Open Exercise

Development draft, v0. Formats and IDs may change.

Catalogue

Cat Plank

oec:cat-plank

An isometric quadruped core exercise where the knees hover off the floor while the upper back is actively rounded in spinal flexion and scapular protraction.

Generated by gemini-3.8-flash from the sources below. No person has checked this record. Don't rely on it for safety.

Also called: Hovering Cat, Hovering Cat Plank, Cat Pose Plank

How to do it

Setup

  1. Start on all fours with your hands directly under your shoulders and your knees directly beneath your hips.
  2. Tuck your toes under and grip the floor firmly with your fingers.
  3. Press the floor away with your palms to spread your shoulder blades wide and gently round your upper back into a cat-like arch.

Movement

  1. Engage your deep abdominals and press through the balls of your feet to lift your knees roughly one to two inches off the floor.
  2. Maintain the rounded spine and protracted shoulder blades, pulling your navel toward your spine.
  3. Hold this hovering position steadily for the target duration without allowing your hips to pike or your lower back to sag.
  4. Gently lower your knees back to the floor to finish.

Breathing

Breathe continuously with shallow, controlled breaths while maintaining deep abdominal bracing and spinal flexion.

Cues

  • Push the floor away
  • Dome your upper back
  • Keep knees low to the floor
  • Pull ribs toward hips

Common faults

Lifting the hips too high toward a downward dog position.
Keep your knees hovering only one to two inches off the floor and thighs perpendicular to the ground.
Collapsing into the shoulder blades and sagging through the midsection.
Actively push through your hands to protract the shoulder blades and keep your core braced.

Safety

  • If you experience wrist discomfort, perform the hold onto fists or place your hands on low parallettes or yoga blocks.

Muscles

  • Rectus abdominis prime mover
  • Transversus abdominis prime mover
  • Serratus anterior prime mover
  • Quadriceps synergist
  • Obliques synergist
  • Front deltoid stabilizer

Joints

  • Thoracic spine: Flexion, Isometric stabilization
  • Lumbar spine: Flexion, Isometric stabilization
  • Shoulder blade: Protraction, Isometric stabilization
  • Hip: Flexion, Isometric stabilization
  • Knee: Flexion, Isometric stabilization
  • Shoulder: Flexion, Isometric stabilization

Details

Movement
Anti-extension, Spinal flexion
Modality
Calisthenics, Pilates
Mechanics
compound
Force
static
Laterality
bilateral
Kinetic chain
closed
Level
beginner
Equipment
None
Record
Duration
Load
bodyweight

Related

Sources

This record: CC-BY-SA-4.0.

Data

cat-plank.json