Kipping Pull Ups... When, where, how and why?
Well we had a great discussion today about kipping pull ups and I found a video I would like to share with you all but first I want to talk about pull ups in general and even though there are many different schools of thought on this I am not dogmatic about any type of training and there are many different ways to train but I believe there is crossover and some training in in some ways can aid benefits in others.
First of all here Wikipedia's definition of a pull up.
A pull-up is a variety of upper-body compound pulling motions for the purpose of exercise. The pull-up has two main methods of execution; the first is with a pronated (overhand) grip and the second is with a supinated (underhand) grip.
The most popular current meaning refers to a closed-chain body weight movement where the body is suspended by the arms, gripping something, and pulled up with muscular effort. As this happens, the wrists remain in neutral (straight, neither flexed nor extended) position, the elbows flex and the shoulder adducts and/or extends to bring the elbows to or sometimes behind the torso. The knees may be bent by choice, or if the bar is not high enough. Bending the knees may reduce pendulum-type swinging.
A traditional pull-up relies on upper body strength with no swinging or "kipping"[1] (using a forceful initial movement of the legs in order to gain momentum). The exercise often targets the latissimus dorsi muscle in the back along with many other assisting muscles.There are different types of pull ups and there are reasons for doing them Here are the different types of pull ups and times when they are appropriate for use in training, workouts and competition.
The Pull Up (also known as Strict Pull Ups). These are the foundation of strength in the pull up world. The strict pull up is king and should be mastered before moving on to any other type of pull up. Depending on where people are at it can take a month, a year, or even a few years to nail a strict pull up. This can depend on several factors.
- Upper body strength including but not limited to Lats, shoulders, bicep, forearm, core and scapula strength & grip strength.
- Strength to weight ratio. The more body weight somebody has the tougher it will be to pull yourself up from a dead hanging position if you are newer to strength training.
- Ability to maintain proper positioning throughout the pull up. If you don't have the strength to support a proper position it will be very tough to complete a proper pull up.
If you are carrying extra weight (and I don't mean lean body mass) the strength you need to build to overcome that dead weight will be insurmountable. Having a good amount of LBM and a good strength to weight ratio can mean success or more work for someone to be able to perform a strict pull up.
There are smaller muscles at work that need to be firing properly to maintain a good position throughout the pull up to make someone successful and in control of the movement. If your shoulder blades can't retract and depress under load then that position will be hard on those muscles and connective tissues.
My definition of a strict pull up is being able to hang under the bar with arms fully extended, shoulders depressed and retracted, feet together,toes pointed and slightly out in front of the body, hands outside of shoulder width, and being able to pull yourself up with your chin over the bar with no swing at all.
We constantly practice strict pull-ups and there are many different variations that we use to be able to build the strength to get to the point of being able to do a strict pull up and to get better at them once we do have them.
Some of the variations and progressions we use are
- Ring Rows
- Slow ring rows (with a tempo of 81X1 for example) for control
- Scapular pull ups (hanging from bar)
- Banded pull ups with tempo 51X1 for example
- Jumping pull ups with and eccentric focus Tempo of 31X1
- Pull ups
- Pull Ups with a tempo
- Weighted pull ups
- Weighted pull ups with tempo
Currently my 1RM pull up from a dead hang is Body weight + 100lbs this is something I have worked on here and there for years and haven't put a lot of focus on 1RM as we tend to do more sets of 5X3 or 5X5 for at a level that is challenging to the individuals.
Enter the Kipping & Butterfly Pull Up. I know there are a lot of haters out there when it comes to these types of pull ups but they are there for a reason in CrossFit and NO they don't take the place of a strict pull up.
I have always been a supporter of our athletes being able to do strict pull ups before kipping. I know not everyone believes in that but I think people need to have the muscular strength and control & endurance before adding momentum & velocity to a movement (any movement).
In CrossFit workouts are sometimes for time and we do teach kipping once men and women can bang out 4-8 Strict pull ups and have the mobility requirements to get these pull ups done safely. I don't agree with teaching people who lack strength to flail uncontrollably with poor mobility and possibly tear something if the movement goes past a point that their bodies can't handle. I do hold my athletes back a little when it comes to learning kipping pull ups until they are ready for it. Its not a time issue in the way that people say "Ive been doing this for 6 months. I should be kipping now". Watching newbies kipping that don't have the strength to support the movement is hard for me because I can see what it is doing to the shoulders. Building strength, mobility requirements, and giving the body a chance to adapt to the movement is something that I believe strongly in .
When learning the movement and the timing don't do it every day until you get it. Take a day or two in between to make sure the body is ok with the movement and isn't giving you any negative feedback from it. When I was working on my butterfly pull ups I took 2-3 days off in between because I knew my timing was off and I wanted to give my shoulders and elbows a chance to recover and adapt. The load on the shoulders and body is can be much higher if your timing is off so patience will help you to develop the required movement patterns and ability to do 10, 20 & 30 reps (or more) without any issues.
One thing I would like to stress when learning the kipping movements is to use them at a lower volume meaning do less reps and work on form (just like anything) to make sure you are getting the most out of the movement and not grooving bad patterns.
Once you learn how to kip don't go and try to bust out a new Fran time. Build a bit of volume and make sure the body is ready for it and up tot the task before going to war.
Kipping or Butterfly pull ups won't make you stronger and give you the ability to do Strict pull Ups but Strict Pull Ups will give you the strength and ability to support the more dynamic movements.
Next time someone asks you how many pull ups you can do tell them your strict number and ask theirs. It's more impressive to be able to do 3 strict pull ups than 10 kipping ;-)
Now with all that being said here is a great reference video for kipping and butterfly pull ups but never forget that strict pull ups are king!
Efficiency Tips: Pull Ups with Chris Spealler
Paul
Starke Strength & Conditioning
Starke CrossFit
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