As I continue with my series on my favorite fifteen workouts, I return to the Turkish Get-up (the first mention being #14). If you’re looking for an exercise that generates greater strength and greater mobility, it’s hard to get more bang for your buck than the Turkish Get-up.
The Workout
Set the timer for the desired number of minutes, then do as many Turkish Get-ups as you can with perfect form in the allotted time. Switch sides after each rep.
How I Do It
It all depends on what I’m doing, but here are a few scenarios:
- For a warmup: 5 minutes with a 53# KB
- For building endurance: 15-20 minutes with a 40# KB or 8-10 minutes with a 53# KB
- For building strength: 3-5 minutes with a 70# KB
Explanation
Alternate sides after each rep. (That’s 1 TGU left, then 1 TGU right, left, right, etc.) Rest as little as possible.
You’ve probably heard me sing the praises of the Turkish Get-up before, but to review, here are a few of the reasons I love them:
- They help your other movements. Keeping the shoulder under tension with the KB overhead throughout the rep helps your body to become familiar with that lockout position. In turn, this helps with military presses and even snatches, as you are in the same overhead lockout position with all of those drills (and the jerk, and the push press, too). The opening of the hips on the TGU helps with swings and snatches. The constant firing of the core helps everything else. You get the idea.
- They use just about every muscle in the body, as you go from flat on your back to fully standing up each rep. That also makes it a great warmup exercise. Nothing goes untouched or unworked.
- It lends itself to variety very easily. You can adapt the TGU to build strength or stamina or both without much difficultly. Note my examples above to see what I mean.
You can probably see why this has been a favorite among kettlebell enthusiasts for generations. Give it a shot and feel free to offer a comment if you have any questions!
Happy training!
Have you checked out these other posts?
Favorite Fifteen No. 4: 200 Swings for Time
The Dangers of the AMRAP
Favorite Fifteen: No. 8 – Double KB Superset
Leave a Reply