Fitness Expert Explains a Unique Workout to Train Less and Build Muscle Faster

• Fitness expert Pavel Tsatsouline joined the Huberman Lab podcast to discuss a unique training method that enables less exercise while building muscle more quickly.
• The training method was introduced to the US Navy SEALs, Marines and Army Special Forces.
• Tsatsouline explained how the process can be used as an excellent home workout option or at the gym.

Every person’s approach to exercise is unique, whether it’s focusing on higher reps and less weight, more weight and lower reps, a heavy emphasis on cardio or even something as simple as how you space out breaks. Regardless, one thing most would agree on is that if there’s a path to training less while becoming stronger, it’d be hard to pass on. While speaking with neuroscientist Andrew Huberman on the Huberman Lab podcast, longtime fitness coach Pavel Tsatsouline explained an extremely interesting approach that highlights exactly that.

Tsatsouline introduced the Spetsnaz training techniques that come from the former Soviet Union, something he’s introduced to US Navy SEALs, Marines and Army Special Forces over the years. He’s introduced it broadly previously, and his breakdown to Huberman was extremely interesting.

Background of the ‘Grease the Groove’ Training Method

Huberman first laid out a quick breakdown of what this training method is, and also detailed how it can benefit you both physically and even from a time perspective. It’s an approach called “greasing the groove.”

"The idea that more frequent training or practicing of a movement opens up a tremendous number of opportunities for development of strength, of size, hypertrophy if one wants,” Huberman explains. “And I would say just generally more flexibility over one’s total fitness program. Once one understands this concept, you no longer look at, this split or that split, or this many reps or that many reps, or this volume or that volume.”

“While that is important, you can start to think about it through the lens of the nervous system. And to me, it was like water in a desert to finally encounter something that brought together all these different concepts.”

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Tsatsouline elaborated on the approach by giving an analogy, citing someone practicing martial arts. Every break between classes, you go to the corner and practice your kata. He calls it the best way to practice a skill, “in small portions in a spaced-out matter.”

"Traditional education and traditional strength training is based on the cramming model. So remember, cramming for an exam,” Tsatsouline explains. “So you’re studying at night and you somehow squeak by and you pass it. Then a couple of days later, you happily forget everything.”

“So, in contrast, imagine that you’re studying a foreign language, you write words on cards and at every opportunity standing in line at the bank...you’re just going through your deck, like ‘Oh, can I translate this word?’ I go put it back in the deck, flip it over, then next time you’re in some other place, you do this again.”

Tsatsouline points to “more than 1,000 papers” that have been published on this general concept, but cites that very few people actually use the method.

“Every time that you activate a particular connection, a synaptic connection between the neurons, that connection becomes stronger,” Tsatsouline says. “So if you do it over and over and over. The ‘grease the groove’...is that command that’s coming in from your brain to your muscles, that’s the groove. That’s the pathway.”

“And the more you use it, pretty much the more grease it becomes, so it becomes like a superconductor. So in the future, you don’t have to try as hard to lift the same model weight, or you can try the same amount and lift harder.”

The Core Strategy: How This Program Cuts Training But Increases Muscle

Now, the key is how to integrate this method into training and exercise. The concept is simple enough to understand, but it’s such a rare approach for gymgoers that it sounds almost too good to be true.

The long and short of it is to focus on 75 to 85 percent of your maximum repetition weight and do half of the repetitions that you typically would, as Tsatsouline details below.

"It’s a very easy and very simple way to train,” he says. “And strength comes very easily and very, very unexpectedly. To make sure that it does happen, you have to address the issue of specificity. So specificity pretty much means...to get stronger first of all, you need to lift weights that are heavy enough, and if you’re looking at percentages of one rep, we’re looking at like 75 to 85 [percent] typically.”

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This aspect of the “grease the groove” method is extremely important, as going either too light or too heavy can negatively impact the process. As Tsatsouline explains, lifting too light won’t make an “impression on your nervous system,” but going too heavy will lead to burnout. He summed it up perfectly by stating that it should be “a weight that’s heavy enough to respect and light enough not to fear.”

“And the second of all, and this is very surprising, is that you only do about half or fewer reps than you possibly could do,” Tsatsouline states.

“Let’s say that you’re lifting 80 percent of your one lift max, and let’s say you’re able to do eight reps maximum with it. Well, you’re only going to do about 3-4 reps per set and that’s it.“

Best Ways to Implement This Unique Approach to Training Less and Building Muscle

The aspect of “intensity” was also mentioned by Tsatsouline, who explains that effort doesn’t equal intensity; instead, intensity in strength training is focused on how heavy the weight you’re using is.

“There are times for [using more effort], there are absolutely times for that, but if the weight is heavy enough and you do half the repetitions that you possibly could do, you’re going to get stronger,” Tsatsouline explains.

To summarize the “grease the groove method” specifically:

• Do 75 to 85 percent of your maximum weight
• Half of the reps, or less and spread out repetitions with breaks
• Focus on doing each rep correctly and be specific on the approach

“It’s very safe, and you’re not going to burn out psychologically. And it’s also very easy on your body. Also, that builds muscle as well, purely because you’re able to do a very high volume of work,” he continues.

“To summarize the grease the groove method, you’re trying to train moderately heavy as often as possible while staying as fresh as possible.”

Utilizing This Method as a Home Workout and Its Impact on Productivity

One very interesting aspect of this workout method is its flexibility, allowing you to utilize it without even going to the gym. For anyone short on time or who simply wants to get in a workout throughout the day, this is a great option.

Huberman suggests that you can incorporate this into your entire day if you have the necessary equipment or interest in doing so while at home. Tsatsouline calls that “ideal,” and points to doing something like one-arm push-ups or keeping a kettlebell under your desk, with a focus on hitting each rep perfectly.

Here’s a breakdown of key aspects detailed by Tsatsouline during the Huberman Lab podcast and how to use the “grease the groove” method at home.

• Lift 75-85 percent of your max single rep
• Do half of the reps you typically would do for one full set (if it’s eight reps, do three or four).
• Ideally, do the 3-4 reps every 10 minutes or so.
• Listen to your body, typically try to train two or three days consecutively, and then take a day off.
• You can perform up to three exercises at a time, using the 10-minute break to transition from one exercise to another, but it’s not a must.
• Can utilize this method at home with one-armed push-ups or any other method, depending on what’s available to you.

The benefit of being able to do this approach virtually anywhere is tremendous. It can go a long way toward helping people who don’t frequently have an extended period of time available to spend an hour or two at the gym. Most importantly, Tsatsouline highlighted the positive impact that using this method can have on productivity, whether at home or at work.

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