# Cat-Cow: how to do it

- Main muscles: lower back, upper back
- Also works: abs
- Equipment: bodyweight
- Level: beginner
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/cat_cow/8a25b1c6d4/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Get on your hands and knees with your hands under your shoulders and knees under your hips.
2. Breathe in as you let your belly sink, lift your chest and look slightly forward.
3. Breathe out as you round your back up towards the ceiling and tuck your chin.
4. Keep moving slowly between the two, one breath for each, for 5–10 rounds.

## Cues

- Move one vertebra at a time.
- Let your breath lead the movement.
- Keep your neck long.

## Common mistakes

- Cranking your head back: lift your gaze only a little and keep your neck long.
- Rushing: slow down so each position takes a full breath.
- Shifting your weight back and forth: keep your hips over your knees and shoulders over your hands.

## The version in our demo

On hands and knees, flowing slowly between cow (back dips, chest and gaze lift) and cat (back rounds, chin tucks), one breath per position.

## Starting position

Tabletop on a mat. Hands flat under the shoulders, shoulder width apart, fingers forward; knees under the hips, hip width apart (15–20 cm); tops of the feet on the mat. Spine neutral and roughly level, head in line, gaze at the floor just in front of the hands.

## The movement

- Cow (inhale): tip the pelvis forward so the tailbone lifts, let the belly sink, draw the shoulder blades together and lift the chest and gaze forward. The spine curves into a gentle U. - Cat (exhale): tuck the tailbone under, draw the belly in and press the floor away so the middle of the back rises towards the ceiling and the shoulder blades spread apart; the chin tucks towards the chest. The spine curves into an arch. - Hands and knees never move. Arms stay straight, thighs stay vertical; the hips stay over the knees and the shoulders over the wrists throughout. All motion is in the pelvis, spine and neck.

## Breathing

Breathe in as the back dips into cow; breathe out as it rounds into cat.

## Tempo

One cow and one cat, 7 s: 3 s inhale moving into cow, 0.5 s pause, 3 s exhale moving into cat, 0.5 s pause. Real sets: 5–10 slow rounds.

## Form in numbers

- Neck: gaze lifts to the floor about 1 m ahead in cow (neck extension about 15°, never cranked back); chin about a fist from the chest in cat.
- Shoulder blades: squeeze together in cow, spread wide with the upper back rounded in cat.
- Arms and thighs stay vertical (within 5°) throughout.

## Sources

1. [ACE, "Cat-Cow"](https://www.acefitness.org/resources/everyone/exercise-library/15/cat-cow/)
2. [Cleveland Clinic, "Cat-Cow Stretch: A Gentle Move With Big Benefits"](https://health.clevelandclinic.org/cat-cow-stretch)

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/cat-cow