question about greasing the groove

[prometheus]

So I've read up a lot here on the idea of "greasing the groove", specifically for pullups, the idea being to do a small set or even just single pushups interspersed throughout the day, so long as it's well below failure, in order to teach your body to adapt to the movement and get stronger.

My question is, how does this fit in to Simplefit? is it ok to be doing this all the time between simplefit workouts, or would this get in the way of adequate recovery? should I just limit myself to doing these extra pullups on the same day as my simplefit workout, so that I still have one full day off of pullups? or is it ok to do them every day, so long as it's not overly taxing my muscles and I'm just doing singles?

I have the exact same question for pushups too.

[prometheus]

anyone? I really am curious about this

[zorg]

In my opinion, just add those additional pullups whenever you have a minute (or whenever you walk under your pullup bar). That shouldn't affect your sf wo's too much.

If you do this, and feel that you're taxing yourself, you can still go easier.

Of course, I'm not an expert, so take it for what it's worth

[scumdogg]

I'm a big proponent of listening to what your body tells you. Everyone's capacity for the amount of work they're able to do differs so while you may be able to grease the groove for a week with pullups, someone else might not. Why not give it a try for a week and see how it works? I think the two telling factors that will help you determine whether you should keep greasing the groove or not are 1) elbow or shoulder pain, and 2) your times on day 1 and day 3.

Pullups can be hard on your joints, especially if you're a big guy and you're just starting out. If you overdo the pullups by doing them through out the day and then again during a workout, you might start to develop tendonitis from repeated strain and not allowing adequate recovery time (that's what happened to me).

Second, if you start to notice your times on day one and three starting to slip then greasing the groove isn't helping - obviously or you should switch the days that you're doing it.

Why not try greasing the groove for a week on the same days as your workouts. This will still allow you to recover on your off days. If you notice your workout times increasing because you're muscles have already been taxed by the pullups done through out the day or any elbow pain, then take a week off from GtG and the next week try greasing the groove on alternate days from your workout.

Another idea, might be to GtG with a related exercise to what you're trying to strengthen. So in the case of pullups do towel rows or inverted rows through out the day. The rows will indirectly help your pullups but help avoid strain from the same repetitive movement and also leave you enough energy to perform your regular workout.

[prometheus]

thanks for the replies!

Scumdogg I really like your idea of doing a related exercise. I think I will start though with regular pullups and see how my muscles are feeling. Since this is only my second week in the program, I don't have a lot of previous results to compare this to, but I think I'll just listen to my body as you said, and if I don't feel too taxed then I'm probably not. I'm a pretty small guy actually, so hopefully there's slightly less cause to injure myself, but I will be careful nonetheless.

I might try gtg with some dips to help my pushups, since I could definitely use some work on them.

[scumdogg]

Let us know how you make out.

[Norman]

Hey, I'd love to know too

I've never used that technique but if it proves useful, I might use it for pullups....

Have fun !

[prometheus]

based on how I've been feeling from my workouts so far, I think I might wait a bit before using gtg, and use it more as a strategy to overcome a plateau. I think right now my muscles really need any possible rest they can get while my body is getting accustomed to this program. I will keep you posted though!