Description:
Pike Through to Skin the Cat on Rings is an exercise that doubles as a strength workout, as well as a stretching exercise. The ‘turnover’ and ‘pull out’ phase builds strength in the abdominals, while the ‘skin the cat’ position is effective for stretching the shoulders. For best result, focus on relaxing the shoulders as much as possible in the ‘skin the cat’ to maximize the stretching aspect. Scale by performing tuck throughs to skin the cat.
Process:
- begin in a hang on the rings and engage core
- bend at the hips to bring both legs over head, ensuring that the legs remain straight and close to the body as much as possible
- continue to transition through an inverted pike position and slowly allow legs to drop and open up shoulder angles to lower down to a skin the cat position
- pause for a moment in the skin the cat position for a solid stretch in the shoulders
- pull out of the skin the cat by engaging the core and rotating from the upper back
- bend at the hips and compress through an inverted pike position
- slowly lower legs and simultaneously open up shoulder and hip angles to finish in original hang position
