Wax the outside "shoulders" of the sole of your grooved plane, using a high quality hard carnuba wax. You will experience a dramatic reduction of planing effort, which then can be translated into greater control of the plane once you get used to it. Anticipating the usual question - No I don't get any transfer of wax to the strip, at least any that I can see or affects the glue adherence.  (Darryl Hayashida)

I've always waxed my plane sole for general wood work and also for bamboo. I use whatever car wax is in the garage, or Boeshield spray. (I use Boeshield on all my saw tables, and exposed, unpainted metal.  Great stuff.)  (Brian Creek)