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Kettlebell Greasing the grove , swings, carry, get ups

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Colby

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Looking to start greesing the grove with swings, carrys , and get ups. I come from a bodybuilding background where we warm up quite well first. With greasing the grove, is it nessary to “warm up” before doing a set of 10 powerful swings, or some get ups with a decent working weight for 1 rep a side?
 
It depends.

I would probably do some "shoulder pumps" (updog and downdog from yoga) amd some rocking (from Original Strength), then do a GU and then a set of swings. Probably only with heavy swings for 2-10 reps.
 
GTG is a strength-builder, and swings/carry/get-ups are not pure strength builders. Not to say you couldn't do them periodically throughout the day with good effect, but it's not exactly what GTG is designed for, IMO. Others may disagree...

But to answer your question, maybe do a little warm-up before your "sessions" and then progressively lessen how much you do, paying close attention to how ready you feel. I think being ready to express strength without a warm-up is yet another skill aspect of strength that can be developed. Farmers and construction workers and others do it all the time, but for those of us that almost always warm up before "heavy" lifting, we should work our way into it...
 
Btw: I have done GTG TGUs with a lighter bell and a focus on maximal tension to practice getting tight (a bit like in the tension day article of Pavel). That worked really well.
 
Like the prvious answers I don’t think swings or TGUs can be properly GTG’ed (TGU you can practice, but that is not GTG)
Carries on the other hand IMHO work well in a GTG format... the name comes from what farmers (used to) do throughout the day afterall, carry heavy stuff

to answer your warmup question, I personally never do a warmup for GTG
Ease into it though, but if you need a warmup you’re going too heavy
 
One other thing, not sure what you mean by “decent working weight” but GTG is not meant to go anywhere near a working weight (if I remember correctly it is about 35-40% of 1 RM)
 
Can you guys @ClaudeR and @Anna C tell something more why TGU is not a good choice for GTG?

Sure, but let me first say what I'm not saying... I'm not saying it's a bad idea to do TGU in a GTG manner (i.e. a rep or two throughout the day). It's always a good movement to do, and practice is always a good thing. I'm just saying you're not as likely to get the advertised benefits of it -- the specific and rapid strength gains that GTG can deliver with the things it's more suited for.

GTG is about neuromuscular efficiency; about practicing the skill of strength. A pistol squat, OAPU, pull-up, etc. are perfect for GTG because they require pure strength and you can do them almost anywhere so it's easy to fit in GTG practice. You could also do it with deadlift, press, squat, etc... but they are less convenient because they require equipment, plus with these it's less likely that you'll be able accumulate significant volume in multiple GTG sessions of half what you can do throughout the day almost every day, because they are bigger, compound, more fatiguing movements. With GTG you're generally practicing a skill that is not very overall fatiguing for the body.

The TGU isn't really about maximum force production. It's about time under tension, a lot of challenging movements all in one combination, moving skillfully under load, tension and relaxation at the right times. It does require strength and it will make you stronger, but it's not really a pure strength exercise.

Also, GTG is specific. It makes you more efficient at doing the specific skill. Why do we do TGUs -- to get better at TGUs? Generally not... It's not a contested event anywhere, not a battlefield skill, doesn't create any specific hypertrophy... They are more of an exercise with general benefits; a little of everything. You do want to get better/stronger at them (i.e. progress to being able to do 5 each side with heavier weight, as in S&S), but neuromuscular efficiency isn't generally the thing holding you back, so a standard practice is probably more beneficial towards your goals.
 
Many thanks Anna for elaborating on that. I must say I forgot the practical aspect (or the naked aspect) of gtg
 
Looking to start greesing the grove with swings, carrys , and get ups. I come from a bodybuilding background where we warm up quite well first. With greasing the grove, is it nessary to “warm up” before doing a set of 10 powerful swings, or some get ups with a decent working weight for 1 rep a side?

GTG is better done with pullups, pushups, one arm pushup/pistol type movements. Bottoms up press is another good one. See Anna's explanation below.
 
Let me do my best to put it in bodybuilding slang..

GTG is similar to a photoshoot pump. Just enough to practice the groove, wake up the muscles but not to inject the body with acid and fatigue
 
Listen to @Anna C , she’s forgotten more about strength (and successfully executed a lot of protocols and modalities with tons of in-depth experience) than most people will ever know!

BTW nothing wrong with practicing TGUs frequently
 
Listen to @Anna C , she’s forgotten more about strength (and successfully executed a lot of protocols and modalities with tons of in-depth experience) than most people will ever know!

Not forgetting things is the battle now that I'm rapidly coming up on 52 yrs old! :D

But thank you @ClaudeR; I have been fortunate to learn from some of the best... My goal is to pass it forward.
 
Not forgetting things is the battle now that I'm rapidly coming up on 52 yrs old! :D
You should know by now I am not the best forum writer in the world (clearly GTG won’t work for writing), so whatever I say take it as a compliment ROFL
 
Looking to start greesing the grove with swings, carrys , and get ups. I come from a bodybuilding background where we warm up quite well first. With greasing the grove, is it nessary to “warm up” before doing a set of 10 powerful swings, or some get ups with a decent working weight for 1 rep a side?

GTG is usually far enough from a max that a warmup isn’t necessary. But if you need them, do them, just do as few as gets the job done for you.

I suggest you aim for the middle ground and, rather than GTG, follow the PTTP model. Do those lifts every day but just once per day.

Please keep us posted on your decisions and how things work out.

-S-
 
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