HOW TO TURKISH GET UP WITH 100lbs

This exercise has been used as a quick assessment tool for movement quality because the parameters for both joint mobility and system stability lie at the upper boundaries of what is considered functional.  When performed with increasingly heavier weights, there is a high neural demand on cognition and motor control.  Thus, this exercise can neither be rushed nor performed without 100% focus.

As renowned physiotherapist and FMS founder Gray Cook remarked, symmetry, bodyweight management, strength, and stability can all be addressed with the Turkish Get Up because despite not working many prime-movers, "[it] really blasts your stabilizers" and "stabilizers are what give you the mechanical advantage to be stronger".

As the legend goes, if you wanted to learn how to lift you would find your local, village strongman and ask him to teach you.  The strongman, knowledgeable in such matters understood that not everyone had the focus, determination, coordination or even physical well-being it takes to begin much less endure years of brutal training.  In order to separate the wishers from the workers, the strongman would decree:

"This is the Get-Up.  You must perform it on both the left and right sides equally.  When you can do it with 100lbs I will show you how to lift."

The Turkish Get-Up truly is one of the most accessible ways to assess both quantitative and qualitative parameters of physical fitness.  Not only will a TGU performed with light-to-moderately heavy weight keep you in the best shape of your life, but it also a mighty feat of strength when attempted with a maximal load.

The Turkish Get Up includes both an ASCENT and a DESCENT.

TGU: ASCENT

STEP 1: FLOOR PRESS

With KB on the floor, insert deep into the handle. Pull hand into chest and roll to back. Press bell from shoulder to a vertical lockout. Use both hands if necessary.

STEP 2: ROLL TO ELBOW

With one leg bent and one straight, drive through the foot of the bent leg to turn the hips over and provide inertia for the roll. Simultaneously pull your elbow underneath you by digging it into the floor. This is the only step when speed is your friend.

STEP 3: POST TO HAND

Keep your eyes on the bell and maintain upward pressure through the elevated arm. Keep bottom shoulder packed tight, press the base of your palm into the floor and pull your hand underneath your torso while maintaining active pressure into the floor.

STEP 4: HIGH BRIDGE

Keep eyes on the bell and maintain pressure through both arms. Drive through your foot to lift your hips into a fully extended hip position.

STEP 5: BRIDGE TO KNEE

You are about to support yourself and the bell on only two points of contact - so be ready! Most of your weight is in your bottom arm here so take it slow and DO NOT take your eyes off the bell! Pull your foot underneath your body, slightly turning your hips to clear the floor with your knee. Plant the knee directly underneath your torso. If you have trouble running your knee into the floor, it's usually due to not turning the hips.

STEP 6: HIP SHIFT

Keep your trunk stiff, eyes on bell, and simultaneously pull your hips under your shoulders as you lift your torso off from horizontal to vertical.

STEP 7: ADJUST YOUR FEET

The geometry of the TGU (and your body) is imperfect. Thus, some adjustments may be required in order to take a proper lunge step.

STEP 8: KNEELING TO STANDING

Don't get cocky! Keep your eyes on the bell, maintain active lockout, keep shoulder blade anchored, and PULL FORWARD into a bilateral stance. DO NOT push back into split squat stance and then step forward. The former utilizes your glute/ham strength and hip stability to ascend, the latter your quad strength and knee stability.

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TGU: DESCENT

STEP 1: REVERSE LUNGE

Keep your front heel down on the lunge! Feel the bell's weight in your hip. Guide yourself down slow. No shortcuts here.

STEP 2: HIP SHIFT / POST

Maintain active lockout, keep eyes on the bell, shift hips out to lower your torso towards the floor. Don't just fall over. Try not to reach behind your knee. Your foot-knee-hand placement should create at least a modest angle.

STEP 3: SHOOT

This is where many failed attempts end - take this step slow. Remember you are only on two points of contact as you shoot your leg through. Do not overreach as it will shift your center-of-mass too far resulting in destabilization. This step ends when the heel touches the floor.

STEP 4: PLANT YOUR BUTT

Get your butt on the floor as soon as you can following the previous step.

STEP 5: SLIDE TO YOUR SIDE

I have found this technique to be more reliable and predictable than simply reversing the ascending steps. Dropping to the elbow is not usually the issue, but rather getting to the back without dropping awkwardly or directly loading a flexed thoracic spine. Maintaining a stiff arm while sliding out allows a controlled descent at constant speed. People with poor shoulder ROM may have trouble with this step, but then again those people probably cannot TGU without a bent bell arm.

STEP 6: ROLL TO YOUR BACK

After your lat/side makes contact with the floor you can safely and smoothly roll to your back. Get to your back before unloacking your arm. Many rush this step. Achieve stability in the lying position, and then lower the bell with both arms. Congrats! Now repeat it on the other side!