Skin the Cat
Description
Skin the cat is an advanced gymnastic mobility skill performed on rings or a pull-up bar where you hang, tuck your knees up and through your arms, then rotate fully backward into an inverted hang and back. It builds elite shoulder mobility, grip endurance, and full-body control. It is a foundational ring skill.
Muscle Group
Equipment Required
Skin the Cat Instructions
- Hang from a set of gymnastic rings or a pull-up bar with arms extended.
- Engage your core. Lift your knees up toward your chest in a tuck.
- Continue tucking — bring your knees up between your hands and through your arms.
- Continue rotating backward by extending your hips up and back.
- Allow your body to rotate fully into an inverted hang behind your hands.
- At the bottom, your body is upside down with arms extended overhead behind you. Hold briefly.
- Reverse the motion: tuck your knees back through your arms and unroll forward to the start hang.
- This is an advanced skill. Build up with assisted versions and shoulder mobility work first.
Skin the Cat Form & Visual
Skin the Cat Benefits
- Builds elite shoulder mobility
- Develops grip and core strength
- Foundational ring skill
- Trains full-body control
- Useful for advancing to other ring skills
- Stretches the chest and shoulders deeply
Skin the Cat Muscles Worked
- Latissimus dorsi (stretched)
- Pectoralis major (stretched)
- Anterior deltoid (stretched)
- Biceps brachii
- Forearms and grip
- Core (heavy involvement)
- Hip flexors
Skin the Cat Variations & Alternatives
- Tuck Skin the Cat (regression)
- Bar Skin the Cat (easier than rings)
- Dead Hang Stretch
- German Hang (the inverted hold position)
- Skin the Cat to Tuck Front Lever
