Cat Stretch

Muscles worked by the Cat Stretch

Primary

Lower BackErector Spinae

Secondary

RhomboidsRhomboid MusclesTrapsTrapezius

Also called: erector spinae, spinal erectors, lower back muscles, back extensors.

Equipment

No equipment — this is a bodyweight exercise.

How to do the Cat Stretch

1. Start on all fours, hands under shoulders and knees under hips.
2. Round your spine up toward the ceiling.
3. Tuck your chin toward your chest.
4. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds, breathing steadily.

Form tips

• Push the floor away with your hands to spread the shoulder blades.
• Relax and keep breathing throughout.

At a glance

Cat Stretch in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Back Extension
• Barbell Deadlift
• Bench Child's Pose
• Bodyweight Good Morning
• Bow Pose
• Cat-Cow
• Child's Pose
• Deficit Deadlift

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "cat-stretch",
  "name_en": "Cat Stretch",
  "name_de": "Katzen-Dehnung",
  "name_es": "Estiramiento del Gato",
  "description_en": "A kneeling stretch that rounds the spine upward to lengthen the back muscles.",
  "description_de": "Eine kniende Dehnung, die die Wirbelsäule nach oben rundet, um die Rückenmuskulatur zu dehnen.",
  "description_es": "Un estiramiento de rodillas que redondea la columna hacia arriba para alargar los músculos de la espalda.",
  "category": "stretching",
  "force_type": "static",
  "mechanic": "compound",
  "difficulty": "beginner",
  "body_part": "back",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "erector_spinae"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "rhomboids",
    "trapezius"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "mobility"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "mobility",
    "stretching"
  ],
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": true,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Start on all fours, hands under shoulders and knees under hips.",
    "Round your spine up toward the ceiling.",
    "Tuck your chin toward your chest.",
    "Hold for 20 to 30 seconds, breathing steadily."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Beginne im Vierfüßlerstand, Hände unter den Schultern, Knie unter der Hüfte.",
    "Runde die Wirbelsäule nach oben Richtung Decke.",
    "Ziehe das Kinn Richtung Brust.",
    "Halte 20 bis 30 Sekunden und atme ruhig weiter."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Empieza en cuadrupedia, manos bajo los hombros y rodillas bajo las caderas.",
    "Redondea la columna hacia el techo.",
    "Lleva el mentón hacia el pecho.",
    "Mantén de 20 a 30 segundos, respirando de forma constante."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Push the floor away with your hands to spread the shoulder blades.",
    "Relax and keep breathing throughout."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Drücke dich mit den Händen vom Boden ab, um die Schulterblätter zu öffnen.",
    "Bleib locker und atme durchgehend weiter."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Empuja el suelo con las manos para separar los omóplatos.",
    "Relájate y sigue respirando todo el tiempo."
  ],
  "met": 5.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "main": "images/flat/cat-stretch-main.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "cat-stretch");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.