Barbell Barbell Grease the Groove

[SC88]

Hello there. I am a long time lurker on these boards. I have a few questions about the grease the groove method and how it might effectively translate to barbell training.

I am a 32 year old fitness professional who spends many hours a day in the gym. I have boxed in the past and would consider another few amateur fights in the short to mid term future. I dont have any prohibtive injury history. My current goals are to maximize strength over the next year or so in the power lifts plus the OHP, weighted dips and weighted pullups. I will most likely specialize on one or two of these lifts at a time with a small amount of accessory work. I have recently focused on my much neglected deadlift taking my PR from 182.5x5 to 200x5 with two cycles of PTTP. I have used the Russian Bear and PTTP programs in the past and also with clients with generally high levels of success.

I wanted to know if the grease the grove method of 50 percent of my max would translate to barbell lifts. I have the time and inclination to make this happen but am unsure of the best way to go about it. Should I pick for example a 6 rep max weight and do 3 reps a time with it? Or should I take 50 percent of a max weight? Or should I use a similar intensity to PTTP and do more sets throughout the day? Or is another program entirely likely to give me better results in this regard?

Any theoretical input or direct knowledge from your own experience of such an endeavour would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks

 

[Steve Freides]

GTG for barbell lifts needs to be heavy and then keep the reps low. GTG with 50% of your 1RM weight won't do much for you, but GTG with something along the lines of 5's with your 10RM - (usually that's about 75% 1RM) - or even heavier with fewer reps, e.g., triples with your 6RM, has potential to make you stronger.

-S-

 

[Mark Limbaga]

I recommended something similar to @Steve Freides but use these as guidelines

60% for sets of 5

70-75% sets of 4-5
75-80% sets of 3-5
80-85% sets of 2-3

 

[Spartan Agoge]

Sets of 3 with your 6rm would be great. Sets of 5 with your 10rm would also be very good.

Just be careful. Do not go for super high volume from the begining. If you start doing 10 sets per day, the first days will be great, but after a week your cns will collapse. Start easy. The purpose of GTG is to feel easy. Every night you must feel like you haven't trained enough.

Start with 2 exercises, 4 sets per day for each one of them.
Every week add 1-2 sets. When you start feeling that you don't recover completely, or you feel tired, back off and do less sets for 1-2 weeks, until you feel recoverd and strong again.

That's it. GTG can make really strong, if done correctly.

 

[Antti]

The big key is monitoring total volume. Consider the benefit of GTG being the freshness.

At first I would recommend you to take your typical daily volume and split it in blocks. Instead of 5*5 at once do it all during the day, a set at a time. With time you notice you can repeat that 5*5 volume much more often.

Increase the volume slowly. Play with what you can do without warm up. I'm wary about 6RM loads with no warm up.

Compared to exercises like the KB MP I think the big barbell lifts deserve more variety more often. So I wouldn't do the bench press on GTG as long as I would the KB MP. I would switch grip widths, change the angle, maybe do floor press, maybe dumbbells, maybe resistance bands. In a sense it goes against GTG basics but I find I can do more volume that way for longer. I also believe it's superior in the long run.

I also wouldn't be afraid of doing longer sets. The long rests suit them well. You should get by with less warm up that way as well.

 

[SC88]

Great responses guys, much appreciated. I suspected that heavy low rep sets would be where the money was. Will be starting with squats and OHP from monday, 3 reps @6RM to begin with. Looking forward to really giving it a go!