How to Grease the Groove

Greasing the groove is a training principle used to increase neurological pathways, gain strength, and improve your ability to do an exercise. It involves practicing the exercise with many sets but low reps, so you never bring your muscles to exhaustion. If you struggle with a movement – like pull‑ups – greasing the groove might be just what you need.

Here’s why.

The method is deceptively simple but highly effective when applied consistently. Greasing the groove (GtG) focuses on submaximal training done frequently throughout the day. Instead of doing a few hard, fatiguing sets in a single workout, you spread lower-rep sets across multiple sessions, allowing you to train without building excessive fatigue.

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown:

1. Choose one specific movement you want to improve. Common choices include Pushups, Pullups, Dips, Handstand, or Pistol Squats – generally bodyweight exercises that involve skill or strength.
2. Test your maximum reps. For example, if your max is 10 Pullups, this is your benchmark.
3. Train at 40–60% of your max. In this case, that would be four to six reps per set. It’s vital to stop each set well before failure.
4. Perform multiple sets per day, ideally four to eight sessions, with at least 15–60 minutes of rest periods between them. The key is frequency without fatigue.
5. Track your volume. Gradually increase the daily total number of reps over time, but don’t rush it. Consistency trumps intensity.

For example, someone trying to improve their Pushups might do five reps, six times a day, spaced across their workday. After a week or two, they might increase it to six reps per session, then seven, and so on, always staying below fatigue.

This approach is perfect for people who have access to a pull-up bar at home or at work or can drop and do a few Pushups between meetings. The small, frequent sessions accumulate into significant volume without overtraining.

Most strength training programs emphasize muscular fatigue, failure, and progressive overload via heavy weights or high volume. Greasing the groove challenges that by focusing on neurological adaptation – improving the body’s ability to perform a movement efficiently and consistently.

The term was coined and popularized by Pavel Tsatsouline, a former Soviet Special Forces trainer and the founder of StrongFirst. Tsatsouline observed that strength is a skill, not just a product of muscle size.

In his seminal book The Naked Warrior (2003), he introduced GtG as a method for improving that skill through high-frequency, low-intensity practice. Just as musicians practice scales or athletes drill technique, the body adapts better to repeated exposure than to periodic overload.¹

The principle rests on a few key neurological truths:

• Neural efficiency leads to strength. Your nervous system governs how and when your muscles fire. Improving this coordination – especially in complex movements – can make you stronger without adding mass.
• Practice makes permanent. Performing a movement often, and with good form, teaches your body to perform it with less effort.
• Fatigue is the enemy of learning. Practicing when fresh reinforces proper motor patterns. Practicing when fatigued often ingrains sloppy form and increases the risk of injury.

Scientific literature supports these ideas. In the early stages of strength training, most gains come from neural adaptations, not muscle growth. You become more efficient, coordinated, and capable of recruiting the right muscle fibers at the right time.

So, what can you expect if you implement Greasing the Groove correctly?

Over time, you’ll likely experience measurable increases in maximum strength, endurance, and movement quality – all without the soreness and fatigue associated with traditional workouts. For instance, many athletes report going from five Pullups to 12 or even 15 within a month of consistent GtG practice.

These gains occur without increasing muscle size, which is particularly beneficial for martial artists, gymnasts, climbers, or anyone interested in relative strength (strength-to-weight ratio). And because you’re training without fatigue, you avoid the setbacks of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), burnout, or injury.

Tsatsouline emphasizes that strength is not just about muscles – it's about the nervous system's ability to fire muscles efficiently. GtG is his answer to training that nervous system without wearing down the body.

Ben Greenfield, a biohacker and fitness coach, used GtG to go from five pull-ups to 15 in a few weeks by simply installing a pull-up bar above his office door and performing a few reps every time he passed it. He never broke a sweat – but the consistency paid off.

Greasing the Groove is most effective under certain conditions:

• You’re working on a skill-based movement. Calisthenics movements like Pullups, Dips, Pistol Squats, or Handstands benefit most.
• You’ve hit a plateau with traditional training. If your progress has stalled, GtG can rekindle improvements without overhauling your whole program.
• You have limited time. No need to block out 60 minutes – you can practice throughout the day.
• You want to improve relative strength. Especially useful in sports where weight gain is undesirable.
• You’re returning from injury. GtG allows gentle exposure to a movement without overwhelming your body.

While the concept is simple, there are common errors that can limit or even reverse your progress:

1. Training to failure. GtG is not about pushing your limits. Doing so can cause fatigue and compromise form – missing the whole point.
2. Inconsistent form. Because you’re practicing a movement so often, sloppy reps can engrain poor habits. Every rep should be high quality with proper form.
3. Doing too much too soon. Adding volume too quickly can lead to overuse injuries. The key is slow, steady progress.
4. Neglecting rest. Even low-intensity work adds up. Take at least one or two days off each week, especially if you’re training other movements.
5. Not tracking your volume. Without a log, it’s hard to see progress or know when to increase reps or sets.

Let’s say your max Pushups is 20. You’d start at 50% (10 reps per session):

By the second week, you can gradually increase reps or sessions, depending on how your body responds.

Multiple studies confirm that early strength gains in new or returning athletes are largely due to neural adaptations. According to Zatsiorsky & Kraemer (2006), increased coordination, motor unit synchronization, and intermuscular efficiency are responsible for strength improvements in the first few weeks of training.²

It’s also believed that breaking training into multiple short sessions can improve skill acquisition more effectively than one long session. The distributed practice model allows for fresher reps, better form, and more retained neuromuscular patterns.

Neuroscience also shows that myelination – the process by which nerve pathways become stronger and more efficient – is enhanced through frequent, high-quality repetition. This is essentially what GtG promotes.

Greasing the Groove isn’t a flashy workout method. You won’t walk away drenched in sweat or sore the next day. But if you stick with it, the results are undeniable. Strength improves. Movement becomes second nature. And you gain the kind of quiet mastery that builds confidence and longevity in your training.

Whether you’re a beginner working on your first Pullup or an advanced athlete refining your handstand, GtG provides a smart, sustainable, and science-backed path forward. It honors the idea that strength is a skill –and like all skills, it improves best with quality practice and consistent exposure.