Rotate your body backward while hanging from a pull-up bar or gymnastic rings, moving through an inverted hang to load the upper back and rear shoulders.
How to do the Skin The Cat#
- Grip a pull-up bar or rings with straight arms and engage your shoulder blades to create tension in the upper back.
- Tuck your knees or bend at the hips and begin a controlled backward roll, leading with your chest and shoulders.
- Continue rotating until you pass through an inverted position with your hips above your hands and your shoulders open.
- Reverse the motion under control to return to the starting hang and reset before repeating.
Muscles worked#
- Primary: Lats (Latissimus Dorsi), Abs (Rectus Abdominis), Upper back (Rhomboids & Middle Trapezius)
- Secondary: Forearms (Forearm Flexors & Extensors (incl. Brachioradialis)), Biceps (Biceps Brachii), Front delts (Anterior Deltoid), Chest (Pectoralis Major)
Common mistakes#
- Using momentum instead of a controlled descent.
- Bending the elbows and turning the skill into a pull.
- Letting the shoulders collapse and losing scapular tension.
- Forcing the range beyond available shoulder mobility.
