What is Skin the Cat?
What is Skin the Cat? Skin the Cat is a ring-based calisthenics move where you hang and rotate your body through the rings, targeting chest, shoulders, back and core. Difficulty: Medium — requires scapular control, straight arms and shoulder mobility.
How to Do Skin the Cat
- Start hang: Hang from the rings with a pronated grip, rings slightly turned out, arms straight and knees bent. Engage scapula and keep shoulders active.
- Depress scapula: Initiate the movement by depressing the scapula, pulling with straight arms while maintaining a tucked knee position and controlled breath.
- Pull and rotate: Continue pulling with straight arms and rotate your hands so they begin to face each other while allowing knees to pass overhead.
- Reach German hang: As hips pass through the rings, rotate hands behind you; if comfortable, straighten legs and lower feet toward the floor in controlled shoulder extension.
- Hold and breathe: Pause at the bottom to feel shoulder extension and scapula retraction; breathe steadily and avoid forcing depth beyond your mobility.
- Reverse slowly: Engage scapular protraction and pull knees back through the rings with straight arms, returning to the start position under control for repetitions.
Muscle Groups
Chest, Core, Shoulders, Back
Description
Hang from with a pronated grip (palms facing away from you), rings turned out, arms straight, knees bent.Begin by depressing your scapula, pullingl with straight arms, keeping the knees tucked.
Continue pulling, rotate your hands to face each other and allow your knees to pass over your head.
As your hip pass through the rings, rotate your hands to face behind you. If you feel comfortable straighten your legs, lowering your feet towards the floor. Extending your shoulders and allowing your scapula to retract.
Reverse the motion by pulling back into scapula protraction, keeping the arms straight. Tuck the knees and pull them back through the rings, returning to the start position.
Repeat for repetitions. Keep the arms straight throughout.
Movement Group
Pull
Required Equipment
Rings
Progressions and Regressions
- Negative Skin The Cat
- Jumping Skin the Cat
- Skin the Cat (current)
- Skin the Cat Pike
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the benefits of Skin the Cat?
Skin the Cat improves shoulder extension, scapular control, core stability and ring-specific pulling strength. It increases mobility and teaches safe straight-arm mechanics, developing chest, shoulders, back and abdominal strength.
What are common mistakes when doing Skin the Cat?
Common mistakes include bending the arms, losing scapular control, forcing depth without mobility, rotating hands too early and rushing. Fix with slow progressions, strict straight-arm holds, scapular drills and reduced range or band assistance.
How do I progress to Skin the Cat or regress if I'm not ready?
Progress by increasing straight-arm hang time, practicing tuck skin-the-cat and partial rotations, then lengthening leg extension. Regress with band-assisted rotations, seated ring supports or German hang mobility work, and build scapular strength first.