We've a great question in for today's newsletter
Kevin writes in asking:
“What’s your opinion on Turkish Get Ups?
In that should they be strict and methodical or sped up and rushed?”
From the wording of that question, it seems Kevin has his own thought
on this topic, which is why he says “rushed”
I’m guessing he’s on the slower, more methodical side of the equation.
Now, before I talk about performance of the exercise, we first need to
start by asking what our intention with the exercise might be.
Every exercise we choose to do, and the manner in which we do the
exercise has to support our training goals. Even if that goal is simply
to sling some iron about and have fun. Not all training is about
becoming a world champion….
So why do we do Get Ups?
Could we be wanting to improve our shoulder health in some way?
Are we looking for core strength?
Is it a warm up drill or a primary movement?
Are we building movement proficiency and proprioception?
Is it being used to help prepare for another movement?
Or are we doing them simply because they’re fun?
If it’s for Shoulder health, we absolutely should be going methodical.
Same for movement proficiency and proprioception.
In these cases we treat the get up not as a single movement, but more
like a series of movements, almost a complex.
Each individual movement has it’s own value and this should be actively
sought out.
Doing “Bottoms Up” Get Ups will do wonders for you here, it will
absolutely slow you down and ensure you are aligning your body under
that bell, unless of course you simply crush grip a light weight so it
becomes irrelevant.
If we’re using the Get Up to prep for another movement, as I encourage
Kettlebell Sport athletes to do, then the methodical approach still applies.
Now we can focus on the part of the get up that carries over to the
other skill might be.
It maybe scapula control for an overhead athlete (Kettlebell sport), it
could be the hip actions for a BJJ athlete, or it maybe the rolling and
vestibular requirements for a cyclist or concussion rehab.
Now, if we’re doing them as a warm up or simply for the fun of doing
them, then play with the movement.
While I would never advocate rushing, I do like a fast get up when
appropriate.
How long should a single rep take?
That depends on the skill of the individual and the intensity of the lift.
I’ve maxed out my get up just to see what I could get, both in standard
get ups and in bottoms up, and it’s taken nearly 45 seconds just to
stand up, never mind how long it took to get back down.
But, I can also do a full rep, up and down, in a around 30 seconds if
I’m using a relatively light weight.
30 seconds is fast, but it’s still not rushing for a person with my
experience level.
Where Get Ups go wrong, is usually when people rush them.
Yes load can be a factor, as in any lift.
Rushing though is a rep killer, in almost any lift.
Watch clips online of serious lifters, Hook Grip is a great site ( on
all social media) showing olympic lifters. Now, Oly lifts are fast,
there’s no two ways about it. But when you see good lifters, you see how
they take their time.
They, in the words of my old Kenpo instructor, “make haste slowly”
Or to put it another way, “slow is smooth, smooth is fast”
Never, ever rush.
Especially if your goal is speed.
Now, if, like Kevin, you have a question you want answered, hit reply
and send it in.
And if you know someone who may benefit from the information in this
newsletter, feel free to pass it on. Sharing is caring!
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Regards
Dave Hedges
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