Grease the groove

[stallion87]

I did dips the other day and managed 9/8/8 over 3 sets. I really felt my triceps were always lacking because when I was younger I used to go the gym train on some random machines and then do lots of bicep curls. I never really had a good workout and my triceps were probably the same size after 2 years of training!

So now my triceps and probably lagging behind, what can I do to sort this... Grease the groove.

I have just started doing 6 sets of 4 reps, 3 times daily. 72 reps a day, 5 times a week whenever I feel like doing them and giving myself a rest! I know I probably should be doing 4 sets of 6 reps because of my stats above but I tried 5x5 today and felt I was pushing the last set a bit too close to failure for my liking so I will stick to 6x4 for a week or so then decide what to do!

Who else on here is doing Grease the groove? I know a lot of people do this for chins/pull ups, Do you feel its helped you? Do you feel your other lifts have weakened because of grease the groove?

Just looking for general opinions.

[americanadian]

The GTG principle is very sound, and when I was in the Marine Corps, I would have my guys who couldn't do pull-ups do this every day. I did it myself when I joined- I could barely get 3 "legal" pulls, by year 3 I was doing the max of 20 which wasn't my max.

I still use it today. I can do a set of 3 pull-ups with 90 lbs attached without burning out, but not a set of 4 or 5 without my next set being a 0 or 1. So I do 6 sets of 3. Builds power and explosiveness. It's not 100% GTG, but the general method is the same: high volume, low reps, low intensity.

[Kaizen]

Ive just tried doing this method myself because of seemingly hitting a plateau on my pullups, I seem to be stuck at 10 deadhang pullups atm, allthough i could only previously do about 7-8 when i weighed 68-70kg, im weighing in at 85kg now and can do 10 on first set, so i know ive progressed strength wise, its just my body seems to think 10reps is rest time . I had this problem with other body parts when i used a certain rep range for a long time, subconsciously my body is thinking 10 is the limit, or 8 is the limit etc, does anyone else get this?

Last night i did 10x2 pullups with 30secs rest between sets, went well, and today i dont feel burned out in my lats. Using GTG should i be doing 10x2 daily or alternate days etc?
Cant remember where abouts i read it, think it was on strong-lifts pdf, after 10x2 you progress onto 10x3, and after you can do 10x3 you should be nearing 15reps on your first set apparantly, that sound feasible?

And about the original post yeah i think using the same method for dips should get the results your wanting, goodluck:)

[stallion87]

Kaizen I'm pretty sure you can do 10x2 daily, without burning out but its up to you as well I guess and how you feel.

I'm not sure about the 10x3 and 15 reps on the first set to be honest. I have been doing pullups for the last couple of weeks now just 3 times. I'm now up to 10x2 and a couple of 3 reps in there too at the beginning, but I know for sure if I was to do 1 set I could not get more than 4!

Hmm not sure about the rep range your talking about. But if you feel your hitting 10 and then stopping its maybe just mind games! Even then though, I would probably change to something like GTG as you are doing and try to move up a gear.

[Kaizen]

Yeah im going to give GTG a shot, i dont know what it is but i seem to fail once ive hit x reps, 10 for example. (when previously chinning with weight added, i could add weight and get my 2*5, but my max rep with no weight added didnt really increase much, i think this is due o strength training, for power and not endurance.
Saying that, i make sure i do 100% correct form dead hanging, slow pace, i think its maybe my tempo using up excess strength, i dont mind that in one sense, cause i flat out refuse to do pullups crossfit style....whats the point, your not even using your back to pull yourself up...your swinging. Anyways, ive just did GTG last night again, so thats each grip covered sofar, pullup, chinup, parallel grip and wide.

My lats dont feel burnt out, but my deltoids are feeling it a bit due to overhead-press and ring pushups etc, so i dont think i'll do it daily. Dont want to effect my recovery on the compound lifts.

[stallion87]

Just do them every now and then is the right idea. I went away for the weekend and had missed 2 days of dips. Went down to the gym at the pool where I was staying and moved a couple of treadmills so I could do dips using the handles!