Postpartum Return to CrossFit Gymnastics: The Kipping Pull up and Toes to Bar

June 19, 2023

Gymnastics and body weight calisthetics are growing styles of fitness. We are here for them!

Kipping pull-ups, toes-to-bar, muscle-ups and handstand skills are central to the sport of Crossfit. In yoga and pilates, core movements are also a big component of these fitness classes. When mamas have babies and are trying to come back to these movements postpartum, they can feel a bit lost.

Knowing a framework to help you feel confident with returning to these things is the goal of this blog. In this article, we are going to focus on the world of CrossFit. We will start with 1. WHAT kipping is, 2. what you need to perform these movements and then 3. considerations for returning to these movements postpartum.

Kipping Mechanics

Kipping is a skill where individuals use momentum to perform pull-ups or other skills. There is an element of SPEED that is used. For CrossFit, high-intensity gymnastics is a component of the sport. Individuals can sometimes be critical of CrossFit for this.

Individuals who are proficient in these kipping skills are also EXTREMELY strong. Those strict movements are something they train often.

What is required for a strong Kipping pull-up?

People believe that kipping is cheating. This is not true. Many athletes use speed and momentum for performance in their sports. These kipping movements are specific to the sport of CrossFit.

Individuals who can perform a kipping pull up are STRONG. To perform a kipping pull-up, you need:

Shoulder and Lat strength
Arm strength
Grip strength and
Core strength.
Upper body Endurance

Kipping pull-ups require a lot of upper body strength. They have their strict movements. Many mamas don’t realize how much core strength is needed for these movements. Programs incorporate a lot of grip work and strict pull-ups.

Before doing a lot of kipping pull-ups, we should be able to do at least one strict pull up. For a strict pull-up, you start from a dead hang. With toes slightly in front of you, drive your elbows down towards the floor. Finish with your chin over the bar.

We try to hold the line on strict movements because we want to make sure you have the foundations. Postpartum is a wonderful time to be able to take the time to work on skills and drills. If you want a great resource for skills and drills, go check out our friends over at Performance Plus Programming.

What is required for Toes-to-Bar?

Toes-to-bar is a very core-dominant movement. To perform a kipping toes-to-bar, you need:

Hip Flexor strength
Grip strength
Core strength.
Upper body Endurance

The kip swing for the pull-up is very similar to the kipping toes-to-bar. The body goes from back arched, to a closed hip position where our toes hit the rig.

Pregnancy and Gymnastics

When we are pregnant, there is a big push for us to protect ourselves. It makes sense. Pregnancy is a protected time.

During pregnancy with bar movements, advice is around doming or coning. This is a tenting up that happens along our six-pack line.

This is also a VERY normal part of pregnancy. It is what happens as a response to our abs stretching to make room for baby.

If you are doming with gymnastics, you might not have to get off the bar.

Here are questions to ask:

1. Can I try to do this a different way to bring coning down?

2. Is it because my body is really tired and I need to take more resting breaks?

3. Do I have a diastasis and this is much smaller and showing progress from where I was before?

4. Can I change my bracing or breathing strategy to make my coning better?

If the answer is yes to any of these questions, removing these movements may not be necessary right now. Everyone is different with when or if they need to back off movements during their pregnancy.

Coning is a sign that your body isn’t using your core muscles as well as you could or that baby is taking up a ton of space!

Hanging from a bar during pregnancy is a wonderful way to set you up for success postpartum. Grip strength is an important part of returning to CrossFit postpartum. Try and do some hanging intervals and see how your body feels.

Here’s the most important thing for you to know: if you cone, you are NOT doomed to have diastasis recti. We don’t have any known risk of that! The fear messages can stop now.

When Can I Return to Kipping Toes-to-Bar and Pull-Ups Postpartum?

When can I expect to get back to “X”? That is the million dollar question. The hard part about this is that unfortunately, the answer is “it depends”. There are so many things it depends on.

However… we can give you some guideposts that can help you navigate the process (and then we have a program coming out to help you get there!).

Understanding Breath Mechanics

We can tend to hold our breath when we are doing gymnastics movements during a workout. There’s a lot of talk about Valsalva (holding your breath) during lifting. This isn’t highlighted as often in gymnastics. For some, this can not feel great. It also brings our heart rate up. Try to breathe throughout the movements as much as possible, especially early postpartum. Your performance will sky-rocket!

C-Section Scarring Impact on CrossFit Gymnastics Postpartum

If you’ve had a C-section, your scar will be a factor in your rehabilitation after baby. When you are in the kip, you put a large amount of stretch on your stomach as you arch. This can create a pulling feeling at a healing scar. Making sure you’re doing scar massage (with a pelvic PT if you can) can make a huge difference! Here is some work you can do to try to make your scar less sensitive hanging from a bar.

Diastasis Recti Healing

Diastasis recti (or separation of the 6 pack muscles) takes time but also takes LOADING to improve. Its about ramping up what you’re doing, and knowing when you might be doing a bit too much. Signs like coning or doming can be a sign that you need to ease back a bit. It can also be a sign you need to do something differently. If it’s better with a change but you have a bit of doming, it might be nothing to worry about.

Upper Body Strength

Many of the modifications we make during our pregnancy have us off the bar. This causes us to lose some upper body strength and endurance. That will take some time to get back to! The longer you have been off the bar, the more time it’ll take to get that long endurance back.

Body Weight

This isn’t about bounce back culture. It’s a consideration for returning to performing bodyweight gymnastics movements. It will take time or you won’t get back to pre-pregnancy body weight. For some, they won’t get back to their pre-pregnancy weight. That is fine! But we need to take that into account and it might be a reason why those strict pull-ups feel a bit harder. Our body needs to be strong enough to move our body weight … whatever that is.

Timelines to Return Postpartum

Give yourself some grace. Lots of Barbell Mamas can be really eager to get back to gymnastics again.

Rehab exercises should look like CrossFit movements after the early healing phase. Some of our favourite core movements for return to CrossFit are broken down in this article (LINK).

We did a full podcast episode on some of these considerations.

Generally, we say that it will take 9-12 months to get back to where you were before pregnancy. This can mean weight on the barbell or skills in gymnastics.

As you keep working on your fitness, celebrate your postpartum wins! Your first pull-up after baby, first time stringing pull-ups together after baby etc. They’re important!

Tags: crossfit, postpartum, pull-ups, toes-to-bar

Christina Prevett, MSCPT, CSCS, PHD (CANDIDATE)

Christina Prevett is a pelvic floor physiotherapist who has a passion for helping women with different life transitions, including postpartum care and menopause.