CrossFit Athletic Group

Butterfly pull-ups are very common in CrossFit. They are the most efficient way of pulling your chin over the bar repeatedly. However, they tend to cause endless shoulder problems due to the violent kipping nature. What do you think about these? Hollow body? Shoulders first? Elbows in? Head neutral? You be the judge.

I can tell you first-hand that performing these improperly will result in injury over time. With that being said, defenitely a good skill to learn if they can be done with good form. Carl Paoli's new progression series on GymnasticsWOD covers coaching points on butterfly pull-ups. Check it out.

I believe you should be able to do the strict gymnastics kip pull-up (initiate with shoulders, minimal toe tap) before you do butterfly pull-ups in a workout. But we still might be practicing some of the progressions in the future.