Kipping pull ups are not strict pull ups, but they aren't supposed to be. That's not really a critique, more of an observation. All kipping movements and strict movements have different purposes. To not be able to recognise this is not the fault of the kip. Strict movements allow us to develop strict strength and often don’t need us to be highly skilful or overly proficient. Kipping a lot of the time is the opposite. Kipping is the movement we use during gymnastics based workouts to increase volume, intensity and conditioning. While they can develop strength, that is functional to the movement itself. By utilising a kip we are able to build up momentum to do pull ups, toes to bar and muscle ups quicker and more effectively within a workout. It’s a contentious movement but it helps increase the volume within a workout. We program both strict and kipping movements in our workouts depending on the day, the volume required and to reach the stimulus of the day.
Is it bad for you? No. we just need to build in the same as any other movement. You need to build up tolerance, make sure range of motion allows you to do the movement and build up slowly.
Learning new skills is an efficient use of time in anyone's life, plus sometimes it’s just bloody fun to see what our bodies are capable of.
