When bragging about pull-ups, keep 'em STRICT!

Recently, the New York Times ran an article titled "Why women can't do pull-ups" that sparked a wave of outrage from women who can actually do pull-ups. Like them, I also thought the article was absurd. After all, I was able to get my first pull up after a month or two of diligent daily attempts.

Among those joining the outrage party were CrossFitters who were quick to point out they know many women who can easily churn out pull-ups by the dozens.

 

But anyone familiar with CrossFit knows that its workouts mostly call for kipping pull-ups, which are a lot easier to do than the traditional strict pull-ups. (The video on top, which I shamelessly took from YouTube without permission, shows a bunch of people doing kipping pull-ups.)

In the kipping pull-ups used in CrossFit you swing your body to obtain enough momentum to pull up your body and get your chin over the bar. While churning out kipping pull-ups unbroken requires coordination and stamina, they definitely do not require as much strength as a strict pull-up.

In a strict pull-up you hang from the bar with arms fully extended and then pull yourself up without using momentum until your chin is over the bar. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), strict pull-ups are much more difficult than kipping pull-ups. Don't believe me? Just try them.

After the New York Times article ran, CrossFitters uploaded videos of gals doing pull-ups in hopes that this would dispel the myth the newspaper was perpetuating. But much to my disappointment, most of them showed kipping pull-ups. The author of the New York Times article and the studies she quoted were not considering women's ability to do kipping pull-ups, they were talking about strict pull-ups.

This said, it is no surprise to me that kipping pull-ups have become the object of much ridicule, precisely because there are too many CrossFitters out there bragging about being able to do 50 pull-ups when, in reality, they are kipping. Makes you wonder how many strict pull-ups they can manage, if any at all.

I don't have a problem with kipping pull-ups. In most CrossFit workouts, they are a necessity. After all, there is no way I am ever going to be able to finish the infamous "Fran" workout in under five minutes if I stick to strict pull-ups. (For the uninitiated, "Fran" consists of one round of 21 pull-ups and 21 thrusters, a second round of 15 repetitions and a third round of nine repetitions.) The only way to finish "Fran" as prescribed in a respectable amount of time is to kip them pull-ups. Believe me, I tried doing "Fran" with strict pull-ups. It took me 20 minutes to finish and my shoulders and lats were sore for two days.

I know a few gals at my CrossFit box who can do strict pull-ups and I'm sure there are a few gals at each and every CrossFit box who can churn out several strict pull-ups. So if you're going to brag, why not show your best moves? 

I am not saying kipping pull-ups are for losers. They are actually a lot of fun and will get your heart pumping.

The moral of this story is that if you are going to brag about being able to do pull-ups, please keep them strict and save yourself the embarrassment. Nobody laughs at strict pull-ups done with good form.