Turkish Get Up – A Postural Alignment and Strength Movement
The Get-Up Promotes the Shoulders Mobility, Stability and Resilience. Improving Strength by teaching the body proper power “linkage”, not power “leakage.” The body learns to move in a connected, beautiful fashion. This movement has been called the Functional Movement Screen in exercise form. What the Hell does that mean? This movement is a full body assessment. Practitioners can use this movement, as a baseline for the days session. They will be able to tell right away, whether a person is connected, proper muscle activation and ‘online.’ Non Practitioners can also baseline their own movement. If your Get-Up feels choppy, sloppy and ‘disconnected’ then it’s probably a good bet that ‘something’ is going on with the body. Too much stress, too little sleep, not enough recovery etc.
So why do this movement? Ever heard ‘I’ve fallen and I can’t Get-Up?’ Well…Ok so that’s not the only reason, but imagine getting up, off the ground, with 100lbs in one arm…Or getting up after slipping on the ice with your newborn in your arms (you’re not going to drop the baby are you?) How about being able to play with the grandkids? Or this scenario, The enemy is advancing and you decide to turn your back, get to your hands and then get up. You would turn your back on someone who can kill you? I think not. This movement has a broad spectrum of people that can benefit. Like everyone.
In fact, Strong Men of yester year would insist that a student be able to get-up with 100lbs over head, before they would ever consider teaching you further feats of strength. You had to show the resolve and fortitude necessary, to simply earn your right to get up. In today’s world, we have so much at our fingers, things can literally be done for you in most fashions. But you still have to move and we are still designed how we were thousands of years ago. Just because things are convenient, doesn’t mean you can’t use your body the way nature intended.
The Highest form of Selfish is burdening others with your responsibilities and If you don’t take care of yourself, eventually someone else will.
If I could Only teach one Exercise, it would be this one. It’s that’s good. A Get-Up should never be executed poorly. Reason being, you have every opportunity to make sure your posture is aligned, at every step. Check in, make sure your chest is big, shoulders in their sockets and hips aligned with your midsection braced. Moving through this quickly is a no no, rather move through this ‘Tai Chi’ slow, as Dr. Mark Cheng would say.
Beautiful Strength is another term for this movement and I agree wholeheartedly. Watch a Master move with skill, grace and fluidity and you will be in awe. Quite a sight to behold.
On the other Hand, a bad Get Up sticks out like a bad joke. Both mean well and in the end, somebody usually gets hurt. It’s sloppy, rushed, the teacher has no concept of how to teach it and or the student get’s frustrated because it’s not easy or sexy. Sorry, but Tough Noogies. It’s simple when you break it down and we’re doing them. Again, Get-Up with 100lbs over your head and I personally want you on my team. Having big muscles and lifting lot’s of weights doesn’t mean anything unless you can put it together.
I showed you 7 steps. There is also no reason to be annoyed or overwhelmed. Do 1 Step at a time and then the next, until it becomes second nature. And if you ever need a refresher, Please look below for the standards.
Over time, as you start to understand the movements leading up to a Get-Up, you will seek more information. How to use it for Strength, Power and Conditioning. How to Get Up heavier etc. and guess what, that information will be right here, waiting for you. This post gives you a blueprint to build a foundation. Go, Build!
Progressions – Top Down
- Arm Up – Reverse Lunge
- Reverse Lunge to Windshield or Open
- Windshield to Hinge, Hand Down
- Hand Down to Tall Sit
- Tall Sit to Elbow
- Elbow to Shoulder-Shoulder
- Shoulder-Shoulder to Fetal
- Reverse – Go Back Up
- Keep The Transitions as Smooth as Possible, No Jerky Movements.
Progressions – Bottom Up
- Pick Up, Set Down, Switch Sides -Fetal Position
- Shoulder Packing – Roll to Back
- Tall Sit – Elbow
- Tall Sit – Hand
- Low-Sweep
- Windmill – Half-Kneel
- Stand-Up
- Get-Down
- Keep The Transitions as Smooth as Possible, No Jerky Movements.
Standard Form
- Use both hands to lift the KB off the ground to the starting position of the floor press and to return it to the ground
- The wrist on the Kettlebell side is neutral
- The elbow on the kettlebell side is locked and the shoulder packed
- The shoulder of the free arm does not shrug up
- The heel of the foot on the kettlebell side stays planted during the low sweep, the lunge to standing and the reverse of these actions
- The knee touches the deck silently on the decent into half kneeling position
- The arm holding the kettlebell is vertical or almost vertical
- The neck is neutral for the top half of the movement, from the lunge up
- In the top position the knees are locked and the lower back doesn’t hyperextend
A few notes:
- At any point you feel unstable or hesitant, stop and go back a move or 2
- The first move from the grund up to elbow, is a ROLL, not a crunch
- Look at your hand/bell the whole time, except getting up from lunge, and getting down to lunge – there you look straight ahead
- Fast & Loose Relaxation Drills – Shake your arms and legs vigorously, as if trying to shake off water and belly breathe in between sets, to bring Heart Rate down
- There are more: Check Back Later, Again be smart and send me a question if you’re not sure: John@BairKnuckleStrength.com
Beginner’s Programming:
- Do 1 Repetition of the first progression well, and then the next, etc.
- Practice a progression at a time and move on when it feels appropriate, you will know.
- If you feel you could do 50 clean repetitions of a progression, try another. Just do 50 sets of 1.
- Do Not Rush, Do Not get ‘Tired or Fatigued’ – Just get Better at the movement.
- A few reps here and there of just one step, then piece it together
- A good goal is to work the progressions until you can do it fluidly on both sides, with a shoe balanced on your fist, then a dixie cup filled half with water
- Focus on proper alignment at each step and never feel you have to do the whole thing. Just one part at a time.
- A great way to get it all together, Put 5 minutes on the clock and do one left, one right etc….Or Step 1 Left, Step 1 Right, Step 2 Left, Step 2 Right, etc. Be able to do the whole 5 minutes and get better at doing that.
- And eat clean, like meat, veggies and fruits….and then tell me how you feel below in the comments section 🙂