# Cat-Cow

Gentle spinal mobility drill that wakes up the whole trunk before core work.

- **Category:** Warm-up
- **Type:** Spinal mobility
- **Targets:** Thoracic and lumbar spine, deep core awareness
- **Prescription:** 10 slow reps (one rep = cat + cow)
- **Defaults:** 3 × 10 bodyweight

## Setup

On all fours: hands under shoulders, knees under hips, spine neutral, gaze at
the floor.

## Execution

1. **Cat** — exhale, press the floor away, round the whole spine up toward the
   ceiling and tuck chin and tailbone.
2. **Cow** — inhale, let the belly drop, lift the chest and tailbone, gaze
   slightly forward.
3. Flow between the two, one breath per position.

## Cues

- Move segment by segment, not as one stiff plank.
- Let the breath set the tempo — no rushing.
- Reach the mid-back toward the ceiling in cat; most people only move the neck.

## Common Mistakes

- All the motion coming from the neck and hips, none from the mid-back.
- Collapsing into the shoulders instead of pressing the floor away.

## Progression

Smaller pain-free range → full range → slower tempo with a pause at each end →
segmental rolls (peel one vertebra at a time)
