How To Build Your Strength On A Time Budget

When I first started my fitness journey 5+ years ago, I spent months trying and failing to get my first pull-ups. I was spinning my wheels, without the knowledge of how to build strength efficiently.

Until I stumbled upon the secret Soviet Special Forces method of building strength fast:

“Greasing The Groove" was first described by Pavel Tsatsouline, a former Russian Special Forces instructor who developed the ultimate way to build strength.

He describes strength being a skill, and to become better at any skill quickly, you must practice it frequently.

Greasing The Groove works amazingly because by practicing frequently, you are strengthening the neurological pathways between your brain and muscles.

Your brain becomes more efficient in communicating with your muscles, allowing you to complete more reps, and you become stronger as a result.

The more you practice, the more you "grease the neurological groove."

Greasing The Groove is perfect for:

• Parents who don’t have time to do 1 hour-long sessions.

• Busy working professionals or entrepreneurs who have a low amount of time to invest in their fitness.

• Anyone who wants a fool-proof way to get ridiculously strong.

Here’s how you can use Grease The Groove to get stronger at any exercise:

1. Pick an exercise you want to get stronger at:

A calisthenics goal such as improving your pull-ups or dips is perfect because it doesn’t require much equipment.

You could also pick a barbell strength exercise if that is what you enjoy.

2. Perform the exercise several times per day at LOW REPS:

   • Do 4-6 sets per day

   • 4-6 times per week.

   • The intensity of each set at 40-80% of your repetition maximum.

   • DO NOT go to failure → You need to be able to repeat these efforts multiple times throughout the day.

3. Implement Greasing The Groove into your daily routine:

   • You could put a doorway pull-up bar in your office area, and every time you walk past it, complete your rep target.

   • You could do your reps every hour on the hour for 4-6 hours.

   • You could set yourself a timer every 1-2 hours to complete your reps.

4. Focus on perfect technique:

Perfect practice makes perfect. You're practicing the skill of strength, so practice the movement perfectly.

You will imprint the perfect movement into your neuromuscular system.

Focus on strict and controlled reps, you don’t develop your strength by doing a bunch of sloppy reps.

Here’s an example program using GtG to improve your pull-ups in 6 weeks:

Let's say your max pull-up reps is currently 10. For the first 1-2 weeks, start off with low intensity → 40% of your 10 rep max = 4 reps.

Start off with 4 sets of 4 reps per day, 4 days per week.

Here's what this could look like across weeks 1-2:

• Monday → 4x4

• Wednesday → 4x4

• Friday → 4x4

• Saturday → 4x4

Complete a set of 4 pull-ups every hour, on the hour for 4 hours.

When you reach weeks 2-3, increase the intensity by first increasing reps:

50% of your 10 rep max = 5 reps.

Complete 4 sets of 5 reps, x4 per week.

Once you've accustomed to increased reps for 2 weeks:

Increase the number of daily sets to 5 → 5 sets of 5 reps.

Complete 5 sets of 5 reps for weeks 5-6.

Once you've run this progression scheme for 6 weeks using Grease The Groove, retest your maximum repetitions.

This will guide your new set intensity if you wish to continue with another 6-week block of GtG to improve your strength.

I guarantee you will get stronger in 6 weeks.

If you don’t, reply to this email and we’ll discuss how I can help you achieve your goals.

Thank you for taking the time to learn & improve your health today.

Zak Wolstenholme

Aussie Physiotherapist 🇦🇺