Boris Bojanovic

The Turkish Get-Up is the true test whole body strength. It is the most involved kettlebell grind exercise. It has nine steps, each of which is gone through twice as you fold & unfold to complete a full rep. On top of the many steps, each step depends on the previous one to be done well to set it up. With all that complexity it’s easy to see how a small misstep can leave you stuck or even result in injury.

Apart from forgetting the safety roll & not fanning out enough for a stable base of support when setting up the biggest mistakes in the Get-Up happen on the way down. Here on the left we have the full sequence of the Get-Up from the top down. While on the right are the common issues. The down sequence should look the same as the way up but the threat of gravity pulling that bell on top of you  makes one rush the steps.

The Bridge

The first issue comes up with placing the hand on the ground. Ideally you want the hand to go directly to the side of the body to widen you base of support & create the high bridge which makes room for the sweep. What commonly happens is that the hand drops backwards & hips drop onto the foot. The dropping backwards onto the shoulder is jarring on the shoulder while sitting on the heel makes the bridge & sweep harder to pull off.

The Sweep

When it comes to the sweep into the high bridge the common mistake is to sweep the leg in the direction of the planted leg. This results in all three contacts with the ground being in a line & the weight can easily tip you to one side or the other. For this reason the sweep should be away from the planted leg. Sweeping out like this sets up a wide triangular base of support making the position a lot more solid.

The Elbow

Getting the elbow to the ground should be a roll to the side rather than a drop backwards. Dropping backwards makes the line through the arms & shoulders a jagged one. This exposes the front of the “down” shoulder rather than keeping it packed in line with the torso & therefore safe. Just like on the way up we roll on to the elbow rather than sitting up, on the way down we should be rolling backwards rather than dropping.

There you have the three most common mistakes with the Get-Up & how to correct them. Let us know your experience with the Get-Up on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/kettlebellinstitute