How To Get Better At Pull Ups

If there’s one exercise that people openly voice their frustrations with, it’s the pull up.

Unlike most exercises, learning how to get better at pull ups can’t be mastered in one day. This requires practice.

I’ve lost count of how many people have told me they can’t do pull ups. What they really mean is they haven’t learned how to do pull ups.

Big difference.

The pull up is one of the most functional upper body exercises you can perform. It builds your lats, rhomboids, traps, biceps and grip strength all in one movement.

The good news? There’s a proven method for how to get better at pull ups which doesn’t require you to grind yourself into the ground.

Instead, this post is all about helping you learn to Grease The Groove.

Grease The Groove

Pavel Tsalsouline, the godfather of kettlebell training, founder of StrongFirst and one of the most respected strength coaches in the world, developed a concept called Grease The Groove (GTG).

The principle is elegantly simple: practice the movement frequently throughout the day but never to failure.

Instead of doing 3 sets of max pull ups once or twice per week and being too sore to function, you perform multiple sets of submaximal reps spread throughout the day.

If the max number of pull ups you can complete unbroken is 7 reps, you might do sets of 3 reps 5 to 8 times throughout your day.

You’re never grinding. You’re never struggling. You’re simply strengthening the neural pathway of this movement pattern.

You’re greasing the groove.

Why Greasing The Groove Works

Your nervous system adapts to the specific demands you place on it.

The more frequently you practice a movement with quality reps, the more efficient your nervous system becomes at performing that movement.

Think about this like learning to type. You didn’t become proficient at typing on a keyboard by doing this once per week until your fingers went numb.

You improved by practicing consistently over time without exhausting yourself.

Pull Ups work the same way. By staying fresh and practicing frequently, you’re developing the neural pathway that makes pull ups feel more natural and eventually require less effort.

The other benefit of GTG? Recovery.

Since you’re never going to failure, your muscles aren’t operating under fatigue. You can practice daily without the typical soreness that keeps people from training higher reps consistently.

The 8 Week Pull Up Program

We’ve built a calculator based on the Grease The Groove principles to systematically increase your total daily volume while keeping each set easy enough to maintain quality reps.

This calculator will create a personalized 8 week program based on your current pull up max.

Because this program needs to spread over the course of the day, you’ll need to have access to a pull up bar to execute the plan.

This plan works best if you can currently perform a minimum of 3 unbroken pull ups. The calculator adjusts the rep scheme and progression to match your starting point.

If you’re currently unable to perform at least 3 unbroken pull ups, the following section will help you develop skill and strength required to do so.

Exercises That Support Your Pull Up Journey

The following exercises will help build the foundation needed for successful pull ups:

Dead Hangs: Simply hanging from a bar builds grip strength and shoulder stability. Start with 10 to 20 seconds and work up to a full minute. This is the foundational work that most people skip.

Deadlifts: Learning to properly engage your lats with your deadlifts will help you with your pull up practice. Imagine wedging yourself between the bar and the floor as you push with your feet and pull the bar from the floor. If this seems foreign to you, working with a coach can help here.

Scapular Pull Ups: From a dead hang, pull your shoulder blades down and back without bending your arms. Imagine you’re pulling your shoulders away from your ears. This teaches proper shoulder engagement and strengthens the muscles around your shoulder blades.

Inverted Rows: Using a suspension trainer or barbell in a power rack, pull your body up while keeping your feet on the ground. This is a fantastic progression for those building towards their first pull up.

Negative Pull Ups: Jump or step to the top position of a pull up and then lower yourself as slowly as possible. The eccentric portion of the movement builds strength even when you can’t complete the concentric portion of the movement.

Kneeling Lat Pull Downs: This variation of a lat pull down forces more core activation which is required for a successful pull up. Seated variations allow you to generate leverage without using your core.

Kettlebell Military Presses: This might seem counterintuitive since pressing is the opposite of pulling. However, proper kettlebell technique (both single and double) requires you to engage your grip, lats, abs and glutes to execute a heavy press. I highly recommend adding these into your training when completing the Grease The Groove plan as well.

The Bottom Line

Learning how to get better at pull ups isn’t about fighting for more reps or grinding it out with your training.

It’s about consistent practice with quality reps and intelligent training.

The Grease The Groove method works because it respects both the neurological and muscular components of strength development. You’re training your nervous system to be efficient while giving your muscles enough stimulus to adapt without overwhelming your recovery.

Remember: it’s not about how much exercise you can do; it’s about how much exercise you can recover from.

If you’re ready to finally conquer the pull up bar, enter your max pull ups into the calculator and download your personalized training plan.

Your future self (the one doing pull ups) will thank you.