Grease the Groove: Pull-Ups

Who it’s for

You want to significantly increase your pull-up or push-up reps in a short period.

How it works

Perform multiple brief sets spread throughout the day, each at roughly 50% of your max reps, never reaching failure. Strength is primarily a skill: the more frequently you practice it fresh, the faster it adapts. Failure hinders progress here—it degrades performance on subsequent sets.

Weekly layout

How load increases

Start at half your current max reps per set. Add one rep per set or one additional set per day each week. Retest your maximum every six weeks.

Deload

Every seventh week: half the total sets.

Tailored to your health

Some exercises will be automatically swapped or removed based on your health profile: