggers S, et al. Exercise and Rehabilitation in People With Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome: A Systematic Review. Arch Rehabil Res Clin Transl. 2022.
4
Palmer S, Davey I, Oliver L, et al. The effectiveness of conservative interventions for the management of syndromic hypermobility: a systematic literature review. Clin Rheumatol. 2021;40:1113–1129. DOI:10.1007/s10067-020-05284-0.
5
Cui D, et al. Randomized-Controlled Trial: Digital Care Program vs Conventional Physiotherapy for Chronic Low Back Pain. NPJ Digit Med. 2023;6:121.
6
Pak SS, Janela D, Freitas N, et al. Comparing Digital to Conventional Physical Therapy for Chronic Shoulder Pain: Randomized Controlled Trial. J Med Internet Res. 2023;25:e49236. DOI:10.2196/49236.
