The good, the bad, and the Kip

It seems like one of the first things people want to learn when they begin a journey into crossfit  is how to kip, whether it is pullups or handstand pushups etc. Within the Crossfit world kipping is a tool used to increase speed and essentially push through or circumvent muscle fatigue/weakness by using momentum and your whole body instead of just the small muscles ( your shoulder girdle in the case of HSPU for example.) So in a way kipping is a way around being weak… but that isnt something I want you to be ok with. You are cutting yourself short if you kip all the time every time, especially and more importantly if you havent built a solid base of strength yet. Its almost like never learning how to ride a bike and then jumping on a motorcycle. Take me for example, before Crossfit I ran, did pullups and pushups and that was about it. I could easily do 15 deadhang pullups, then came Crossfit. I learned to kip after only a few times trying it (product of being skinny and a good base of strength) but over the course of several months I realized my dead hang pullup strength had gone out the window. This kind of problem is worsened if people never actually build a base of strength and then jump straight into kipping. I m not saying kipping is bad at all, just that we need to remember what its purpose is, and that it doesnt replace strict and controlled movements, especially when it comes to strength building. Kipping is an essential tool in your box namely for work capacity and speed/proper scaling but throw in some dead hangs and stricts every day if possible to keep your strength up, this will translate into better kipping form (control) and efficiency, and with that comes better Wod times and overall animal fitness.