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Other/Mixed The Great GTG Thread

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
Steve Freides

Steve Freides

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Senior Certified Instructor Emeritus
Elite Certified Instructor
GTG, Grease The Groove, is a programming approach some of us have used but I'm sure many haven't tried yet. I recently began GTG'ing my barbell deadlifts, a first for me - so far, so good.

If you've used GTG, please post about your experiences, insights, success stories, etc. - your experience with this GTG. Questions about it? Also good here.

EDIT:

GTG, Defined by Pavel:

What is GTG. E.g., does Easy Strength qualify? Plan Strong?…

While 'greasing of the grove’ takes place with every rep you make—including in ES, PS, and many other types of programming—the GTG method does more than that. It maximizes the results of strength practice by enabling a very high volume through a combination of stopping far from failure (which is not unique to GTG) and extreme rest periods (which is unique). This minimizes stress by reducing the cellular membrane damage by free radicals, spiked in part by lactic acid and cortisol. For a 50% RM set a 10min rest is minimal to produce these effects.

In summary, GTG is sets with < 50% of the max reps possible with a given resistance with >10 minute rests between sets, and high training frequency.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

-S-
 
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I have been GTG captain of crush grippers. A couple days/week I do sets of 5 with the Trainers. At work once per week I do singles with the #1 or 1.5 gripper. Soon I will start Rite of Passage pressing ladders with 40kg to boost my strength up for the press test in April for the SFG 2. In the past, I have used GTG pressing on ROP successfully to press 48kg. My plan is to do the ladders throughout the day and not to break a sweat doing it.
 
Steve Freides said:
GTG, Grease The Groove, is a programming approach some of us have used but I'm sure many haven't tried yet. I recently began GTG'ing my barbell deadlifts, a first for me - so far, so good.

If you've used GTG, please post about your experiences, insights, success stories, etc. - your experience with this GTG. Questions about it? Also good here.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

-S-
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What sort of load are you using Steve?
e.g. 10 RM for 3 to 6 reps? Or something heavier?
 
Pete L said:
What sort of load are you using Steve?
e.g. 10 RM for 3 to 6 reps? Or something heavier?
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Glad you asked, @Pete L. My load on the bar is currently 140 kg, 82.3% 1RM, which is low for the deadlift, but I have a specific reason for choosing that weight and it has to do with my particular strengths, weaknesses, and where I lose good form on the deadlift. Skip what's next if the particulars aren't of interest.

To answer your question, no 3-6 reps, all singles. And as I mention below, this weight is something I've done 10 reps of recently and even then had another rep or two in reserve. Most in a day so far is 12 singles. Minimum 20 minutes between bouts. So we're talking about 12 singles with a 12 RM weight. Aiming right now for about 50 lifts per week and increasing from there.

My back and abs are stronger than my legs. The way I've generally moved the bar is starting with my shoulders a little in front of the bar and using my lats to keep the bar close to me as I pull. Once I get to a certain point in the pull, my shoulders will come back and the lift finishes normally. I picked my GTG weight to be one I can execute with better form so there's a lot of mindfulness of form happening in my setup and the execution of the lift that, for me, tends to disappear when I do things like 10 reps with this weight. I did one single with 150 kg last week, just to see if I could keep my good form with that weight, and I could and did, so that's progress for me. 150 was my opener when I set my lifetime PR of 170 about a year and a half ago, and the plan is that I'll keep throwing in some heavier weights from time to time. 155 is about 91-92% and usually as heavy as I go in training, but with GTG, I may try a few heavier singles as my next competition grows closer - currently about 11 weeks out.

One other interesting - to me, at least - thing is that I'm including specialized variety lifts in my GTG, so not everything is my competition deadlift. I know a lot of people will use sumo as SV for a competition conventional puller, but I'm using the Hack DL and the Jefferson (straddle) DL as my SV. At the moment, I'm actually doing about 2/3 SV and 1/3 conventional, and in my conventional I'm still mixing my most- and least-favored mixed grips 50/50. At the meet draws nearer, I'll probably up the conventional and with my favored grip and therefore do less of everything else.

I have to say GTG makes me feel fantastic - much less fatigue in the rest of my day after my lifts are finished.

-S-
 
I had great success with GTG with the kettlebell military press. I used 60% and 70% of my future 1RM for different sets for a long, long while. The volume just built up and made it possible to handle new heavy kettlebells on the first try.
 
I have followed NW for a couple of months, which fixed my aching wrists problem for good. (This was two years ago, I now remembered that once my wrists were easily getting hurt, since then my wrists never became weakest link for me)

I did GTG hang for a couple of months, which helped big time in my scapular strength and control, which was a long standing issue and enabled me owning the lower part of a chin up w good form.

My current program is a beginner’s KB foundations program from an SFG certified coach Kate. I run it daily, and I promised my self not to hop in between programs and my current program is just in the lines of having good recovery. So I don’t want to go down the path of again trying to do a lot at once and end up hoping from one great program to an other hence I am not going to touch GTG for a while but when time comes, I am going to use GTG again to fix one of next in line strength/joint issue.

Long story short, I have experienced the “healing” effects of GTG and some of the strength. I can easily picture a person following a GTG suitable exercise and become a monster at it, with minimum possible but of course not zero recovery debt.

Ps: GTG and hence NW is a revolutionary book IMHO. With classic Pavel style, his definition of GTG in the book is an amazing example of definition of a “protocol”. I think everyone interested in strength training should own a copy.

Best;

Ege
 
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I used GtG over last summer with handstand push-ups. Increased my RM from ~2-3 to 5. I also saw significant (for me) hypertrophy from doing 100-125 or so reps per week. School schedule has kept me from being able to do it consistently since fall, however…

After trying out some barbell stuff over the last month or so, and watching my handstand push-up strength decline, I am looking at this thread like it’s a sign to switch back!
 
I spent some time working within a grease the groove format . And it took my press from the 24kg to the 32kg to the 40kg bell.

For strength increases it worked very well for me. Although I do recall feeling "winded" when I returned to doing sets sequentially within a session. I'll never forget how odd that felt.
 
Steve Freides said:
I have to say GTG makes me feel fantastic - much less fatigue in the rest of my day after my lifts are finished.
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I think GtG replicates to some extent whatever adaptations manual labor promote. Which is a very, very, very good thing health-wise (maybe not so much performance-wise).
 
If grease the groove is multiple sets throughout the day, what do we call one session a day leaving enough in the tank to repeat the next day?
 
Adachi said:
I spent some time working within a grease the groove format . And it took my press from the 24kg to the 32kg to the 40kg bell.

For strength increases it worked very well for me. Although I do recall feeling "winded" when I returned to doing sets sequentially within a session. I'll never forget how odd that felt.
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Hey... over what time period did you follow this, and what other training were you doing?
 
TedM said:
Hey... over what time period did you follow this, and what other training were you doing?
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It ran from November 2020 to March 2021, so, about 5 months.

I wasn't doing other training.
I was greasing the groove with the snatch the swing or the press.
One lift per day.
5-10 sets a day.
 
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A few months ago I started G-T-G with Dips and Chins and my dips went from 10-17 in a month. Chins went from 10 to 12, need to experiment more with the chins. I plan on running G-T-G till the end of the year and see where I end up, hopefully weighted.

Benjamin Renaud could you elaborate a little more on the specifics of what you did (sets per day, days per week)? Thanks in advance!!
 
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