How to Do a Perfect Turkish Get-Up

If you’ve ever seen someone lying down in the gym, then carefully standing up, repeated several times, you might have wondered what they were doing. This unusual but highly beneficial exercise is the Turkish get-up. It’s tricky to get right, but master it and you’ll benefit from an efficient, full-body, functional strength training move. 

What is a Turkish Get-Up? 

The Turkish get-up is a full body, functional, and somewhat complicated strength training move. The name, legend has it, comes from the fact that this exercise originated with the Turkish military’s training programs. 

Whether that’s true, what cannot be denied is that this is a powerful move. It involves holding a weight over your head while moving stepwise from lying on a mat to fully standing upright. This makes it sound simple, but the Turkish get-up is complex and requires mastery. 

Benefits of Doing Turkish Get-Ups

Doing a Turkish get-up correctly takes some time and practice, but it’s well worth it. Many experts say that if you can only do one exercise, this should be it. Here’s why. 

The Turkish Get-Up is Fully Functional

Functional exercises are increasingly popular in fitness. These are the exercises that mimic other movements. For some people, this might mean doing agility training to get better at the kinds of quick and twisting movements needed for a sport like soccer or basketball. 

For most people, functional exercises are beneficial because they mimic ordinary, everyday movements. For example, a squat is functional because you sit down and stand up several times a day. The more you incorporate functional exercise into your workouts, the more efficiently and safely you move throughout your day. 

The Turkish get-up is one of the most functional movements out there. It takes you through a series of several movements that support ordinary, daily activities. Unlike many exercises, it involves several planes of movement, which is how the body normally moves throughout the day. 

Functional exercises are especially good for senior clients with greater risks of injury. Try this posterior chain workout to help your older clients move better in their day-to-day lives. 

They Work the Entire Body

One reason a lot of fitness experts love this single movement is that a Turkish get-up works so many muscles. (1) You can do a lot with a single move for an efficient workout. You’ll definitely feel this throughout your legs and arms, but the primary work is done by the glutes, core, hips, and shoulders, the muscles that stabilize the body throughout the various movements. 

Building core strength goes well beyond exercise. Here’s a complete guide to building core muscles, including nutrition. 

Turkish Get-ups Improve Mobility and Balance

All the various movements involved in this one exercise require hinging of multiple joints and different planes of movement. Together, this all helps improve mobility in the hips, knees, and shoulders. It also requires a tremendous degree of balance. It might be difficult initially, but the more you do this exercise, the easier you’ll find it to balance. 

They Boost Shoulder Stability

The shoulder joint is notoriously unstable and prone to injuries. Not only does the Turkish get-up improve shoulder mobility, but it also supports stability. To do the move right requires balancing a weight over your head. This will be difficult at first, but eventually it makes the shoulder more stable and strengthens supporting muscles. 

How to Do a Turkish Get-Up

Form is tricky with this complex move, even if it is functional. If you get sloppy and don’t nail the form, you can get injured. Start with just body weight as you perfect the exercise, then add a small kettlebell and progress that weight as you get stronger. 

1. Lie on your back with the kettlebell in your right hand, arm extended so that it is perpendicular to the floor. Your right leg should be bent at the knee, foot flat on the floor. 

2. Extend your left arm and leg out to the side at an angle of about 45 degrees. 

3. Pushing weight into your right heel, press up with your left arm until only your forearm is pressed against the floor. Continue pressing up and raising your torso until your left arm is extended and palm flat against the floor. 

4. Keep the right arm extended, as if pointed directly at the ceiling throughout these movements. 

5. Lift your hips off the floor, squeezing the glutes, almost like you’re doing a glute bridge. At this point your right foot, left heel, and left palm are the only parts of the body on the floor supporting your weight. 

6. Bend the left leg at the knee and bring your left foot behind the right and place your left knee on the floor. Lift your left hand off the floor and move your torso into a fully upright position. This should place your body in a lunge position.

7. Press through the left foot as you bring if forward and come to a standing position. 

8. Reverse all of these movements to lower back down to the starting position. 

This is a lot of detail, and yes, it makes a difference. Use a mirror or video as you practice the movements to make sure you get them right. Even better, work with a buddy who has more experience doing this exercise. If you are a trainer, walk your clients through this move slowly and deliberately, correcting form as they go. 

Grabbing the Kettlebell

When you’re ready to add a kettlebell, know how to elevate it safely: 

• Lie on your right side on the floor facing the kettlebell, knees tucked in. This is essentially the fetal position. 

• Grasp the handle with your right hand and place your left hand over your right. 

• Roll onto your back bringing the kettlebell with you. 

• Push the kettlebell up as you extend your arm and lock the elbow. Your arm should be perpendicular to the floor. 

Lifting the kettlebell carefully like this limits stress to the shoulder and the risk of injury, especially as you begin to use heavier weights. 

Love a good kettlebell exercise? Try this 30-Minute Full-Body Kettlebell Workout.

Common Mistakes to Avoid for the Turkish Get-Up

With such a complicated movement, it’s easy to make mistakes. Learn from those who have made them before you: 

• Not engaging muscles. It’s easy to lose tension when you’re focusing on so many movements, especially the shoulder position. Try to keep all muscles, from the legs through the core and shoulders engaged and under tension throughout. 

• Bending the elbow. One of the most important things to remember in this exercise is that the arm holding the kettlebell remains locked at the elbow. Any floppiness here put more strain on the shoulder. 

• Bending at the Wrist. A floppy wrist puts a lot of stress on that joint. Throughout the move, make sure the entire arm is a straight line from shoulders to the knuckles gripping the bell. If you can’t do it without your wrist flopping backward, use a lighter weight. 

• Going fast. This is a slow, deliberate exercise. You’ll get more out of it if you slow down to perfect the form. 

Learn about this and other effective exercises through the ISSA’s Certified Personal Trainer – Self-Guided Study Program. Become a qualified fitness professional while studying at your own pace. 

References

Leatherwood, M. D., Whittaker, A., & Esco, M. R. (2014). Exercise Technique: The Turkish Get-up With a Kettlebell. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 36(6), 107–110. https://doi.org/10.1519/ssc.0000000000000096