“How many strict pull-ups can you do?” It’s a question that coaches ask often, and athletes hear all of the time. If you’re a coach, odds are it’s one of the first things you ask new athletes who walk into the gym for their first workout. Strict pull-ups are the foundation of a ton of gymnastics movements across our CrossFit world. So as a coach, how do you respond when that new athlete responds to your question with, “Zero”? Do you throw a bunch of bands their way and wish them good luck? Do you tell them to just “practice some negatives” before or after class? Do you tell them to scale to jumping pull-ups and never really give it a second thought?

Coaching Strict Pull-ups Strict pull-ups can be a daunting, seemingly impossible skill for a lot of new athletes. Coaching strict pull-ups is just as delicate of a process as learning the skill itself. While the movement may seem cut and dry, progress can be slow and sometimes non-existent without a plan. After nearly a decade working in/around CrossFit gyms, I've noticed some common coaching pitfalls and mistakes. Don't’ get me wrong, I've been guilty of making ALL of these mistakes before. But once I changed my coaching strategies, way more athletes started doing pull-ups! Let’s take a closer look at some of these mistakes and what I usually do to avoid them. Coaching Strict Pull-ups Mistake #1: Lack of Variety It’s way too easy to just throw a pull-up progression at a new athlete and tell them to ‘work on it when they have time.’ Odds are after a few weeks of doing banded pull-ups 3x per week, that athlete is going to be feeling pretty bored and possibly even defeated. "I'll never get rid of these bands..."​​​​ Just like CrossFit® workouts themselves, variety is key for pull-up drills. Consider different scaled options depending on what the workout is; don’t default to ring rows for every single workout modification. This will keep athletes more excited and interested if they are trying different modifications regularly. Here's a few movement suggestions to help spice things up: Banded Strict C2B (don't let them skip the "C2B" part!) Seated Pull-ups PVC Lat Pull-downs Partial-ROM Pull-ups Bicep curls & Bent Over Rows Trap-3 Raise Powell Raise Holds (passive, active, chin-over-bar, etc.) Ring pull-ups Chin-ups Coaching Strict Pull-ups Mistake #2: Kipping too soon As a rule of thumb, it’s not safe for athletes to move on to kipping pull-ups until they’re able to do at least a few strict pull-ups in a row. Why? Kipping movements can take a huge toll on shoulders. Therefore in order to know that your shoulders are robust enough for a more intense and dynamic movement, multiple strict pull-ups are a necessary benchmark to hit first. Athletes who are “stuck” on a few kipping pull-ups (and lack the ability to do strict) need a wake up call. The bottom line: improving kipping technique might help an athlete squeak out a few more reps, but increasing from zero to several strict pull-ups will drastically improve their kipping pull-up potential. There is a huge return on investment for increasing strict pull-up strength. If you're able to convince your athletes that strict strength will increase their performance (not just prevent injury) they'll be more prone to listen. They’ll thank you for it in the long run. Coaching Strict Pull-ups Mistake #3: Ring row burnout Ring rows are a movement that coaches love to substitute for athletes when they don’t have pull-ups yet. There’s certainly nothing wrong with using them in moderation; ring rows are great for building up some of that middle back strength, and they are really easy to set up. However keep in mind that the movement doesn’t fully replicate that of a strict pull-up, and should only be used on occasion if your ultimate goal is to be able to do strict pull-ups. In short, ring rows should be one weapon in your arsenal, not the only one. Here’s a full video on the topic if you’re interested .

Coaching Strict Pull-ups Mistake #4: Over-programming jumping pull-ups and negatives Eccentric loading (AKA - the “lowering” part of a pull-up) can increase the risk of Rhabdomyolysis. So please, please, please don’t program “100 strict pull-up negatives” for anyone. Ever. It’s too easy for athletes to push PAST failure using both negatives and/or jumping pull-ups, which can lead to bad results and incredible amounts of soreness. Prime example: Athletes not being able to fully straighten their arms the day after a workout. This is not going to encourage them to come back to the gym (and really, that's the whole point of coaching!). At the end of the day, focus on quality controlled movements, not quantity. I’d rather see someone do less reps, but with more body control. This will also keep their muscles happier and their arms fresh, instead of sidelining them for days due to execessive soreness. Coaching Strict Pull-ups Mistake #5: Allowing athletes to plateau (and not doing anything about it) Coaches must stress constant progression in order to keep athletes moving forward. A major problem that we too often see are coaches trying to simply "get through class", yet never actually take the time to make sure athletes understand that they should be decreasing the band strength, increasing reps, difficulty, etc. Every class session, take a minute to remind athletes how they can keep working toward their goals. See an athlete who's been using the same band for a few months? Call them out (lovingly, of course). We all know someone who fell in love with that green Rogue band several years ago and still hasn’t found the guts to break up with it. You need to play the role of counselor and gently push them towards a newer, healthier relationship with progress.

This kind of structure should be built in to your weekly programming, so that your athletes have time outside of metcons to build strength progressively over several weeks. A pull-up program should be suitable for both beginners and advanced athletes - whether they are aiming for their first pull-up or to increase their max set over 15. Looking for a little more strict pull-up help?