competition-- pull up issues

AggieCass09

I'm doing a team crossfit competition on Saturday that requires me to do 20 pull ups as part of the third WOD or my whole team gets a DNF. I've been working on pull ups for months but I still have to use a skinny (1/2") band to assist me. When kipping, I can't get myself up high enough (about top of head just about to bar) nor can I hold on very long.

I know there is minimal I can do before Saturday, but if anyone has any suggestions to at least help me get a few kipping pull ups, that would be great. I'm going to video myself at the box tonight to try and see if my movement is hindering me.

Thanks,

Cass

rebeccap13

In my experience kipping just kind of clicks. I imagine you're just tiring yourself out this week trying to force kipping pull ups. You aren't going to develop the strength in one week. You can't cram strength increases like you can for a final exam.

alysa521

I totally agree that one day it just kind of clicks. For me the big thing was focus on swinging with my chest and not my legs. It helps me to think of pushing your chest as far as you can through your arms on the start of the kip. The second thing for me was knowing when to pull toward the bar. There a point in the swing where you almost feel weightless on the bar, that’s when you pull toward the bar. This is something I’m still working on, sometimes I don’t pull quick enough and my pull ups look like a half kip/half dead hang mess

Sbiscotti

Also, it's important to remember form before strength before speed. Kipping is speed - to move through pullups faster and more efficiently. They should not replace the basic strength requisites of strict pullups. When I got my CF Gymnastics cert, Coach Tucker wouldn't let anyone try anything (including muscle ups) without demonstrating the pre-requisite strength via strict movements. At our box, we teach kipping after an athlete can do 5 strict pullups.