Skin the Cat
A step-by-step form guide from the Ægir Iron exercise library: how to do the lift, what to watch for, and the muscles it trains.
- Equipment
- Pull-Up Bar
This is a technical lift, best learned under a coach’s eye before loading heavy.
HOW TO PERFORM
- Hang from the bar with an overhand grip about shoulder width and the arms straight.
- Tuck the knees to the chest and pull them up and through between the arms, rolling backwards.
- Keep rolling until you hang behind the bar with the arms stretched back behind you, as far as the shoulders allow.
- Reverse the movement, pulling the knees back through the arms, and lower to a still hang.
FORM TIPS
- Go only as far as you can come back from under control. The bottom position stretches the front of the shoulders hard, so add range a little at a time.
- Keep the arms straight throughout. The shoulders and the abs do the pulling with the elbows locked.
- Move slowly in both directions. Dropping into the bottom position is how shoulders get hurt here.
TARGET MUSCLES
Primary
- Lats
- Abs
Secondary
- Shoulders
- Biceps
- Forearms
- Obliques
Log it in Ægir Iron to track your PRs and estimated 1RM, and to see the sets each muscle gets every week. Free for individual lifters.