3 Reasons Kipping Pullups Cause Injuries

First off, I want to say that I’m not against kipping pull-ups.  If you are a competitive crossfit athlete then they are going to be a staple part of your program.  I’m ok with that.  I do kipping pull-ups regularly.  Go ahead, make fun of me!  I also do plenty of strict pullups, weighted pullups and other rowing variations.

That being said, if you have absolutely no desire to be competitive with crossfit, it may be helpful to stick with good old traditional pullups and their variations.  This way you won’t run into any potential complications from the movement.  However, the kip is an all around fun movement to learn and it’s been a large part of gymnastics movements for years.

There’s a lot of controversy out there with kipping pull-ups.  I wrote an article on the subject over a year ago and it has easily been the most popular article I’ve ever written.  I originally attempted to delve into the literature to find some answers to the age old question of why kipping pull-ups are dangerous, and how we can fix it.  Since then I’m a year smarter, have put a lot more thought into it and believe I’ve got some greater insight to share.  These are the reasons I believe kipping pull-ups get a bad rap.

Note:  There are several ideas that float around in the crossfit world to try and prevent shoulder injuries.  My goal was to try and inject some research and critical thinking into the mix and really get after the root of the problem.  I’ve been reading a ton of shoulder research lately and am super excited to share.  I’ll try to balance out the nerd in me with the meathead side and make the information a bit more reader friendly.   …read more