Kipping pull-ups - the truth

Here's a quick summary:

1. Few exercises are as controversial as kipping pull-ups and their "butterfly" cousin.
2. A kipping pull-up is to a strict pull-up what a push press (standing shoulder press with leg swing) is to a strict standing shoulder press.
3. If you cannot perform pull-ups in strict form, then you should not perform kipping pull-ups.
4. If your main goal is to build muscle, then kipping pull-ups alone will not be enough for you.
5. However, kipping pull-ups can also be used for muscle hypertrophy. Perform strict pull-ups first and then force a few extra repetitions in the form of kipping pull-ups.
6. It is not necessary to learn butterfly kipping pull-ups unless you are a CossFit competitor and these work better for you. If there's any pull-up variation that causes injury, it's butterfly pull-ups.

Kipping pull-ups: Legitimate exercise or circus act?

Want to start a discussion? Then simply bring up the topic of kipping pull-ups. Want to provoke a fistfight? Expand the conversation to include butterfly kipping pull-ups.

You'll have the traditional strength athletes and bodybuilders on one side and the CrossFitters on the other. Let's bridge this divide and talk objectively about the pros and cons of kipping pull-ups.

What the hell are kipping pull-ups?

A kipping pull-up is a pull-up where you use a swing of the legs and a bend of the hips to move the body up and bring your chin over the bar. This technique reduces the amount of arm strength required to move the body upwards. It looks like this:

https://youtu.be/r45xLlH7r_M

There is also an advanced variation called the butterfly kipping pull-up, which uses a continuous motion to perform the repetitions even faster. This variation uses an even stronger stretch reflex and more momentum to move the body through the air. Here is a video of this exercise:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/OenVG15QMj8

Kipping pull-ups help CrossFit competitors perform more repetitions faster. This is within the rules of their sport, making this exercise legitimate for them in that sense. But is this exercise also legitimate for us - the "I just want to build muscle and strength" population? Does this exercise have value for us? Is it safe? And more importantly, should you learn this exercise?

Kipping pull-ups and push press

A kipping pull-up is to a pull-up what a push press (shoulder press with leg swing) is to a standing shoulder press. In both kipping pull-ups and push presses, you use momentum generated by the lower body to support an exercise that is normally an upper body exercise. And the more momentum you can generate with your lower body, the easier the exercise becomes - you can use more weight or perform more repetitions. So are push presses a cheat exercise with fakes? Or simply a different exercise to standing shoulder presses? One thing is for sure: in either case, the person performing the exercise can either look very athletic, coordinated and powerful or like someone having a seizure.

I'm very fond of snatch grip high pulls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoMIlBoq8Jc), which are very similar to kipping pull-ups: You use a lot of lower body momentum to move the bar across your chest without having to use a lot of arm strength. Am I cheating here?

Kipping pull-ups are not cheating

A real kipping pull-up is not just a fake pull-up, it is actually a very technical exercise. Performing the exercise correctly requires timing, power and coordination, which is especially true if you perform it without pausing at the lowest point of the movement - and even more so if you perform butterfly pull-ups. The same can be said for push presses. Properly executed push presses are not just a standing shoulder press. Rather, it is a very precise movement that requires specific body positions and a lot of timing - you need to bring your arms into play at just the right time, not too early and not too late.

Not many people criticize push presses, while kipping pull-ups get more hate mail than all other exercises combined. That's strange. In both cases, you're doing the same thing: you're using momentum to help the upper body do its job. In both cases we are talking about a multi-joint exercise. In both cases, we perform the exercise like an epileptic and risk injury. However, when performed correctly, both exercises can be used in a safe manner. Maybe it's because kipping pull-ups have been popularized by CrossFitters and push presses by weightlifters? It seems like everyone wants hardcore wannabe CrossFitters to hate them. But from my perspective, both exercises are based on the same basic idea. However, I'm not willing to say that kipping pull-ups are a good exercise and that everyone should do them. Just as I am not willing to say that push presses can and should be performed by everyone.

The history of the kipping pull-up

The kipping pull-up was developed to allow the exerciser to perform more repetitions of pull-ups faster than when using strict form. People have been doing them in gyms and weight rooms for ages. These were not "true" kipping pull-ups, but simply pull-ups with some momentum from the lower body. When the first CrossFit competitions emerged, the pull-up rule simply meant that the athlete had to pull themselves up until their chin was above the bar. For this reason, deviated pull-ups were allowed. And athletes known for manipulating the rules to gain an advantage developed the more sophisticated kipping pull-ups we see today.

Today, you rarely see anyone performing strict pull-ups in CrossFit competitions unless the WOD description specifically mentions strict pull-ups. At first this was fine, as kipping pull-ups were developed by competitive athletes who could perform a lot of strict pull-ups with ease. Kipping pull-ups simply allowed them to perform competition WODs quickly.

Kipping pull-ups were performed by athletes who had a solid muscular structure around the shoulder joint and the strength to absorb the forces generated during kipping pull-ups.

The problems started when CrossFit became popular with the general population. Often these people do not have the muscular strength/integrity and shoulder mobility to perform kipping pull-ups safely. What is really problematic, however, is the fact that due to the use of momentum, even quite weak individuals (who cannot perform more than one or two strict pull-ups) are able to perform kipping pull-ups once they have learned how to use their lower body properly.

But just because they can doesn't mean they should!

Let's go back to the push press comparison. If someone is weak and unable to hold a 30 kilo barbell up over their head without looking like someone training in the middle of a tornado, then it's not a good idea to have them do push presses.

Sure, that person will be able to move the barbell far enough up because of their momentum from their legs, but the risk of injury will be high because they will have trouble controlling the weight... just like someone who can't do strict pull-ups will have trouble controlling their body during kipping pull-ups.

Strict pull-ups should come first!

You should not perform kipping pull-ups until you can perform a reasonable amount of strict pull-ups, performed from a hanging position with a short pause at the highest and lowest point of the movement. How many? At least five. That doesn't sound like much? Well, then try it. Start from a hanging position with outstretched arms. Pull yourself up without any momentum, bring your chin over the bar and hold this position for 2 seconds. Then lower yourself in a controlled manner to a hanging position with outstretched arms and repeat four times. This is much harder than it looks.

It's not enough to be able to move your body upwards - you need to be able to control the load during all phases of the movement - upward movement, downward movement and reversal of the direction of movement. If you cannot do this, then you are not authorized to perform kipping pull-ups.

When and how to include kipping pull-ups in your training program

I am not an expert in kipping pull-ups and do not plan to become one. However, I do know the human body and how it should be trained to maximize performance and minimize the risk of injury.

If you do CrossFit, then you will probably need to learn how to perform kipping pull-ups to maximize your performance. And hopefully your coach will be able to show you the right technique when the time is right. But when is that time?

You need to go through a few steps:

1. You need to be able to perform 5 strict pull-ups - hanging position with arms extended, chin over the bar, pause at the highest point of the movement. If you can do a few sets of this, then you are ready to learn kipping pull-ups and include them in your training.
2. You need to learn to perform kipping pull-ups with minimal load. Perform them one at a time, pausing for a second or two at the highest point of the movement before lowering your body in a controlled manner and returning to an extended arm position before performing the next repetition. Do not try to perform each repetition in succession without pausing. Concentrate on performing each repetition cleanly and lowering yourself in a controlled manner. Controlled lowering will help you build the structural strength and motor pattern to safely perform kipping pull-ups. You should be able to perform solid sets of 7 to 10 repetitions - good timing, chin over the bar, holding the highest position for 1 to 2 seconds, controlled lowering - before moving on to the next step.
3. Mix strict pull-ups and kipping pull-ups: Perform sets of strict pull-ups and then, when you are no longer strong enough to perform strict pull-ups, start performing kipping pull-ups. Continue to pause at the highest point of the movement during kipping pull-ups and continue to lower your body in a controlled manner. When you can perform a total of 15 to 20 repetitions in this way (e.g. 7 strict pull-ups and 8 kipping pull-ups), you are ready to move on to the next step.
4. Learn to link the kipping pull-ups together. As you get better at this, you can aim for maximum speed.
5. Learn butterfly pull-ups. Note that not everyone needs to learn how to do these. Some CrossFit competitors are more efficient at regular kipping pull-ups and use them during their competitions.

The longer you stay with each of the first three steps, the safer your high-performance kipping pull-ups will be.

Do kipping pull-ups build muscle?

CrossFitters tend to be overprotective when it comes to their exercises. If you tell them that one of their exercise variations isn't optimal for building muscle, they'll take it personally. If you say to an Olympic weightlifter that split jerks are not a good way to build shoulder mass, they will agree 100%. Pointing out that an exercise isn't optimal for building muscle mass doesn't question the overall value of the exercise - it's just about being objective, get used to it. For those who compete in CrossFit competitions, the value of kipping pull-ups is obvious: this exercise variation allows for more repetitions to be performed without rest, as well as faster execution, while exhausting the upper body less. If someone performs kipping pull-ups correctly and uses a powerful movement of the hips to generate a lot of momentum, then they only have to use relatively little pulling force from the upper body. This is good for performing a large amount of quick pull-ups - but not good if you are performing pull-ups to build up your upper body! There is some latissimus involvement when performing kipping pull-ups, and if you control your body during the downward movement, your arms and back will be stressed during the eccentric phase of the exercise.

But let's be honest: the value of kipping pull-ups for muscle hypertrophy is limited compared to the strict version.

Where I see the value of kipping pull-ups for someone focused on getting more muscular is that this exercise allows you to perform more reps when your muscles are already fatigued at the end of a set of strict pull-ups. Let's say you are doing strict pull-ups. After 8 reps you reach a point where you realize that you won't be able to do another strict pull-up, but with the right kipping technique you will be able to complete a few more reps. If you lower yourself in a controlled manner during these additional repetitions, they will make the set more effective in terms of stimulating muscle growth. It's a bit like having a training partner to help you do a few more reps on the bench press after you've reached the point of muscle failure. For someone who just wants to get more muscular and bulky, kipping pull-ups are an intensity technique used like forced reps, negative reps or descending sets at the end of a set.

When it comes to releasing hate speech in regards to kipping pull-ups, the following applies: Let he who has never used some momentum at the end of a set of curls cast the first stone.

And what about butterfly pull-ups?

Butterfly pull-ups have evolved from kipping pull-ups. Remember that the rule is that you just have to move your chin over the bar and it doesn't matter what happens to your body. Chris Spealler was the first CrossFitter to use butterfly kipping pull-ups during a competition. Since then, this pull-up variation has become the primary variation for competitive athletes. Butterfly pull-ups were "designed" to allow you to perform even more repetitions in a shorter period of time. With kipping pull-ups, you come to a brief stop at the point where you reverse the direction of movement from top to bottom, whereas with butterfly pull-ups you are continuously in motion. If you can perform this variation correctly, you will be much faster than with kipping pull-ups. However, not everyone is built to be efficient at butterfly pull-ups: You need to be very strong in the shoulders and people with shorter arms have an advantage. And it requires better timing and rhythm than kipping pull-ups, so athletes with a gymnastics background will have an easier time.

The potential negative effects on the shoulder joints are much greater with butterfly pull-ups than with kipping pull-ups. Only athletes who are very strong and have good shoulder mobility should attempt this exercise. This is one of the reasons why you will still see some top competitive athletes today who continue to perform kipping pull-ups instead of butterfly pull-ups, even though the latter are more efficient in theory. There is also a higher risk of completing an invalid repetition as you have to lift your chin to move it quickly over the bar as you move towards the bar.

Butterfly pull-ups clearly involve the shoulder muscles and can therefore make them grow. However, it is a very complex exercise that you first have to learn properly. It takes a lot of time and effort if your goal is just to build muscle.

Summary

1. Kipping pull-ups themselves are not a good way to build muscle. However, it is a skill that CrossFit competitors need to master.
2. If the person performing kipping pull-ups has ample shoulder strength and mobility, then they can perform this exercise safely - or at least as well as other ballistic exercises such as the Olympic weightlifting exercises and jumps.
3. Kipping pull-ups can be used for muscle building when used as an intensity technique at the end of a set of strict pull-ups such as forced repetitions or negative repetitions. This should only be done by advanced athletes who have ample pull-up strength and can master the correct technique of kipping pull-ups.
4. Butterfly pull-ups are primarily a technique used during a competition to perform pull-ups even faster than is possible with kipping pull-ups. Butterfly pull-ups require very complex motor skills and are not worth learning unless you are an advanced CrossFit competitor. Butterfly pull-ups also put a lot of stress on the shoulders and should only be used by those with strong and flexible shoulders. If any pull-up variation is going to cause injury, it's butterfly pull-ups.
5. If you want to learn how to perform kipping pull-ups for whatever reason, then you need to get strong on strict pull-ups first. This will make your shoulders more resistant to injury.

By Christian Thibaudeau
Source : https://www.t-nation.com/training/kipping-pull-ups-the-truth