Grease the Groove: From Novice to Pull-Up Pro
In 2013, at the age of 17, I started my fitness journey by joining a lowkey gym tucked away in Mitcham, south London, named Canon's. It was a bit of a commute, but I was drawn there by the fact my friends worked out there, too.
During those initial weeks, my workouts, often alongside my schoolmate Steve and occasionally his nephew, Ahmed, were a mix of youthful naivety, an ineffective bro split, tips from Mike Cheng's Six Pack Shortcut videos, and a lack of understanding about progressive overload.
Frankly, our sessions were far from optimal.
A memorable day unfolded when Ahmed and I, along with Kai—a more seasoned gym acquaintance—opted to do chin-ups. My challenge was twofold: I had never done a chin-up before, and the high setup made me fear falling from a significant height.
That evening, motivated to overcome my hurdle, I impulsively ordered a pull-up bar from Amazon. Once it arrived, without hesitation, I sought my grandparents' approval to install it at home. Despite their concerns about the slight wall damage, they agreed, which, looking back, they didn't have to do–but this willingness to do anything for their family is part of what makes them so special.
With the pull-up bar in place, I, without realising, adopted for a "grease the groove" method, committing to attempt a chin-up each time I walked underneath the bar, no matter how brief the moment. This routine had me attempting chin-ups countless times a day—before meals, between chores, rushing back and forth—constantly testing my strength.
This approach yielded remarkable results.
Eventually, I achieved my first bodyweight chin-up, a milestone made more significant by my lack of strength training knowledge.
By 2019, my consistency with strength training led to new personal bests: three clean pull-ups with 30kg added weight on a belt at 77kg bodyweight and 15 consecutive bodyweight pull-ups. This experience taught me the power of the "grease the groove" method, which I now recommend for mastering specific exercises, such as chin-ups, squats, push-ups, or any other movement.
Establish your rule—a single rep each time you do whatever you decide—and you may be pleasantly surprised by your progress.
I've also created a free workout plan with instructional videos to help you on your fitness journey. If you're interested in this free workout plan, then click here.
Of course, don't hesitate to reach out with any questions to my email at leo@kairos.online if you have any.
Speak soon,
Leo
