By now, you understand that your CrossFit WOD is completely unpredictable. You head to the field hoping to see entrance squats and thrusters scrawled on the whiteboard, solely to search out your arch nemesis’s identify staring you down: The pores and skin the cat.
Should you can’t keep away from it, you need to be taught to overcome it. So, maintain studying to be taught all the things there’s to learn about CrossFit’s pores and skin the cat.
What Is CrossFit’s Pores and skin The Cat?
The primary time you see any person do that train, you’ll most likely say, “Oh, that’s what that’s known as?” Yep, you’ve most likely achieved this CrossFit train on the monkey bars as a child.
It’s laborious to imagine that one thing you probably did for enjoyable as a baby is definitely a exercise in and of itself.
The pores and skin the cat is taken into account a flexibility train in CrossFit.
With nothing greater than gymnastics rings or a pull-up bar, you’ll go from a dangling place to the wrong way up after which again to that very same hanging place as soon as extra.
That’s it!
It’s simple and it’s enjoyable, however it may be laborious on the shoulder girdle if flexibility isn’t your forte.
Advantages of Pores and skin the Cat
You may assume that something that doesn’t embrace a barbell or weight plates is a waste of time. However, there are fairly a couple of clear advantages of the pores and skin the cat that you simply won’t learn about.
Let’s check out what these are.
Shoulder Flexibility & Power
Tightness within the shoulder muscle tissue is an issue that impacts a whole lot of athletes. The excellent news is that the pores and skin the cat takes a novel method to shoulder flexibility and vary of movement.
Actually, it’s thought of a 360-degree pull.
This train may help you to enhance each power and adaptability in your shoulder girdle, an space of the physique typically left untouched by resistance coaching and CrossFit WODs.
A stronger and extra versatile shoulder girdle may help to decrease the danger of harm.
Grip Power
Let’s be sincere. It’s fairly powerful in your palms to grip the rings (or the bar) as you pump out rep after rep on the pores and skin the cat.
So, doing this train typically sufficient may help with grip power.
This may help to enhance your grip on the barbell or dumbbell with workouts just like the deadlift or the bicep curl.
A stronger grip can imply fewer dropped weights and fewer units reduce brief resulting from forearm or hand weak point.
And, nothing compliments cumbersome biceps and triceps like huge forearms, proper?
Core Power
Okay, so the pores and skin the cat works a whole lot of muscle tissue….what makes the core any extra particular than the remaining?
Nicely, take into consideration the precise motion.
First off, you’re beginning the train by bringing your knees to your chest and rolling upward. This is rather like a novel solution to do the hanging leg elevate.
However, the core comes into play on the subject of truly controlling your motion.
Because you’re holding your knees tucked into your physique and sustaining straight legs, you’re principally flexing your abs from begin to end.
It’s lastly doable to work your higher physique and abs on the similar time.
Muscle groups Labored with Pores and skin the Cat
As a reasonably unconventional train, it could be laborious to inform which muscle tissue you’re truly concentrating on with the pores and skin the cat train.
Right here’s a have a look at which muscle tissue are used.
- Shoulders
- Again (Particularly the Lats)
- Chest
- Triceps
- Abdominals
- Biceps
The shoulder girdle is the important thing goal of the pores and skin the cat, which encompasses a whole lot of muscle tissue within the higher physique (each front and back). That features the traps, rhomboids, serratus anterior, and a part of the pecs.
Tips on how to Do CrossFit’s Pores and skin the Cat
CrossFit’s pores and skin the cat seems so much simpler than it truly is. So, to ensure you completely nail this train subsequent time it’s in your WOD, observe these directions.
- Start by hanging loosely from a set of gymnastics rings or a pull-up bar together with your palms going through away from you.
- Grip the rings (or bar) tightly and produce your knees up towards your chest.
- Proceed driving your knees backward over your head.
- Sluggish your motion as your legs are straightened towards the ground.
- Convey your knees again towards your chest and use your core to reverse your path.
- Return to your beginning place.
It’s vital to do that train slowly and with warning given the diploma at which you’re stretching your shoulder girdle.
Tools Wanted For Pores and skin The Cat
By way of gear, you solely want one among these two for the “pores and skin the cat” exercise:
- A pull-up bar, or
- Gymnastic rings
They’re simple to accumulate, and you’ll find them at most gyms round you.
Issues to Hold in Thoughts When Doing Pores and skin The Cat
When you get the dangle of the pores and skin the cat, you’ll be capable to knock them out with no second thought once they’re in your WOD. However, there are some things you’ll need to bear in mind on the subject of staying secure throughout this train.
Right here’s what you want to bear in mind.
Sluggish and Regular Wins the Race
Positive, it’s fairly enjoyable to swing from the gymnastics rings on the fitness center and follow what you wish to name “hanging somersaults.”
However, this train is about power….not momentum.
The shoulder girdle is understood for being fairly weak and it is advisable take nice care to regulate your motion whereas skinning the cat.
So, take the pores and skin the cat slowly and don’t simply use your decrease physique momentum to swing your legs overhead. In any other case, you’re simply asking to tug or tear one thing in your shoulder.
Management Your Vary of Movement
No different joint within the physique can rotate fairly just like the shoulder joint. However, whereas your shoulder can rotate 360 levels, there are some limitations.
Swinging your arm 360 levels whereas standing stationary could be very completely different than doing that very same movement together with your body weight on the top of it.
Even probably the most well-trained athletes will overestimate their shoulder flexibility and power.
So, watch out about how deeply you sink into pores and skin the cat after you’ve flipped over. The additional you sink, the extra power you’ll must muster as much as return to your beginning place.
Give your shoulders time to construct muscle and adaptability first.
CrossFit Pores and skin The Cat FAQs
Is pores and skin the cat a great train?
The “pores and skin the cat” train is an upper-body stretching train that primarily improves flexibility and power within the shoulder. However this train additionally develops your core and grip power.
What muscle will get labored with the “pores and skin the cat” train?
Pores and skin the cat primarily targets the shoulder girdle, which encompasses numerous higher physique muscle tissue in the front and back. The muscle tissue labored embrace the traps, rhomboids, serratus anterior, and a part of the pecs.
