Skin the cat is a bodyweight exercise that requires excellent upper body strength and shoulder mobility.
Calisthenic exercises use bodyweight as resistance and require little to no equipment, making them highly accessible. Athletes often incorporate these exercises to enhance functional movement, coordination, strength, flexibility, and body composition. (1) Popular examples include push-ups, jumping jacks, squats, planks, and burpees.
One standout calisthenic exercise is “skin the cat,” which primarily targets upper body muscles while improving shoulder mobility and range of motion. Frequently practiced by gymnasts, this exercise is a perfect blend of control and power when executed correctly.
This article delves into the essentials of performing skin the cat, exploring its key benefits and the specific muscles it engages. It also includes a detailed, step-by-step guide to help you master the technique safely and effectively.
Techniques and Muscles Worked
Skin the cat primarily targets your shoulders, back, and core muscles. This exercise also works secondary muscles like the chest, forearms, biceps, triceps, and lateral delts. The lifter’s experience determines the difficulty of this exercise, and while considered advanced, it proves very effective.
To perform the skin the cat, you’ll need a pull-up bar or a pair of gym rings to hang your hands from using a pronated grip (your palms facing down). However, we recommend starting with a pair of gym rings. The rings’ flexibility can help people with poor shoulder mobility and flexibility.
This exercise is excellent for warming up and stretching your shoulders before doing upper-body resistance training. This study shows that warm-ups before training can boost your exercise performance, leading to better results (2).
When doing them, you must be cautious and slowly utilize progressions to get into a particular position. Don’t force yourself into an uncomfortable position, or you’ll be susceptible to injuries. If you find yourself in an awkward or injury-prone position during this exercise, try to reverse the movement back to the starting position. Below is a step-by-step guide highlighting how to do this exercise with the proper form using a pull-up bar:
- Grab the pull-up bar using an overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder-width, then switch to a dead hang.
- Pull your shoulder blades back down and drive your knees towards your chest while you brace your core. This is your starting position.
- Next, take a deep breath and slowly curl your body upwards while you pull your hips towards the bar.
- As you roll over, slowly control the movement as you descend and straighten your legs.
- Reverse the movement to the starting position, slowly curling your legs back to the pecs and rolling your torso back to the starting position to complete a rep.
- Repeat this movement for as many reps as you desire.
Remember, during this exercise, your arms remain extended.
Benefits
Skin the cat is an excellent exercise for working multiple muscle groups. Like any other calisthenics exercise, it can strengthen and build muscles and challenge fitness levels. Below is a list of benefits of this exercise.
Improves Shoulder Flexibility & Mobility
Skin the cat emphasizes shoulder flexibility and mobility. It places tension on the shoulders and their connecting joints using a deeper stretch and shoulder extension to increase the range of motion. This helps strengthen the shoulders and improve mobility and flexibility.
Strengthen the Upper Body
This exercise works the shoulders and multiple muscle groups in the upper body, such as the pecs, arms, and back. It sculpts these muscles, building them and strengthening them over time. Doing them also improves your upper body aesthetics and form for other resistance-building exercises.
Improves the Core Muscles
This exercise requires a strong core, so it builds your core over time. A strong core helps with balance, proper form, and injury prevention. It also helps with proper load distribution around the body, leading to an effective and safer exercise.
Great for Warm-Ups
If you plan to do an intense upper-building exercise requiring shoulder mobility, this is an excellent exercise before your major routine. It causes a fierce shoulder stretch, pumping blood and preparing you for more demanding resistance exercises.
Better Grip Strength
Performing them requires a proper grip. Holding on to the bar or ring throughout the exercise helps improve grip strength, leading to better exercise performances (3).
Alternatives
They’re great for targeting all the upper body muscles. However, experts advise mixing up exercises to build muscles and prevent a training plateau. Here are some other exercises you can use to build similar muscles.
Inverted Rows
Inverted rows work multiple muscle groups, including the back, arms, shoulders, abs, and obliques. They’re also a good way to improve shoulder rotation with your bodyweight. This exercise helps maintain overall upper body stability and strength.
Pull-Ups
Pull-ups are a bodyweight exercise similar to skin the cat. They help with grip strength and work multiple upper body muscles. They also require core strength and a pull-up bar to execute. Grip position also matters during this exercise, so if you want to focus more on your lats, go for a wider grip. A close-grip pull-up focuses more on the arms and forearms than other muscles.
L-Sit Holds
The L-sit hold is another bodyweight exercise that targets your shoulders, core, biceps, triceps, hip flexors, chest, and back muscles with an isometric hold. It also helps improve your grip strength when using free weights like kettlebells.
FAQs
How to practice the skin the cat?
You can practice skin the cat using gym rings or a pull-up bar. If you are a beginner, getting the form right for this exercise is important, or you might get injured. Check the guide above for more info on the right form during this exercise.
Is skin the cat a good exercise?
Yes, it’s an excellent calisthenic exercise that works multiple muscle groups. It targets many upper body muscles and helps improve shoulder mobility, flexibility, strength, and endurance.
What muscles does the skin the cat target?
Skin the cat works multiple muscle groups, including the shoulders, back, and core. It also works other muscles, such as the chest, lateral delts, arms, and forearms. Check the guide above for more information on the muscles this exercise works and how.
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References
- Thomas, E., Bianco, A., Mancuso, E., Patti, A., Tabacchi, G., Paoli, A., . . . Palma, A. (2017). The effects of a calisthenics training intervention on posture, strength and body composition. Isokinetics and Exercise Science, 25(3), 215–222. https://doi.org/10.3233/ies-170001
- Fradkin, A. J., Zazryn, T. R., & Smoliga, J. M. (2010). Effects of warming-up on physical performance: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 24(1), 140–148. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181c643a0
- Bohannon R. W. (2019). Grip Strength: An Indispensable Biomarker For Older Adults. Clinical interventions in aging, 14, 1681–1691. https://doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S194543
