I’m not going to lie people: I’m in hunker down mode as I type this. I just walked down to Staples and dropped off all the presentations for the Boston Workshop and also have an assortment of odds and ends to get done before the big weekend commences in less than 48 hours.
Grab a bunch of waters? Check.
Make sure all the chairs are at the facility? Check.
Projector? Check.
Adapter for said projector? Check.
Confirm Dean’s flight info? Check.
Pick up the Dragon jumping castle (because what fitness workshop is complete without a jumping castle)? Check.
Pants? Check.
The point is: I’m all over the place right now, and am trying my best not end up in some random corner somewhere sucking my thumb.
On that note, here’s some stuff to read that I think you’ll enjoy. Toodles!
Earlier this week Mike released a video on mobility and stability training in anticipation of his upcoming product, Bulletproof Athlete, which is being released next week.
Today he’s releasing another FREEvideo on strength and power training which is basically a product in of itself.
Mike’s a super smart guy with a ton of real world experience coaching, and you’d be crazy not to take advantage of any opportunity to listen to what he has to say.
In light of a recent “study” which came out connecting fish oil (specifically omega-3 fatty acids) to prostate cancer, and the subsequent media shit storm that followed, I felt the need to share this short, succinct, and excellent article retorting all the claims made by the researchers of said “study.”
2012 is about thiiiis close to coming to a close, and since we’re all still here (HA!….take that Mayans!) I thought I’d use the last day and highlight the ten most popular posts of the past year based off of the total number of visits/hits each received.
It was the best year yet for TonyGentilcore.com, and I can’t thank everyone enough for their continued readership, and more importantly, support.
If I could give every single one of a hug I would. But not only would that be weird, it’s pretty much impossible. Nevertheless, please know that I am repeatedly grateful to all of you and here’s hoping that 2013 bring us all happiness, love, and PRs!
Fixing the “Tuck Under” When Squatting Parts ONE and TWO
Almost resoundingly, by a few thousand visits, this was a very popular two-part post I wrote on how to fix the tuck under or “butt wink” at the bottom of the squat. I guess people like reading about squats!
I don’t know which is more controversial: CrossFit, the so-called “fiscal cliff” we’re about to nose dive off of, Hitler, or the three weeks worth of facial hair that’s currently on my grill (which is a record for me).
In any case, whenever you mention CrossFit, you can bet that the sirens are blasted, and people are going to come out in droves to express their opinion.
Here I take a firm (albeit fair) take as to why I’m not a fan of kipping pull-ups.
This was a topic of a staff in-service that I did where I discussed some of the (several) intricacies that exist between the box squat and the squat TO box.
As the title suggests, yes, there is a difference.
The impetus behind this post was an email exchange I had with one of my female clients and a discussion we had on the differences between weight loss and fat loss. It’s a topic I feel many people can glue themselves to because we’ve all been there.
The information and logic provides are sound, but if anything else, what’s most impressive of all is my use of the word flummoxed. Seriously, gold star for that one!
I heart deadlifts. So it should come as no surprise that one of the 317 articles (slight exaggeration) I wrote on it should pop up in the top ten. Here I breakdown some common (and uncommon) coaching cues that I often use with my athletes and clients to help improve their technique.
It’s a rhetorical question, because in the grand scheme of things any warm-up is better than no warm-up at all. Although, if I’m going to be a little biased I think this one is pretty money.
I got in a little hot water after posting this article earlier in the year. You would think, after reading some of the comments I received, that I made a case for why women shouldn’t be allowed to vote!
99% of the people “got” the message: how the fitness industry panders to women is a complete joke, and there’s a massive double standard: men should lift weight, women should take yoga class.
I’m pretty excited today (and not because my birthday is in two days, hint hint hint). In actuality I have to head to the facility early this morning because one of the people from the Postural Restoration Institute(PRI) who lives in or near the Boston area is stopping by to do a short two and half hour staff in-service for us and it’s going to be awesomesauce.
Eric has been to a few of the modalities and Greg (Robins) recently attended one a few weeks ago, and within the past year or two we’ve implemented a fair amount of the PRI philosophy into the programming of our athletes and clients.
For those not in the know: much of the dialogue revolves around breathing patterns and helping to engage the diaphragm more effectively. Admittedly it’s much more involved than that, but at the expense of oversimplifying things, I’ll leave it at that.
Lets just say that there’s a huge likelihood that I’ll only be able to understand and compute 37% of what’s said. God I hope they bring coloring books!
Note: I’m not kidding. If you were to go to one of their actual seminars, because there’s a heavy emphasis on anatomy, they have people use coloring books to help with the learning process.
Just to throw it out there, if they really wanted to take it to the next level they’d somehow incorporate glitter paint and a smoke machine.
Anyways, I’m excited and looking forward to making my brain feel like mush.
In the meantime, here’s some stuff to read to keep you occupied.
I don’t feel I have to go out of my way to state how much of a fan I am of Dan John. He’s undoubtedly been a huge influence on my career, and I’ve highlighted pretty much everything he’s ever written on this site.
Intervention is his latest ebook, and helps to breakdown movement and provides step-by-step instructions in the Olympic lifts, powerlifting, mobility, flexibility, kettlebell training & tumbling.
In a sense, it’s an invaluable guide to anyone who coaches people or who’s interested in not sucking in the gym.
This was an excellent article which, surprisingly (I really didn’t know this), shows how there’s been very little research done with regards to the efficacy of foam rolling. Much of what we know (and recommend) is based solely off anecdotal evidence (which isn’t a bad thing).
Basically at the end of the day, while there should be more research done on the topic (no one really knows how long, how often, and when to do it), I also feel that the “real world” evidence is clear. I’ve seen with my own eyes people reap the benefits of foam rolling and feel it’s an invaluable tool in the tool box.
Still, I really liked this article in that it took an unbiased viewpoint and laid out what (little) research these is thus far.
A few weeks ago I wrote a popular post (in the context of it making its rounds around Facebook) titled All the Hype Behind Kipping Pull-Ups, where I expressed my opinion on this controversial exercise.
I’m not going to get into it here (you can click on the link above), but needless to say I’m not a fan.
The impetus for the post was to note that I don’t feel that they’re a good fit for the vast majority of people who perform CrossFit. It’s one thing if you’re already strong, have a solid training foundation, or have a fair amount of training experience. There’s a reason why the top CF athletes don’t (generally) hurt themselves (as much).
It’s a walking train wreck otherwise.
As it happens, I’m not the only one who feels the same way. Strength coach Dave Hedges offers his opinion on why kipping pull-ups probably aren’t the best choice for most (not all) people.
Also note the informative link he provides discussing the overwhelming amount of SLAP tears in the CrossFit community which can be directly linked to the kipping pull-up.
And remember, it my b-day on Friday! I wear large t-shirts, 10.5 shoes, and I’m pretty sure Alicia Keys just came out with a new album. Sooooo, yeah, just sayin…….
I’ve got an interesting topic today that may or may not win me some friends. I’m guessing the latter, but that’s okay.
Below is an email I received a few weeks ago about kipping pull-ups (what are they, is there any efficacy behind them, would I ever program them? Short answer: Um, no.), and I’ve been sitting on it for a while now trying to think of a judicious, fair, and un-biased way to answer.
Most people who read this blog probably already know what I’m going to say, but at the same time I feel I’ve done a damn good job in my career keeping an open mind and not pigeon holing myself into one thought process or the other. So hopefully I won’t come across as stepping on too many toes. We can all get along, right? Right?
Okay, let the madness begin.
Q:Hoping that you might be able to help me out with this topic that has been coming up a lot lately in my area and facility. Could you give some detail on what a kipping pull-up is good for?
A lot of people having been asking about its advantages and disadvantages. Is there even a scenario where you would add these into a program? What are the major differences between a standard pull-up and a kipping pull-up?
Sorry, I don’t mean to throw a ton a questions at you but I am pretty lost on how to answer. People keep asking me saying, “they seem more functional as it incorporates a total body movement, and that it helps with muscle timing,” (WTF is that?).
I have held out for a while, but the more people keep talking to me about it, the more I’m getting confused. Might not be the worst blog post, even though 99% of the people that read your site would just get a good laugh out of it.
Lets face it Crossfit isn’t going anywhere and I would like to be armed with some serious knowledge about how to answer. Thanks for the info that you consistently post on here. I enjoy reading your site on a daily basis.
Thanks
A: Okay, lets kick things off with the nicey nice stuff.
There are a fair number of CrossFit peeps and affiliates who routinely read my blog, support it, and go out of their way to link back and spread my message, and for that I am always appreciative.
I like to pride myself that I am a “middle of the road” kind of guy, and I’ve never gone out of my way to openly bash CrossFit or insult the people who enjoy it.
Contrary to belief I’m with you dear reader: I agree that CrossFit is here to stay and I’m perfectly fine with that. There are a lot of things about CrossFit that I really like and respect.
Case in point: I was walking in downtown Boston the other night in the pouring rain running some errands. It was miserable outside, the kind of weather where you think to yourself, “I can’t wait to just get inside, plop down on my couch, put on my Pjs, and watch The Notebook, Steel Magnolias, The Matrix,” when I happened to walk past the doors of CrossFit affiliate.
I peeked inside and saw that the place was filled to the brim with people getting after it. Granted I can’t say I approved of the exercises nor the technique involved, but it was impressive nonetheless.
I dig that! I dig that people are so excited and jazzed up to train that they’re willing to brave the elements and train no matter what.
Even more the point, CrossFit has done an outstanding job at building an overwhelming sense of passion, unity, and camaraderie amongst its members and it’s hard for me as a fitness professional to poo-poo on that aspect.
Moreover, you’d be hard pressed to find any population that works harder. Like I said, people GET AFTER IT, and I really like that CrossFit advocates people to incorporate compound movements and introduces people to a wide variety of training stimuli (and gets them off the elliptical machine!!!).
Additionally, I have some good friends and colleagues who are CrossFitters who speak very highly of it. One such person is Jen Sinkler, fitness editor of Experience Life Magazine and overall badass.
To her credit, she dabbles in everything (Olympic lifting, Parkour, yoga, every sport and hobby imaginable) and I can’t say for certain whether or not she still participates in CrossFit, but she did write an AWESOME article a few years ago titled Confession: I’m a CrossFitter which I felt shed positive light into the discussion.
Too, I also recognize that there are plenty of CrossFit affiliates out there who go out of their way to actually assess people, coach them up, and offer proper progressions and more importantly, regressions, depending on one’s ability level and injury history.
Unfortunately, at least in my eyes and experience, this is generally the exception and not the norm.
And frankly, if me stating that happens to offend you, and you’re going to get your panties all up in a bunch, then you’re probably one of those affiliates that does stuff like this.
I realize the above is a bit of an extreme example, but that kind of stuff happens in the CrossFit culture a lot, and to me doesn’t even come close to passing the eyeball test.
If it looks like shit, and smells like shit…… then it’s probably shit.
And let me just state before I move on: I also recognize that there are a lot of strength and conditioning facilities who do a crappy job too and don’t coach their athletes properly nor provide an iota of sound programming, so I’m not insinuating a “holier than thou” mentality here.
But I don’t want this post to turn into a walking ball of fail here, so lets get to the heart of the matter here.
Kipping Pull-Ups – The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
If asked what they are, I’d reply, with a straight face: it’s where someone looks like they’re having an epileptic seizure in order to cheat a pull-up.
Done.
Listen, I don’t doubt that there’s a certain technique to perform them properly, nor do I think it’s unimpressive that there are some people out there who can bust out 50+ reps and not blink an eye. But lets not delude ourselves into thinking that they’re something they’re not.
Funnily enough, I was having a similar discussion with Boston University head strength coach, Glenn Harris, earlier this week and he mentioned to me a conversation he had with a family friend of his.
When asked his thoughts on kipping pull-ups, he replied, “well, they’re a way to cheat.” To which she replied, “yeah but, they allow you do more!”
Uhhh, exactly!
Why do people cheat on tests? To theoretically get a higher score. Why do powerlifters use bench shirts? To theoretically bench press more weight. Why do people continue to buy Nickleback albums?
Seriously, why? I want to know!
And, taking it a step further, fellow CP strength coach, Greg Robins, noted to me that the above CrossFit video (the one where all those women are performing the clean and press) demonstrates how strongman competitors “cheat” the clean and press in order to do more reps.
Does this cheating apply to Strongman and CrossFit? Well, yeah, kinda. The objective is to do more reps for the sake of doing more reps.
Does this apply to general fitness? Hell no! Why would I want to coach someone how to cheat?
As I noted above, I don’t doubt that there’s a bit of “mastery” involved when it comes to performing a kipping pull-up properly. But that doesn’t mean they’re a good idea for about 99.5% of the population. I mean, I could make a case on how to perform a rounded back deadlift correctly (in order lift more weight), but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.
Lets look at a video I came across on Youtube:
Pretty innocuous video for the most part – nothing that made my eyes bleed or made me want to throw my face into a wall (that much).
In fact, the guy coaching seems like an awesome coach. His cues were spot on; he was concise; and I really liked how he broke everything down. He’s obviously someone who takes the time to properly coach his athletes. Weird how that works!
And on an aside: how cool is it that a husband and wife are at the gym together and enjoying themselves!?!
This is in stark contrast from many of those couples you see eating at a restaurant together not even acknowledging each other’s existence.
Nevertheless, why not just coach/teach someone on how to (eventually) perform a strict pull-up? What’s wrong with that?
Of course, I get it: not many programs (outside of CrossFit) call for 10-50 rep pull-ups, so it kind of makes sense why kipping pull-ups enter the picture. As well, I don’t know many people who could perform ten strict pull-ups, let alone anything higher than that.
So again, the whole “cheating” aspect enters the picture here. Don’t deny it. Don’t you do it!!!!
And this isn’t even taking into considering the joint distraction forces taking place.
Holy mother of god, I haven’t even touched on that yet.
In the context of the population that I work with (baseball players), kipping pull-ups would be an absolute nightmare.
Throwing a baseball is one of the more violent motions placed on the human body – in particular with regards to what’s going on in the shoulder and elbow.
Baseball pitching is the single-fastest motion in all of sports, as the humerus internally rotates at velocities in excess of 7,000°/second.
What’s more, if we look at the elbow, the amount of valgus stress placed on it is equivalent to if we hung a 40 lb dumbbell from the hand towards the ground.
It’s pretty significant stuff, and explains why we’re very, very careful with the type of exercises we place into our programs at Cressey Performance. Kipping pull-ups would be a disaster.
In fairness, most people don’t make a living staring down professional hitters and could care less about throwing a baseball 95 MPH, so what about them?
Well, the same thought process still applies. Most (not all) people have really poor tissue quality, move about as well as a pregnant turtle, have the joint integrity of a paper cloth, and can barely press a barbell over their head without some major compensatory patterns.
Looking at the amount of “stuff” that takes place during a kipping pull-up (repetitive lumbar hyperextension, as well as the joint distraction forces mentioned above), it’s just something that’s not worth the risk or effort in my eyes. For many, they’re just not capable or “ready” to do such an advance movement without hurting themselves.
If that doesn’t apply to you, fantastic! I’m certainly not implying that these can’t be done safely and without incident.
Even still, I can think of a thousand and one different ways that my time would be of better use to my athletes and clients.
I’d much rather spend my time working on helping people move better, get them stronger, and, if it’s something they want, progress them to performing a STRICT pull-up.
So, to Recap
1. I’m not adamantly against CrossFit. I recognize that there are some redeeming qualities about it that I like and think are pretty cool.
2. Conversely, there are a lot of things about it that are less than to be desired.
3. Nickelback is just god-awful.
4. As with anything, it comes down to coaching. I’d much rather someone perform a crappy program really well – and get coached really well through it – than to just do “stuff” for the sake of wanting to feel like you’re going to shit your spleen or to feel tired.
5. I “get” why kipping pull-ups are a part of the CrossFit culture, and that’s not to belittle anything. It is what it is. How else is one supposed to perform 25 pull-ups after running two-miles (on your hands) after deadlifting a tank 47 times?
6. If you’re a CrossFitter and that’s your bag – cool, have at it. I respect you and the things that you can do, and I’m really happy you’ve found something you’re passionate about. But please don’t delude yourself (or others) into thinking that a kipping pull-up is some magical exercise that makes you better than everyone else.
You’re cheating – get over it.
NOTE: An important distinction that I should make (and something Alison commented on in the comments section which I should have hit on in the first place) is that CrossFit does differentiate between pull-ups and kipping pull-ups. Which is to say, they do actually program “regular” pull-ups as part of their programming.
UPDATE
It’s been two years since I wrote this article, and since it’s still one that gets a fair amount of traffic I wanted to update everyone on my thoughts.
Still not a fan of kipping-ups. But I DO recognize they’re their own “thing.” Comparing a kipping pull-up to a strict pull-up is like comparing a push press to a strict military press. They’re in the same ball park, but not quite the same.
Having said that, I still feel adamant that perfecting a STRICT pull-up should come first. What’s more, if someone can’t do a strict pull-up (preferably for reps), they really have no business doing a kipping pull-up.
For further reading I really like THISarticle written by Christian Thibaudeau which I feel is a fair and well-written expose on kipping pull-ups and where the fit into the equation.
