“Greasing the groove”, a term I first heard referenced by Pavel in his book Power to the People! is an approach to strength training, where you work high volume exercises into your day at low intensities in order to create more efficient neural pathways (grooves). This strength training method can be applied to everything from pull-ups to back squats, but I especially like using it in an effort to build my grip strength. It’s also an easy workout to do in the car.
In my car’s center console–among empty wrappers, 20-year-old CDs, and miscellaneous weaponry–I keep a #2 Captains of Crush gripper and an Iron Mind Expand-Your-Hand Band. Almost every time I hop in the car, I perform one to three reps of the CoC gripper, and five to 10 reps with the band on each hand.
I stick to that resistance and rep range because it’s challenging enough to yield conservative strength gains, but “easy” enough that completing the micro-workout several times a day doesn’t fatigue my muscles and central nervous system.
If you plan to apply the greasing the groove principle to your own training, stick to 20-25% of your max effort for each groove session. In my case, I can close the #2 about 10 times. Every now and then, I retest my max effort to see where I am. Once I can close it 20 times, I’ll bump up to greasing with the 2.5…then the 3…then the 4…cheeeeeeea.
Now grease up those palms and get to work ;)!