The Turkish Get-Up

This month, we will go over the dreaded Turkish Get-Up.  This is one of the best movements to give you a really good idea if you have the necessary stability and flexibility to do any sort of free weight-lifting exercises.  I have known a few people to rush through this drill during training because the thought is that it is just one of those tedious things that you just get done.  The get-up, however, is one of those movements that demands every ounce of your attention and should be done very slowly.   After doing a little bit of research, I even found that in some training studios in the late 19th and early 20th centuries if you could not do a proper get-up,  you were not allowed to do any of the other weight training exercises.

ROLL The first part of the get-up is the roll to a press.  Again, this should not be underestimated.  This helps you to fire your core to prepare for work in the rest of the movement; fires those latissimus dorsi muscle when you are in “firing range” (not shown) press position; and makes you train the fundamental movement pattern of rolling.  To do this, you are going to thread your bottom hand through the handle of the kettlebell and then overlap it with the top hand.  You will then roll to your back while keeping the kettlebell  in front of the body.  When you are finished with this movement, you should be holding the bell with two hands and the bell should be at the level of your belly button with a vertical forearm and a nice straight wrist.  From here you will press the bell up with two hands while keeping the shoulders pulled in the direction of the feet.

FLOOR PRESS/ SETTING THE FOOT AND HAND

Next you want to set the foot and hand.  Notice in the photo that the arm on the kettlebell side is vertical with a straight wrist.  The knee on the side of the kettlebell is bent to prepare you for eventually standing up.  Both the lats and the core are engaged ready to work.  The arm opposite the kettlebell is positioned 45 degrees away from the body.  The opposite leg is also straight.

Sitting to the elbow

Next what you will is 1) push through the heel on the side of the kettlebell over to the elbow 2) punch the bell up to the ceiling 3) make the spine very tall and 4) while keeping the KB arm straight, make sure that the bell is lined up over the downside elbow.  Both lats should be engaged here to support both your body and the kettlebell.  The knee on the kb side should track over the foot.  The leg opposite the kettlebell should remain straight.  A few pointers with this part: 1) You are actually using your glute to push over to the elbow while you are doing a move similar to a side crunch. 2) The leg that is opposite the kettlebell should never leave the ground.  If it does, you have some issues in your core muscles that must be addressed. 3) There should be no sag in the spine from this position.  Again if the spine is sagging, you’ll need to learn how to fire those lats and core muscles to support your frame.

Post to the hand

You will now post to the hand from the elbow position.  To do this pivot on the elbow so that your fingers are almost pointing behind you.  Do not pick your entire arm off of the floor to do some ugly compensatory movement.  Part of the stability necessary in this movement is the ability to push through the hand and fire the lat in the down arm while also maintaining the shoulder pack position with the kettlebell.  If you feel that it is necessary to move your hand, you should back off to do the necessary drills to develop the strength.

The high hip lift

From the post position, you push through the heel on the side of the kettlebell as well as the down hand.  Here you will extend and lift the hip while keeping both shoulders packed.  If you are having trouble, you should examine the stability and flexibility in the hips as well as the strength in the lats.  Notice that the kettlebell is stacked over the bottom hand and the heels of both feet are in contact with the ground with both glutes tight.  You will now swing the straight leg through from this position and “find your hand with the knee” to get to the :

Half Windmill Position

In this position, the hand, knee, and foot on the side opposite of the kettlebell should be in a straight line.  The kettlebell again should be stacked over the bottom hand.  The front knee on the side of the kettlebell should track over the foot.  This position really gives you a sense of the flexibility in the hips.  Again, if there is any difficulty getting into this position, spend a lot of time making the hips more flexible.  From this position you will then transition to the tall kneeling position.  And then up you go!

Half Kneeling Position

You are now ready to safely stand

To get down, you will reverse the movement and descend in a very slow and controlled manner.  If you flop down, you are not giving enough attention to the stability necessary to perform this movement and should take time to correct the deficiencies.

Done correctly, the Turkish Get-Up can improve shoulder flexibility and stability; spinal mobility as well as hip mobility and stability.  It does give you a pretty good assessment of how fit you really are and your preparedness to perform more strenuous activities.  So, get this one technique down and you will be on your way to new levels of strength and flexibility.

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