Grease the Groove for SHTF

by Todd Walker

Personal SHTF events are more likely to happen than TEOTWAWKI.

Here’s a fresh example.

I decided to take my 7-year-old grandson on a bushcraft trip with two other grown men last weekend. We hiked about a mile into the woods to practice a few Doing the Stuff outdoor skills for an upcoming survival class.

We set up, built a fire, and then it happened… a personal SHTF for my grandson.

The trip was too demanding for Max. Poor planning and judgement on my part. He needed to go back to the cabin. I ended up carrying him most of the way through fields of hip-tall grass and briars. Had he been injured and unable to walk, I would have had to carry him the entire trek.

Be Strong to be Useful

Developing physical strength is a skill, not just a part of fitness programs. Are you physically prepared to deal with a SHTF event – personal or otherwise?

It makes sense to prioritize for probable scenarios over cataclysmic-end-of-world stuff. But hey, if you’re totally convinced a Zombie Apocalypse is in your near future, this post will help you defeat your un-dead attackers too!

For the rest of us non-zombie believers, we’ll keep doing the practical stuff of self-reliance.

One skill utilized everyday, that is often taken for granted, is functional fitness. If carrying a loved one to safety, changing a flat tire, lifting a toddler, walking two flights of stairs, or hoeing a row is out of the question for you physically, it’s time for you to Grease the Groove.

GTG pushups while hiking.

I first heard the phrase Grease the Groove (GTG) when I started living a Primal/Paleo lifestyle over four years ago. My once athletic physique was 50 pounds overweight and my middle-aged body was a wreck. Mirrors were my enemy. Achy joints were my constant companion.

The Grease the Groove concept came from Soviet Special Forces trainer Pavel Tsatsouline. The idea is to perform a specific exercise frequently throughout the day without reaching muscular failure (max repetitions). Perform 50% – 75% of maximum about 4 to 5 times a day. Keep this up GTG routine up for a few weeks and test you max again for the exercise you’ve chosen to strengthen.

For me, GTG and my new lifestyle changed my pitiful pull up numbers when I couldn’t eek out one stinkin’ pull up.

I’ll confess, I’ve let my numbers slip. So I’ve started greasing the groove again. My goal is to do 15 pull ups – with proper form – before I attend the survival school in a couple of months. I’m guessing I could make it through the course at my present fitness level, but I’m fond of  personal physical challenges.

Here’s my GTG plan…

Install a pull up bar in my classroom. Between class change and breaks (my cue or trigger), I’ll knock out 3 to 5 pull ups. No sweat involved. This would put me in the 20 to 25 pull ups per day range at school for the next eight weeks. The pull up bar behind my shop will be used every time I grill out or fetch a garden tool. These quick reps will all be sub-maximal effort.

I’ll continue my normal bodyweight exercises; push ups, squats, sprints, lifting heavy stuff, and walking – but grease the groove with pull ups only. I’m sharing my pull up challenge for accountability and progress monitoring I suppose. I’ll do my best to update my progress for y’all.

Smash Plateaus with GTG

The principle of Greasing the Groove offers benefits in several areas of self-reliance. This technique can be employed in firearms training, food independence, habit training, self-defense, situational awareness, and all our Doing the Stuff skills.

Repeatedly performing a specific movement causes your nervous system and muscles to work in unison. With enough time and repetition, the movement or skill becomes more natural and easier to perform. Automatic!

Focus on one movement or skill in 2 to 4 week cycles. The key is to remain fresh without reaching fatigue. If you want to shoot more accurately but can’t afford range trips daily, practice drawing and dry firing your unloaded sidearm 3 or 4 times a day between range trips.

Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. Whatever skill you want to strengthen, greasing the groove is a simple technique to get crazy numbers of reps.

Smash your plateaus and be the hero in all your SHTF events!

Keep Doing the Stuff of Self-Reliance,

Todd

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