The Turkish Get-up is one of a great number of effective movements that have been filed away by too many under Inconvenient. The movement is difficult, uncomfortable, and its failed completion in public makes one look (to the untrained eye, of course) only slightly sillier than its successful completion.

The functionality of the movement is questionable in the purest of senses—that is, rarely if ever do events in our lives require our moving from supine to standing with a heavy object overhead—but the ultimate functionality of the Turkish Get-up lies within the transferability of its sub-movements and positions as well as the stability, coordination and balance it demands.

Surprisingly enough, the TGU is leaking from its longtime exclusive residence within circles of kettlebellers, strongmen and inmates into the most unexpected of places such as Self magazine (wherein the movement is performed with a neoprene-covered 2-pound dumbbell).

There are a number of variations of the movement itself, as well as with what implement it is performed—this is an area begging for experimentation because the possibilities are limitless (before you get too excited, Jeff Martone already executed the TGU with a live child).


The Basic Get-up

Regardless of the particular movement variation being performed, the TGU begins and ends in the same positions—the differences are primarily in how one transitions onto the feet.


one

Lie supine (on your back). By whatever means you prefer, position your chosen implement at the end of a vertically extended arm. Typically you can simply press it into position with or without the assistance of your other hand, but in the case of odd-objects, you may need someone to hand it to you, but first establish the punitive consequences of your assistant's dropping it on your face to avoid arguments.


two

First draw up the leg on the implement side and place that foot flat on the floor. Roll onto the opposite hip, posting your free hand on that side to assist you. From here, raise your torso into a near-upright position, again using your posted arm to assist you if necessary, keeping the weighted arm fully extended overhead with an active shoulder.


three

At this point is where the variations of the TGU come into play. The most common variation seems to be the basic lunge. For this, bring the foot of your extended leg into groin, lift the hips, and push up onto the leg underneath you to assume a kneeling position. Your weighted arm, of course, continues to be fully extended with an active shoulder.


four

From the kneeling position, stand up with your weighted arm still fully extended overhead with an active shoulder.


five

Reverse the action to return to the starting point. Some prefer to transfer the implement to the other hand at the top position after each repetition, while some prefer to perform multiple repetitions on a single side before switching.


Movement Variations

As I mentioned previously, most of the variations associated with the TGU involve the transition to the feet. Here are a few to play with.


Squat

The squat variation of the TGU is my preferred transition—it's smoother, demands greater flexibility, offers greater transferability and doesn't grind off your kneecaps. At point three, simply draw your extended leg up and place the foot flat on the floor, assuming the bottom position of an overhead squat. From here, stand up.


Second Lunge

This is simply another method of entering the lunge position described above. Instead of lifting the hips and passing your extended leg underneath them, simply draw the foot of the extended leg into the groin, shift the foot of the bent leg forward, and push your hips up and forward to enter the lunge position. Stand as usual.


Free-Hand-Free

The quickest way to increase the difficulty of the TGU is to not allow yourself to assist with your free hand. You may need to use speed to get yourself sitting upright. You can also lead somewhat with the weight to help pull you forward.


Two-Handed

Even worse than the Free-Hand-Free variation is the Two-Handed variation. Perform the TGU with an implement in both hands. You can vary it even more by holding implements of different weights and/or shapes in each hand.


Decline

To ensure utmost heinousness, try performing any TGU variation on a declining slope.


The Slim TGU

In this variation, placement of the feet, hips and hands must remain in a straight line. From the standard starting position, draw both legs up, placing the feet flat on the surface with the heel of the weighted side foot in front of the toe of the other. Sit-up and post your free arm directly behind yourself, in line with the feet. Drive up and forward into a standing position.

Start with an imagined or chalk line on a forgivingly wide surface. Eventually attempt this variation a narrow elevated beam. Preferably suspended high over something dangerous.


Implement Variations

The most common implements used for TGUs are kettlebells and dumbbells. While kettlebells are somewhat less abundant than dumbbells, they taste great with tahini and ginger and are even functional replacements for nuclear fuel rods. Your TGU experience can be very fulfilling with only these implements, but experiment with others. Barbells, bumper plates, medicine balls, bottoms-up kettlebells, bicycles… anything that isn't attached to the ground and doesn't offer potential for transdermal infection is fair game.