Q: What’s this “kipping” thing I’ve heard about? Isn’t that cheating?

A: No. Kipping refers to the general ability to convert momentum in one plane to movement in another; think someone taking a running start to get a higher jump (converting horizontal momentum to increased vertical movement). Kipping is a useful technique with real-world functionality- if your goal was to jump as high as possible, or pull up onto something, you’d use every technique you could think of to accomplish the goal. The notion of “cheating” wouldn’t even exist- you either accomplish the task, or you don’t.

Most commonly, we get this question in reference to pull ups. The fact of the matter is that a proper kipping pullup should go through the same range of motion as a regular pull up- arms start completely straight and extended, and you finish with your chin over the bar. When you do either form of pullup, your bodyweight is the same. So, you’re accomplishing the same amount of work in both cases. This is work in the physics definition- force (to move your weight) x distance (the range of motion). However, kipping pullups can be done much faster than regular pull ups. So, if you can knock out 10 kipping pull ups in the time you can only do 5 strict pull ups, you’ve accomplished twice the amount of work in the same time, which means your power output is double in the kipping case (power = work/time). What this means for you is- greater intensity, greater output and greater fitness gains in general.

That being said, there is a time and a place for strict pullups, and we work on those as well. The strict pull up places much more emphasis on total body strength and is an invaluable tool. Think of kipping vs strict as just different tools in your arsenal. Both are helpful, and one is better than the other depending on the task at hand.