Since the dawn of time, man has been challenged with many difficult choices – cheese or pepperoni? Ferrari or Lambo? Gatorade or Powerade? And of course, strict or kipping pull-ups…
At some point during your time at the weight buffet (Danny BroFlex anyone?), you have undoubtedly come across a man or woman hanging from the pull-up bar and performing dozens of kipping pull-ups. At this point two thoughts have crossed your mind: 1. Those are cheating pull-ups and don’t count and 2. Even if they are cheating pull-ups, that’s a lot of them and they look pretty cool. It’s at this point that you think to yourself that you must choose, good vs evil, yin vs yang, kip vs strict.
Let’s take a closer look at both of these pull-ups to help you make your decision. Both the start and the finish of the kipping pull-up and the strict pull-up are exactly the same. At the bottom of the movement, the arms fully extended. At the top of the movement, the chin is over the bar. The difference is how you got there.
With a regular pull up, your body stays in a straight line pointed to the ground. As you flex your lats, traps, rhomboids, and biceps these muscles cause the arms to bend and “pull” the chin “up” over the bar. IE the name “pull-up.” (Man strength coaches are creative with names, aren’t they?)
With the kipping pull-up the major difference is at the bottom position. Once your arms are fully extended, you push your chin and shoulders forward and your legs back. That movement is then violently reversed, which creates momentum. That momentum, along with flexing those same muscles that are used in the strict pull-up, allows the athlete to get their chin over the bar quicker and more explosively than in a strict pull-up. Because the movement happens so quickly, the muscles are under tension for a shorter amount of time. Time under tension = fatigue. Less tension = less fatigue, which is why you can perform more kipping pull-ups than strict pull-ups.
Now armed with that knowledge, let’s get back to which type is right for you. I know you are going to think this is the easy way out and that I’m a wimp, but… you should use both types. Hold on, hold on, I see you outside with pitch forks. Give me a chance to explain. Since the kipping pull up is less fatiguing and can be performed faster, it is ideal for circuits, metabolic-conditioning, and any work capacity type of training. Since strict pull-ups are performed slower, and without any extra momentum, they are perfect for building strength. So, a sample workout day from a 3 day total body program that incorporates both types of pull-ups, may look something like this:
Strength Work
- Squat 5×5
- DB Bench 3×10
- Strict Pull Ups 4×6
- DB Lunge 3×12
- RDL 3×12
Conditioning – 10 Rounds
- 20 Double Unders
- 10 Kipping Pull-Ups
By incorporating both types of pull-ups into your workout you have now won the debate of which types of pull-ups to do, the answer, just like when deciding between cheese and pepperoni, is both!
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