The pull-up is arguably the most valuable exercise performed without a barbell. Its applications span sports and disciplines, and its variations are nearly limitless. Producing improvements in muscular and connective tissue strength, mobility, and metabolic conditioning, the pull-up unquestionably deserves a regular position within everyone’s training.

We have several basic pull-up variations with which to work: strict pull-ups and chin-ups of varying grips and styles, and a few types of kipping such as the traditional, the frog-kick, and the butterfly kip. Each has its benefits and appropriate application, and each has its limitations.

The biggest mistake an athlete can make is limiting him- or herself to a single variation in training—this leaves gaps in development and ability that can become problematic. A great recent example of this occurred at the second annual CrossFit Games. The butterfly kip (BFK), introduced to the CrossFit community by Canadian studs Brett Marshall and James FitzGerald, has grown quickly in popularity and is becoming the new standard in kipping for CrossFitters. However, the announcement a few days prior to the games that the performance standard for pull-ups would require contact between the chest and bar changed the game significantly and, while some athletes were able to make the BFK conform to these standards, it was clearly troublesome, and many athletes who had traded in the more traditional kip for the butterfly kip saw their pull-up performances suffer dramatically.

This is not to say, of course, that athletes shouldn’t emphasize particular variations over others to most appropriately serve their training needs. For example, a competitive weightlifter, while certainly in need of pull-ups in training, has no use for BFK pull-ups; the need for metabolic conditioning is non-existent, and the purpose of the BFK is to allow faster cycling and more economical pull-ups to increase the work done in a given set. The weightlifter will rely on deadhang variations and a more traditional kipping style. Between these two basic types of pull-up, we’ll cover the vertical pulling strength development possible with the deadhang pull-up, weighted when necessary, and the ballistic loading, shoulder girdle flexibility, and connective tissue strengthening provided by the traditional kipping pull-up.

As always, a rational evaluation of each athlete’s needs will dictate the appropriate choices of exercises. For generalists such as CrossFitters, all variations should be used with at least enough frequency to develop and maintain technical proficiency, while the individual’s preferred style can be relied on as the default and be the focus of the greatest volume of use and practice.

Variations

Following are descriptions, videos and other information for the most common and valuable pull-up variations. Keep in mind that for each of these variations, there are minor execution variations among individuals.

Pull-up

Description: This is the conventional deadhang pull-up with a pronated grip (palms facing away from athlete). Starting with the shoulders fully opened, the athlete will pull with the back and arms to elevate the body to the bar. At minimum, the chin (without reaching) should finish above the bar; ideally, the athlete will contact the upper chest to the bar to simulate the same range of motion as a press. A slight backward lean and back arch at the top will encourage more involvement of the back musculature rather than relying overwhelmingly on the arms.

Benefits: The pronated grip allows the shoulders to open fully and generally places less strain on the wrists and elbows in the bottom position, as well as allows for a greater range of grip widths. It allows the easy addition of weight, either by a harness or held in the legs. The movement is simple to assist in a number of ways for those unable to perform it either entirely or in adequate numbers.

Drawbacks: This is a relatively slow movement, and therefore not very useful for metabolic conditioning. Some athletes—women in particular—may be unable to perform them and will require possibly a long training period before being able to perform them unassisted in adequate numbers.

Applications: This is the basic vertical pulling strength exercise and the default grip style. For those not in need of metabolic conditioning using the pull-up for shoulder strength and mobility balance, this is one good choice.

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Chin-up

Description: The chin-up is identical to the pull-up, but uses a supinated grip (palms facing athlete).

Benefits: Because the supinated grip makes it rely on the biceps to a greater degree than the pull-up, the chin-up is typically easier for athletes to perform, and consequently may be accessible sooner to athletes with inadequate upper body strength. The chin-up’s supinated grip balances the body better for variations like L-pull-ups.

Drawbacks: The supinated grip on a straight bar often places considerable strain on the wrists and elbows, and also limits the degree to which the shoulders can open at the bottom of the movement. The grip also greatly limits the possible widths for hand placement due to the limitations of wrist mobility.

Applications: The chin-up is a good option to use in concert with the pull-up simply for a degree of variation without significantly altering the effect of the exercise. The chin-up can also serve as an intermediate movement between assisted pull-ups and unassisted pull-ups. As mentioned previously, it’s generally easier for athletes and will often be an athlete’s first exposure to an unassisted movement before achieving a deadhang pull-up.

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Traditional Kip

Description: This type of kipping pull-up is the most similar to the glide kip used in gymnastics, although the two movements are quite different. What they share is a longer range of motion of the whole body and a more fluid transition from horizontal to vertical movement, distinguishing them from the frog-kick or butterfly kips. Initiating the movement with a forward push of the head and chest through the arms to arch the body under the bar, the athlete will pull the hips back to reverse the arch. As this arch is forming, the athlete will lift the knees and pop the hips up toward the bar, briefly unloading a portion of the athlete’s bodyweight, while then pulling the chest up to the bar with the arms. To return to the bottom, the athlete pushes back away from the bar to enter into an arc similar to the one followed on the way up. This reduces the strain on the elbows and shoulders as well as drives the athlete smoothly into the forward arch that will begin the subsequent pull-up.

Benefits: This kip variation involves the most forward movement of the body and the greatest range of motion for the shoulders, consequently making it the most beneficial for shoulder and upper back mobility. Because of the much greater elastic loading and momentum achieved in this movement relative to other kip variations, the traditional kip offers the most potential for height relative to the bar. With enough effort, this kip can easily propel the athlete’s waist to the bar.

Drawbacks: The long range of motion that gives this kip its primary benefits are also drawbacks in some senses—it makes the movement slow relative to the frog-kick and butterfly kip, and accordingly, is not ideal for use in workouts in which the athlete is attempting to complete pull-ups as quickly as possible. That said, they are still useful in metabolic conditioning because they require more effort and consequently improve the athlete’s capacity through system improvements rather than increases in movement economy.

Applications: For athletes not in need of metabolic conditioning, the traditional kip should be used in addition to deadhang variations to improve and maintain shoulder mobility and connective tissue strength. It’s also a convenient exercise to introduce and practice hip speed and body coordination.

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Frog-Kick

Description: Unlike the traditional kip, the frog-kick moves the athlete nearly straight up and down. The athlete initiates the movement by simply lifting the knees and popping the hips up as was done with the traditional kip, but in the absence of the preceding arching. This allows a similar unloading of bodyweight, during which the athlete can complete the movement with a pull of the arms to bring the chest up to the bar. To reduce the strain on the shoulders and elbows on the return to the bottom, the athlete can push back from the bar slightly to return in a subtle arc rather than simply dropping straight down. Forward arching under the bar should be intentionally minimized to keep the cycle time as quick as possible.

Benefits: This movement tends to come more naturally to people—it’s essentially what the body wants to do when an individual is stuck during a pull-up—so it’s very easy to teach and learn. Because horizontal movement is reduced and the athlete is moving in a more direct path to the bar and back, the frog-kick is considerably quicker than the traditional kip, and is therefore a better choice for timed workouts.

Drawbacks: The intentionally limited body arching removes a great deal of the shoulder and upper back flexibility benefits of the traditional kip.

Applications: Because of the ease of instruction and learning, the frog-kick is a good introductory kipping style. It’s also a good choice for timed workouts because of its quick cycle time and relatively minimal effort requirements, both in terms of muscular work and coordination.

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Butterfly Kip

Description: The butterfly kip is a variation that attempts to circumvent the long cycle time associated with the traditional kip.

Benefits: The butterfly kip appears to be the most economical kip variation with the shortest cycle time. It allows large volumes of pull-ups to be completed quickly and with minimal effort, and consequently is ideal for timed workouts.

Drawbacks: The BFK is by far the most technically challenging kip variation, and will require significantly more instruction and practice time for athletes to achieve proficiency. Initially athletes will muscle their way through the movement, slowing it down and using far more effort than the proficient BFK will require ultimately. It’s common for a series of BFK pull-ups to be interrupted by a loss of timing, forcing the athlete to insert a few more traditional kipping pull-ups in order to reset. This alone has the potential to negate any cycle time benefits in a given workout. Its economy reduces the physical challenge enough that training it exclusively will likely reduce an athlete’s capacity with other kipping variations due to its reduced demand on local muscular strength. The nature of the movement reduces the amount of shoulder and upper back stretching seen in the traditional kip, although not to the degree of the frog-kick. It doesn’t have the height potential of the traditional kip, and is more in line with the frog-kick in this sense.

Applications: The BFK is best suited for timed workouts in which maximal volume in minimal time is the only goal. It is not appropriate for athletes in need of upper body pulling strength and improved shoulder mobility.

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Progression

Because the pull-up will be inaccessible for many individuals initially, strategies to scale it will be necessary both to provide interim training options that provide benefits as similar as possible and to progress the athlete to the ability to perform pull-ups as required by his or her training program. There are a number of ways to do this, and each has its benefits and drawbacks. Following are a few of the best choices, in approximate order of difficulty.

Body Row

The body row is most easily performed with rings because of their adjustable height. This exercise can accommodate any level of strength, and even be used with single arms in the case of injury or other problems. The individual will hold the rings and lean back from them until the arms are fully extended and scapulae protracted. Initiating the movement by retracting the scapulae, he or she will continue pulling with the arms and back to bring the shoulders to the rings, keeping the body in a rigid straight line throughout the movement. Convenient benefits of the body row are the added back work and need for core stabilization. The higher the rings and the closer the feet to them, the easier the movement. This exercise can be made quite challenging by placing the feet on a bench or box and lowering the rings to its height—this will place the body horizontal at the top of the movement. This demands considerably more strength than a kipping pull-up.

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Supported Kip

This is a simple movement requiring little strength that can be used by nearly anyone to receive much of the shoulder mobility benefits of the traditional kipping pull-up. With a box of the necessary height under the pull-up bar, the individual will grip the bar and hang with fully extended arms and open shoulders while standing on the box with bent knees and all of the weight in the arms if possible. Keeping the feet in contact with the box, the individual will push the chest and head forward through the arms, rocking onto the toes, and then reverse the arch to bring the hips and head behind the arms, rocking back onto the heels. This will mimic the basic motion of the kip with less demand on strength and coordination.

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Squatting Pull-up

The squatting pull-up allows an individual to perform the full range of motion of a pull-up with only the amount of bodyweight they’re presently able to manage. This is usually easiest done with rings to allow quick height adjustment without the need for boxes or platforms. Set the bottom of the rings at the height of the individual’s shoulders, so that a fully standing position with the hands on the rings will place the individual at the top of the pull-up movement. From this position, the individual will simply squat below the rings, hanging as much bodyweight from the arms as possible. When full arm extension is reached, he or she will return to the top, again using the arms and back as much as possible to return, supporting only as much as necessary with the legs. Don’t allow the individual to drop uncontrolled to the bottom or to simply squat back up with no effort from the arms and back.

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Jumping Pull-up

The jumping pull-up can be performed in a number of ways, from a simple straight jump to one involving the kipping motion of the supported kip exercise. The height of the bar or rings relative to the floor or platform on which the individual is standing can be adjusted according to need—the more leg assistance needed, the closer the two should be. Starting in some manner of partial squat with the arms fully extended, the individual will jump as he or she pulls with the arms, using an adequate combination of power from each to reach the top of the movement. At the top, the individual should make an effort to slow the return downward, replace the feet on the platform, and support as much bodyweight with the legs as needed during the return to full arm extension. This movement needs to be as smooth as possible—snapping and jerking of the arms only leads to elbow pain and possible injury. Always be sure the legs are ready to support the individual when needed. Just as with the squatting pull-up, the legs should be allowed to do only as much work as is absolutely necessary—more than that and the purpose of the exercise, at least as a progression to the pull-up, is defeated. Once the individual has gained enough strength with the exercise, the legs may be removed from the eccentric phase entirely and the movement performed under slow control under the power of the arms and back only. These negatives should be used very judiciously as they have the potential to produce extreme soreness and potentially dangerous muscle damage.

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Band Pull-up

The band pull-up simply uses an elastic band hanging from the pull-up bar to assist the movement. The individual can place the band under one or both feet, or bend one or both knees and slip it under the shins. More tension and therefore more assistance can be achieved by spreading the legs with the band around both feet. The primary drawbacks to this method are that getting in and out of the bands is awkward and tedious, and there’s potential for the individual to catch a slipped band in any number of uncomfortable locations. This method is best employed with the assistance of a partner or trainer.

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Learning & Teaching

There are a number of methods to teach the kipping pull-up, and variations to teach the different kipping styles. The most effective I’ve seen for the basic kip, and the one I continue to use with my own clients, is the progression created a few years ago by Eva Twardokens.

This is a three-step progression, and depending on the individual, these steps may be completed together, or may need to be spread out over a longer period of time while the requisite strength is being developed.

Step 1

The first step in the progression is the supported kip described previously. This step can be performed by nearly anyone, and can be introduced very early in an individual’s training to begin developing shoulder mobility and a good sense of the movement well before the pull-up is actually learned. Assistance can be provided by the trainer or partner by holding the individual’s hips and guiding them through the movement.

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Step 2

The next step adds a jump to the bar to the first step. The individual will begin by performing a few supported kips to get the rhythm and full range of motion. Once this is established, the individual will jump as he or she reaches the back of the kip movement and use the arms to complete a pull to the bar. The key is timing this jump—individuals will invariably want to jump when immediately below the bar. Instead, they need to wait until they’ve reached the point at which they’ve previously reversed the kip to return forward, that is, maximal back arch—they should feel the tension in their bodies at this point. It’s important that the individual replace the feet in the same position from which they jumped after each rep.

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Step 3

Following satisfactory kip jumps, the individual will progress to connecting multiple jumps in series. In order to do this, the correct return path from the bar needs to be established. Once the individual reaches the top of the pull, he or she must push backward away from the bar horizontally. During this backward push, he or she will of course be falling as well, so the result will be a smooth arc as they return the feet to the platform. This arc will naturally encourage them to swing immediately back into the forward arch of the supported kip. However, most individuals, out of fear, will stop themselves from swinging forward. They’ll need to be explicitly instructed and encouraged to continue the movement.

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Making the Transition

With the previous three steps completed, the individual has a reasonable feel for the kipping movement. However, it’s still a fairly significant jump to an actual kipping pull-up, and for those not particularly athletic, an impossible one. In such cases, some transitional work can be helpful.

The problem is the motion of the legs and hips. With the jumping kip, the hips lead the motion because the individual is driving off the platform with the feet. However, in an actual kip, the knees will lead and the hips will follow. For those not possessed of above average coordination, this is too confusing of a change to ask for without providing assistance.

There are a few ways to teach this knee and hip movement. Possibly the most effective option comes from Adrian Bozman: Lying on the floor (a nicely padded one) with the knees bent and feet flat on the floor as if preparing for a sit-up, the individual will kick the feet and knees up and forward, which will pop the hips up off the floor momentarily. This is the same movement that will occur in the pull-up, and this can be immensely helpful in bridging the aforementioned gap. However, it is a bit jarring on the body, and for older and less resilient clients, may not be a good choice.

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Another option is teaching it from the pull-up bar. This can be broken into a number of steps as needed and as described herein, or the initial steps can be omitted if deemed superfluous for a given individual.

Step 1

Hanging with the arms at full extension from the pull-up bar, the individual will simply lift the knees as high as possible and then kick the feet forward and down. Even with no intent to do so, this motion should pop the hips up slightly. Once this has been done a few times, the individual can be instructed to attempt to elevate the hips as much as possible with the kick.

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Step 2

Start with a box or platform under the bar at a height that places the individual when standing erect with the hands gripping the bar with about a 90-degree bend in the arms. From this position, the individual will perform the same lift and kick he or she did in the previous step. However, with the kick, he or she will pull with the arms and attempt to pop the chin over the bar.

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Step 3

The final step in this transition is to add this new knee and hip motion to the supported kip jump. As the individual reaches the back of the arc, instead of jumping off the box by driving with the legs, he or she will lift the knees and kick down as was done in the previous two drills. This will need to be done with a lower box to allow space for the feet to drive down. Once this movement is satisfactory, the individual can begin training the actual kipping pull-up.

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Getting The Big Kids Pull-up

For individuals already capable of deadhang pull-ups, learning the kipping pull-up is an entirely technical pursuit—as soon as the technique is learned with the drills described above, the individual is ready to perform a kipping pull-up.

For individuals not yet able to perform a deadhang or kipping pull-up of any type, two progressions are being undertaken simultaneously—strength and technique. Because the technique drills will not be remarkably taxing, both can be performed without concern for interference or overtraining. The exception to this is elbow and arm flexor strain—be conservative with new clients when introducing the training.

The various exercises described in the progression section should be used while the individual is practicing the learning drills for the kipping pull-up. The difficulty of these exercises should be increased incrementally as tolerated, and a reasonable amount of alternation among the accessible ones employed.

It will be fairly obvious when the individual is ready to attempt an unassisted kipping pull-up. Once he or she is able to hang from the bar and maintain a kip swing for several reps without too much of a struggle, attempts can be made. However, as mentioned previously, be cautious of overdoing it with individuals who don’t yet have much exposure to this kind of exercise—elbow and arm flexor strain can arise surprisingly quickly with seemingly little work.

Kipping vs. Deadhang

The kipping pull-up has historically been a magnet for argument in the CrossFit community. Particularly in its earlier days, before reaching juggernaut status, CrossFit was continually on the defensive regarding the kip. At this point, there should be no question of the kipping pull-up’s value, although there are still points of contention.

For a number of years, there has been a claim floating around that those who are able to perform the most kipping pull-ups are also able to perform the most deadhang pull-ups. While as a general observation, this may be accurate in terms of average, the real issue is missing. Early in CrossFit’s public life, the overwhelming majority of athletes being drawn in were already capable of deadhang pull-ups, and subsequently learned to perform kipping pull-ups. It’s no surprise that an individual able to perform 20+ consecutive deadhang pull-ups was able to perform, once the technique was established, 40-50+ kipping pull-ups.

However, as more people were attracted to CrossFit, the number of individuals able to perform substantial deadhang pull-up numbers dwindled as a percentage, and the number of those who came to the game unable to perform any at all exploded. For these latter individuals, the kipping pull-up was their first exposure to the pull-up. It became clear that the correlation between deadhang and kipping pull-ups was not a two-way street; that is, while a large number of deadhang pull-ups ensures a proportionately large number of kipping pull-ups, a large number of kipping pull-ups does not ensure a proportionately large number of deadhang pull-ups. This is very easily demonstrated at any CrossFit gym.

That association notwithstanding, the kipping pull-up certainly contributes to the ability to perform deadhang pull-ups. Individuals whose first pull-ups are kipped can eventually develop deadhang pull-ups from continued kipping work. Unfortunately, there’s a limited transfer; past a certain threshold, increasing kipping pull-up numbers are the result of grip stamina, metabolic conditioning, and movement economy far more than the increases in local strength needed for substantial improvement in deadhang numbers. While continued kipping will be helpful to a degree, increases in deadhang pull-ups require performing deadhang and weighted pull-ups regularly.

Grip

With every pull-up variation, we also have potential grip variations. In cases of GPP training, a variety of grip widths should be used, although again, there should always be a default width which a given athlete is most proficient. As mentioned previously, the options for hand widths with a supinated grip like in the chin-up are relatively limited due to the constraints of wrist and elbow mobility—it will generally need to be considerably narrower than an individual’s chosen pronated grip. Options for the pull-up variations are much greater. Ideally, however, the default width is similar to the grip width for the individual’s press—slightly outside the shoulders, placing the forearms vertical or just outside vertical at the top of the movement. This will maximize both the range of motion and shoulder mobility.

Whether or not to wrap the thumbs around the bar is generally a choice to be left to the individual, although, of course, practicing both ways is ideal.

Sticking it In

Where and how the pull-up is placed in the training program will vary significantly among individuals depending on their needs for sport or fitness. However, we can lay down some very general guidelines. Weighted pull-ups (or deadhang pull-ups if challenging enough) should be programmed like any other strength training with 1-3 good doses of work each week, ideally with the load and volume varied a bit among those workouts in a single week. Of course, there should be an intentional progression of weight and/or volume over time.

Stamina work, i.e. higher-volume kipping or deadhang pull-ups, can be performed much more frequently, as much as 5-6 days each week for an adequately conditioned individual. Again, some variation in total workout volume and consecutive reps should be varied somewhat among training sessions. Some individuals see good results from inserting single sets of pull-ups numerous times throughout the day. If this approach is used, the individual should be cautious to limit the volume to that which doesn’t induce lasting fatigue—that is, from day to day, the number of pull-ups that can be performed in these frequent sessions should be fairly similar. If numbers are falling, the individual needs to drop the volume and more gradually build up the numbers.