CALISTHENICS ESSENTIAL (Nobody is Doing) THE SKIN THE CAT

[@SrCheetoss]

This is one of the best progression videos I found about this exercise, the distinction about the straight and bent arms helped me to understand where are my limits. I can "kick" or pull myself with bent arms to the inverted position and all the way to the German hang and then come back, but I am still not able to pull it with straight arms, I still need that first movement with bent arms to get to the inverted position. I am very comfortable in the other two positions but this first straight pull movement is so hard.

[@PaulTwyman]

Thank you, great to hear you enjoyed the video. The straight arm pull will come, it can take a while to come as its commonly untrained

[@AndreS_22246]

Thanks for making such brilliant videos, they are really appreciated 🙏 You are a great teacher. I’m grateful for you including basic steps for people like me who are coming to this relatively late.

[@PaulTwyman]

My pleasure! Great to hear!

[@jordanbabcock]

Recently started doing these, already noticing a huge improvement in the german hang position after just a couple months of doing a handful of reps once a week. My adv tuck levers are getting close to unlocked too. Listening to your podcast w/ daniel vadnal now, cool to see that you come from crossfit as well. I am still a member at a crossfit gym but doing my own calisthenics programming mostly while adding in 1-2 crossfit classes per week so i get the best of both worlds. The nice thing about the crossfit gym is they have several high ring setups where i can have my feet off the ground (i'm 6'4" / ~1.9m) which i cannot do at home

[@PaulTwyman]

Yes Crossfit gyms are great for calisthenics training; lots of bars, high rings, wooden boxes and floor space. Makes it easy to train in them and I love using them for workshops

[@cbgbstew4072]

Fantastic video! I was happy to see that it is “normal” to be able to do this with bent arms before straight arms. I thought I was just doing it “wrong” with bent arms.

[@user-ij9uk8tn8i]

Another great video. Thanks. I struggle with this one as I have very flexible shoulders, but I don't (yet!) have the strength to match. So if I'm not very careful I can end up in positions that I don't have the strength to hold, or pull myself back out of. So I train this close to the ground, so I can always put my feet down if I need to rescue my shoulders! I'm getting stronger though. :) I've been practicing the tuck variation, and now on the German hang side I can get my bum level with (maybe even a little lower than) my head, with control, and pull myself back round again!! A couple of months ago, there's no way I could have done that.

[@PaulTwyman]

Sounds perfect, using the floor to help slowly increase the range is great. Nice work

[@simonegamberoni3022]

Thanks for all these progression advices. Yesterday I realized that I was avoiding this exercise because it scares me but I wanna own it, so that I can go further with front/back levers, planche and all the other cool stuff. I'll start tomorrow with some of these variations, hope I can at least go all the way back once 😅

[@PaulTwyman]

Sounds Great! Let me know how you go

[@simonegamberoni3022]

@@PaulTwyman I could only do a couple of tries because my home gym is hot af in the summer, but I can manage to do a controlled back flip and end up in a squat, and I even reversed it once but with less control. Now that I know that my shoulder don't snap out of my body I'm way more confident ahah Thanks again for the video!

[@Lewiston.90]

The title should read "you are" OR "you're" missing out . And not "YOUR"...meaning possession.

[@ZacharyKaddatzDailyTraining]

Great video mate, well thought out and incredibly well presented!

[@PaulTwyman]

thank you!

[@g.eeducation251]

Great interview with fitness FAQ

[@PaulTwyman]

Thanks! Was fun to chat with him

[@g.eeducation251]

I do these under a step ladder 4:02, I'm eyeing buying sone rings though. Great info.

[@PaulTwyman]

Yes I've used a Step Ladder in the past! Rings will change everything. Portable Gym!

[@susanna629600]

Wow that’s super useful! Can’t wait to try those progression steps, thank you❤

[@PaulTwyman]

Glad you like them!

[@yasserrafat9934]

Its a very good tutorial. My issue is bringing hips up in front lever position

[@Ichbinberlinerr]

Such an amazing tutorial!! Thx a lot

[@PaulTwyman]

Thank YOu!

[@KXR594]

Could you do a video showing what hardware you mounted to the ceiling to attach the rings to?

[@PaulTwyman]

Yes I'm planning a Home Gym set up video soon

[@huzaifahmalik4548]

Hi Paul, excellent content as always! How have you set up the rings on your ceiling?

[@PaulTwyman]

I have installed a bar using metal pipes. The pipes are threaded so it was easy to add the corner joints, drill through the ceiling and attach to my roof joists

[@apxmk]

tnx darling

[@larrykrakow8927]

Ty

[@PaulTwyman]

Thanks!

[@nicolapinna5140]

Hi Paul, If you do it in the same session with back lever, do you suggest after or before?! Thanks

[@PaulTwyman]

Depends on the intensity of each. Skin the Cat is a great warm up when you stay in a Tuck. But only if you’re conditioned to it, if you’re new to it then I’d train it by itself. The other option would be to push the STC to a 360 Pull and not train the Back Lever, that’s what I did and combined with Planche work unlocked the full back lever for free

[@fg_arnold]

No problem doing these as a kid playing on monkey bars. Fast forward to me starting calisthenics in my mid-60s & now they give me a nasty feeling of intense dizziness & nausea. Same problem when I try a forward roll out of a handstand. No issue going upside down, it's only when I come back up in the opposite direction from how I went down (moving thru a full 360). Anyone have any knowledge on this problem? Should I just continue to avoid?

[@PaulTwyman]

It's always worth getting checked by someone in person. I'd stick with slow controlled entries and exits that are easily scaled so you can progress overtime. Work with a limited controlled range with Skin The Cat and slowly increase. Watch what you are doing with your head/neck as you move through the movement

[@WTiDeadlyfury]

What is the form cue to go over the bar?

[@PaulTwyman]

Normally hips don't go up and over enough, people tend to go up but not over, leaving the hips on the wrong side. Aim for belly button to bar

[@walter5401]

I get light headed through the transition, does that get better?

[@cbgbstew4072]

Make sure you’re not inadvertently holding your breath!

[@alexia964]

can I do it on a pull up bar I don't have rings

[@PaulTwyman]

Yes, you just need to be careful how deep you go as it can be harder on the shoulders. Watch this video at 4 minutes kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXuXi4eGjJt3mqssi=Bd8AROWiiu7rPuHR

[@Zharkan16]

You're