DAY 21 : SIMPLEST WAY TO INCREASE YOUR PUSHUP COUNT
Hey Re-inventors!
This is DAY 21 of the 30 DAYS of DOING THINGS THAT I WAS ‘GONNA’ DO SERIES.
And today is all about GREASING THE GROOVE
So back in the day when I could barely do one pushup, I was desperate to increase my push up count. There were a lot of ways on the internet but sometimes that felt too hard and tiring for a person like me.
Then while randomly scrolling through the ART OF MANLINESS YouTube channel, I came across this video titled “Greasing the groove”. At first I thought that the video has some mechanical stuff in it and I was like “Wow! This guy is also a mechanic”.
But to my surprise, it was something else which increased my push up count just in a matter of days.
The technique is known as Greasing the Groove
Usually we have the tendency to not think of strength as a skill and thus we do not practice it that much. But according to Pavel Tsatsouline, former Soviet Special Instructor and the father of kettlebell in the West, “Strength is a skill”. And thus it means that you can practice it to improve it .
So let’s find out how can we practice strength by greasing the groove.
When you lift something, the neurons send the signal to the muscle fibers to contract, the more efficient is the neuromuscular process is, the easier it is to do the movement.The more you practice the skill the more you are training your neuromuscular system to make that requirement.
So, you can relate this to playing an instrument such as a guitar. Playing a guitar is awkward at first but as you practice more and more it becomes easier. Because you are increasing neuromuscular efficiencies.
HOW TO DO IT?
We grease the groove by performing a lower set of reps of a particular exercise several times throughout the day. The more you practice that exercise, the more efficient the neuromuscular system becomes and the more efficient the neuromuscular system becomes the more reps you can do and the more reps you can do the stronger you get.
So let’s see how it works. You pick an exercise that you want to be better at say pushups.You have to do a short set of reps maybe 40–50% of your potential several times a day with ample time in between sets. There is no fixed number for the sets and the reps and it will obviously vary from person to person. You do as many sets and reps you can without making you feel fatigued (even if that’s one rep)
According to this concept, you should not be going to failure and you should not feel tired.
HOW DID I SET A ROUTINE TO INCREASE MY PUSH UP COUNT?
Bodyweight exercises are best for applying the technique of greasing the groove. I set a timer on my phone for 1 hour. Every one hour I get up and do some pushups and then a drink a glass of water and then come back to work.
This way, I am keeping myself active and also ensuring that my water intake is at check.
NOT TO DO CHECKLIST
- The technique mentioned above is great to supplement your workout routine only if you go upto 40% — 50% of your maximum potential. If you go beyond that, you may actually fatigue the muscle and sabotage your fitness goals instead of reaching closer to them.
- Do not expect the effect or strength of doing pushups to carry over to other exercises. You will see increase in the number of your pushups but it may not improve your ability to perform other exercises.
If you want to know more then watch this video:
For a more detailed explanation, visit this link → http://www.artofmanliness.com/2016/01/20/get-stronger-by-greasing-the-groove/
Coming on to my day,
5:40 : Wake up
5:48 : Work
6:39 : Iron my sister’s school dress
7:02 : Help Dad in some work
7:20 : Work
8:07 : Breakfast
8:25 : Read News
9:45 : Take a bath
10:00 : Read some more news of the tech industry
10:30 : Coding
1:00 to 1:05 : Lunch
3:00 to 3:10 : Talk to mom
3:10 : Work
3:30 : Leave for Gym
3:45 : Reach Gym
4:52 : Come Back from the Gym
5:10 to 5:20 : Call
5:20 to 5:32 : Have a snack
6:50 : Spend time with Grandma
7:30 : Work
9:00 : Dinner
9: 40 : 'Me' time
10:00 : Sleep
Today’s day was good. I woke up at 5:40 and started working pretty much immediately. In between I had to do unnecessary stuff like iron my sister’s school dress but that’s fine. After all that, I worked and then had a delicious breakfast. I spent a lot of time reading the news today and then started coding till lunch.
After having lunch, I wrote some more code and then went to the gym. After coming back from the gym, I had a call and then I worked for some time. I also spent quite some time with my grandma. She will be going back to her place tomorrow and thus I thought it was important.
After that I worked till dinner and then took some time aside to reflect. I slept soon after that.
A boring day and nothing exciting; for you guys maybe. It was awesome for me though!
This was Day 21 of the series and we are 3 weeks into this. There are 9 days left and I’ll see you tomorrow!
Till then, apply the greasing the groove technique and see the dividends yourself! Do tell me if it benefits you, down in the comments. I’ll be more than happy to hear from you 😃
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