4 Pullup Styles Examined: Calisthenics vs Military Vs Bodybuilding Vs Crossfit
Approximate Reading Time: 14 Minutes
Pullups are a very popular exercise. So much so that they’ve been adopted by everyone from bodybuilders to military personnel to a whole lot of other groups in between. From a technique standpoint, the result of that has been that there is no universally agreed upon way to do a proper pullup.
In online fitness communities you’ll see this play out between members of different training disciplines.
Calisthenics practitioners often poke fun at Crossfitters for their kipping pullups. Military members might scoff at bodybuilders who don’t use full range of motion and so on. The reality is that all of the various training styles and groups who have incorporated pullups into their regimens have different goals and perform pullups in such a way that works best for them.
On a personal level, I do find kipping pullups bizarre, but I try to keep in mind that this is my bias as someone who does calisthenics. Crossfit is its own thing and if that’s what they want to do then I respect it. At the same time, I can’t equate their kipping pullups with strict, calisthenics style pullups because they are a very different exercise.
Hence why I’m writing this post.
I think that for those of you who are unfamiliar – or maybe only passively familiar – with this subject, will find it helpful to understand the differences between the various styles of pullups. This way you can choose which one best works for your personal goals.
You already know that I prefer strict form pullups, but perhaps you are an aspiring bodybuilder and you just want to build a wider back.
Do you really need to do pullups the same way I do them?
Read on to find out as I break down the four most popular pullup styles.
In my humble opinion, the calisthenics pullup is the benchmark standard – even though there is some degree of variability as to what constitutes that standard. More on that in a moment.
In the earlier days of modern calisthenics culture, the technique probably more closely resembled the military pullup as described in the next section below. However, as calisthenics began adopting more and more elements from gymnastics, the quality standard increased. Also, with the explosive growth of calisthenics competitions across the globe, some small arguments over very minute variables have popped up.
Those variables aside, the minimum quality standard for today’s calisthenics pullups is as follows:
You must begin and end each repetition in the deadhang position.
You must pull your body up so that at the very least your chin clears the top of the bar.
No kipping allowed.
Legs should be fully extended. Feet should be together.
Keep in mind that these are the minimum standards for calisthenics competitions.
In actual day-to-day training, calisthenics practitioners will employ a wide variety of techniques to train, but they are always ready to test their max reps using the standards above. In addition, calisthenics athletes don’t limit themselves to using only the pullup bar to do reps. Virtually any surface that you can hang from is fair game.
Up for Debate
The arguments over form that have popped within calisthenics communities are a natural result of a hyper-competitive environment where an extra rep could mean the difference between first place and second place. Therefore, what constitutes that one rep has become increasingly scrutinized. Looking back at the universally agreed upon points, some of the grey area includes:
When coming back down into the deadhang position, is the practitioner required to pause for a one-second count or can they immediately go back up?
Is the practitioner allowed to do a ‘chin-jerk’ to bring their chin over the bar or do they have to look forward the whole time so that their entire skull clears the bar?
💡 A chin-jerk is when you tilt your head backwards and give a slight yank at the top so that your chin just barely clears the bar. You can technically get more reps this way compared to being forced to look straight ahead for the duration of a set. A few calisthenics practitioners also argue that a full rep should be chest-to-bar, although this isn’t a popular opinion.
Does ‘no kipping’ mean absolutely none, or is a tiny kip allowed towards the end of the practitioner’s set?
As you can see, these are minor points of debate, but when an entire competition is built around who can achieve the most reps, then these factors become important. For the purposes of training, you don’t really need to worry too much about those tiny variables.
You should however focus on quality. Teach your body to perform the movement in the cleanest way possible and once you get really good at it, then you can start deviating to suit your training needs.
For example, many calisthenics athletes will employ a variation of the bodybuilding style pullup described in the third section below. That variation does have its benefits, but so does the calisthenics pullup. If you can do both then you can enjoy the benefits of both.
That’s why it’s good to master the calisthenics pullup first because you will automatically be able to do both the military style and bodybuilding style pullups as a result. The vice-versa is not true however.
The one variation that you won’t be able to do without specific practice is the Crossfit kipping pullup. It requires you to learn the technique of kipping. You won’t be able to do it just because you get really good at calisthenics pullups. With that said, I also don’t think that it makes any sense to do kipping pullups unless you specifically plan on doing Crossfit. I talk more about that later on.
For now, I recommend learning how to do a quality calisthenics pullup. Master that and you will build a strong foundation to explore more advanced pullups that I cover in other posts.
Military Style Pullups
Different militaries around the world utilize the power of pullups as part of their training. In the U.S., perhaps the most well known association is with the Marine Corps. This is because they are the only branch of the regular forces that incorporate pullups as a requirement of their physical fitness test. The other branches might do them as part of training, but recruits aren’t required to actually test out on their ability to do pullups. The various branches of the Special Forces (SEALs, Rangers, etc) are also required to do pullups – if not all of them then most of them.
From my understanding, there isn’t a huge difference between technique requirements among the Marine Corps and the Special Warfare branches that require them. The requirements are less strict than a perfect calisthenics style pullup, but they are still more rigid than bodybuilding pullups and certainly Crossfit pullups.
The main guidelines are as follows:
You must begin and end each repetition in the deadhang position.
You must pull your body up so that your chin clears the top of the bar. A chin jerk near the top is acceptable. In other words you don’t need to bring your entire skull above the bar for it to count. As long as you can get your chin over then it’s a rep.
No kipping allowed. In practice they allow very minor kipping towards the end of a set – at the rep counter’s discretion of course.
The Marine Corps allows both chinups and pullups to test out. You can even switch grips mid-set as long as you don’t come off the bar. As for the Special Forces, I know that for the Navy Special Warfare teams, they are only allowed to do pullups. I don’t know about the other branches.
Other than that, they don’t care if you cross your legs behind you or have them straight out in front of you.
They don’t care how wide you place your arms on the bar.
Pretty much all of the other minor variables are up to you as long as you follow the three main points — deadhang, chin-over-bar, no kipping.
The advantage to military style pullups is that they are strict enough to develop good habits and there are really only three things to remember.
It makes them approachable for those who don’t care or don’t want to think about all of the nuances that calisthenics practitioners utilize when performing pullups.
It goes without saying, but if you plan on joining the Marines or trying out for one of the Special Warfare schools then you should be comfortable with the technique requirements described above.
Your chin has to clear the bar for it to count as a rep by military standards.
Bodybuilding Style Pullups
Old school bodybuilders used to incorporate pullups into their routines a lot more than in the modern day era.
Arnold Schwarzenegger incorporated pullups into his bodybuilding workouts.
Part of that is due to the evolution of bodybuilding itself.
Not many people know this, but in the very early days, bodybuilding was really a hybrid between strongman show and physique show.
Many of the early bodybuilders trained for strength as their main goal but then capitalized on the fact that they also built good-looking physiques as a result.
In fact, the highest award in bodybuilding – the Sandow – is named after Eugene Sandow, who was closer in practice to the guys that do strongman competitions than to anyone gracing the Mr. Olympia stage.
Over time, the sport evolved from a hybrid functional training / physique model to strictly physique. Then at some point, with the development of advanced pharmaceuticals, it turned into a freak show of mass monsters. There has been some backlash against this in the bodybuilding community but that’s a topic for another time.
The reason I mention all of this is because most of today’s elite bodybuilders have little functional strength at their freakish size. Dips notwithstanding, it makes it hard for them to even attempt certain bodyweight movements. This has had a spillover effect on non-elite bodybuilders (i.e. – the jacked guys at your local gym) because naturally they look up to the elite. The elite set the standard and tone for the rest of the culture.
This is why I’m always happy to see bodybuilders who still look up to guys like Arnold and Franco Columbu – two bodybuilding legends who were known to incorporate lots of bodyweight moves into their training.
Columbu could even hold a front lever on the gymnastics rings!
His short stature helped him no doubt, but it was still impressive for someone that muscular.
The fact is that bodybuilders who skip pullups in lieu of the lat pulldown machine are missing out on the many advantages that pullups provide. Pullups recruit considerably more muscles and help bodybuilders build the coveted V-taper look (thin waist and wide upper back).
Franco Columbo performing a front lever.
What Does a Bodybuilder Style Pullup Look Like?
Since bodybuilders’ goals are primarily aesthetic in nature, their main concern is with what gets the job done. As a result, bodybuilders have a fairly loose standard on what’s considered a proper form pullup.
Most of the time it is left up to the individual to determine what range of motion they want to use, how they want to place their legs, etc. As long as they get a good pump and they fatigue their muscles then they are satisfied.
From my observations as someone who was actively into the bodybuilding culture for many years, I found the following to be true as a generalization.
Range of Motion
Bodybuilders usually use a tighter range of motion to keep constant tension on their back muscles. This means they’ll typically bring their face to the bar and lower back down to just short of a full lockout. By avoiding going into a full deadhang, they maintain a muscle contraction for the duration of their set. When you go into a deadhang position, the primary movers get a slight break until you begin the next rep. If your goal is to overload the muscle then giving it a break isn’t the best way to do that.
Leg Position
For whatever reason, many bodybuilders bend at the knee and cross their feet. I don’t know the reason for this and there’s no practical explanation so I’ll just chalk it up to habit. Someone probably saw someone in a bodybuilding magazine do it once and then just copied it. Then it just spread and now most of them do pullups this way. I have no idea if that’s true but it’s as plausible of a theory as any.
Straps
Not all, but some bodybuilders use straps to extend their sets. This is because their forearms fatigue faster than their back and to reiterate the point from above – their goal is to overload the target muscle group. By using straps, it allows them to complete more repetitions than they otherwise would have due to their grip giving out. As a calisthenics practitioner, I frown upon the use of straps, but from a bodybuilding perspective, I completely understand it. Their goals are not my goals and I respect that.
The benefits of doing pullups bodybuilding style include their approachability and their ability to keep constant tension on the muscle. They are ideal for bodybuilders obviously, but they can also be used by seasoned calisthenics athletes as a training tool. I’m referring specifically to the first point from the list above – partial range of motion. I wouldn’t advise anyone who does calisthenics to use straps.
Crossfit Kipping Pullups
Easily the most hated on of the bunch, Crossfit kipping pullups are an exercise unto itself. I almost don’t want to even call them pullups because I think they are different enough to warrant another name. Realistically, I don’t think that’s going to happen, so for now they get lumped in under the pullups umbrella.
The uniqueness of this pullup variation is found in the kip.
The kip is really a transfer of energy or power. When hanging from a pullup bar (or gymnastics rings), it is mechanically less taxing to generate force in the horizontal plane than in the vertical plane. What the kip does is that it creates a burst of power in the horizontal plane and then transfers that energy into the vertical plane to complete the pullup.
This is why you can see seasoned Crossfitters doing 40 and 50 of these at a time. As a calisthenics practitioner it’s not impressive to me because I know calisthenics athletes that can do 40+ fairly strict pullups. Again though, this is their discipline and it’s what they do so I respect that.
Another thing to keep in mind is that kipping is also a unique skill.
I once attended a Crossfit gymnastics seminar and I was the only non-Crossfitter there. I didn’t stand out too much until we got to the muscleup segment of the seminar. Crossfitters kip when they do muscleups too and I had no idea how to do it. Even though I didn’t intend on changing my form to include kipping, I’m always open to learning a new skill so I worked with one of the coaches to teach me how to do it. It was an interesting experience. I never ended up using it after that but it at least gave me a practical idea of what it does and how to do it.
With that being said, I don’t think my brief experience of learning how to kip at this seminar makes me the best qualified person to teach you, the reader, how to do it. I don’t fake the funk and I’m not going to pretend to be able to explain something to you that I don’t think I’m qualified to do.
If you are truly interested in learning how to perform a Crossfit kipping pullup, I recommend checking out this thorough tutorial from WODPrep.com (a Crossfit website). It has a detailed explanation as well as an accompanying video.
The benefits of Crossfit kipping pullups are really only for those who are going to be practicing Crossfit. I really don’t see anyone else who would benefit from performing their pullups in this way. Again, this could be my bias and I’ve tried to keep an open mind while writing this, but that’s where I stand. If you’re not going to be participating in Crossfit then it’s better to stick to one of the other three variations described above.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve read this far, I’d like to thank you for your time. I appreciate you being here and I hope you got something out of this article.
As you just saw, the term pullup has a wide variety of interpretations. None is more correct than another. It all comes down to why you are doing pullups in the first place.
With that said, I do recommend learning a clean calisthenics style pullup as a foundation point. You can then modify it and adapt it to suit your needs. It’s much easier to do than if you were to learn a bodybuilding or military style pullup first and then tried to go into a calisthenics style one.
Even beginner Crossfit practitioners would benefit from doing clean pullups as a base before jumping off to learn how to do kipping pullups. Intermediate and advanced athletes that are new to Crossfit but who can already do a respectable amount of clean pullups can probably just jump right into learning the kipping variety.
And that’s it!
If you have any questions, drop ‘em in the comments below.
