The Turkish Get Up is a weight training exercise that involves standing up from a laying position with one weight overhead in one hand, and then reversing the motion back to the lying position. The exercise is a great stunt for party tricks, and also can serve as a good addition to your resistance training warm ups or cool downs. Still, the exercise has its limitations and might not suit everyone. In this post, we will discuss how to properly perform the Turkish Get Up, muscles involved, and benefits and drawbacks of this popular training exercise.
How to Perform a Turkish Get Up
Here are the steps to perform a Turkish Get Up.
1. Start in a tucked roll position with a dumbbell or Kettlebell in your top hand.
2. Roll to a flat back position with both hands on the kettlebell or dumbbell.
3. Use both hands to press the weight over your one shoulder.
4. Remove supporting hand from the weight.
5. Bend your knee (same side as the one holding the weight) to roughly 100 degrees.
6. Position your other leg and arm straight on the floor and at roughly 15-30 degrees out to the side.
7. Perform a partial sit up while holding your weight overhead. Roll to your elbow on the non weight bearing arm.
8. Move from your elbow to “post” to your hand.
9. Sweep your straight leg through to place that leg in a lunge position.
10. Hinge your hips. Rotate to a half kneeling position.
11. Perform a lunge to stand up.
12. Reverse the steps. Perform a reverse lunge. Then rotate your lunging leg, post your hand, sweep your lunge leg back through with your hand on the ground. Post back to your elbow, Push your body back to the lying position. Curl into a ball and use both hands to rotate the kettlebell or weight to the other side. Repeat on the other side.
How Difficult is a Turkish Get Up?
Technically, the Turkish Get Up is a difficult exercise that requires a lot of training and practice to get correctly. Once you learn it, it will become second nature and you will be able to perform it seamlessly.
From a training perspective, however, this exercise is not that demanding on many of your major muscle groups besides your shoulders and upper back. Unlike basic exercises like the squat, bench press and deadlift, it will be difficult to achieve progressive tension overload with this exercise or gain significant muscle or strength with this exercise alone.
Muscles Worked in the Turkish Get Up
The Turkish get up is a full body exercise that involves nearly every muscle group in your body. You will work your shoulders, core, upper back, quads and glutes.
Turkish Get Up Benefits
The Turkish Get up provides a few key benefits. First of all, it is a great exercise to build shoulder stability, especially in the overhead position. This movement can also help you warm up for your workouts. Additionally, this exercise can help you improve mobility in your shoulders, upper back, hips, knees and ankles. It’s a great full body movement to prepare you for the mobility demands of your workout. This exercise also builds balance and coordination.
Turkish Get Up Drawbacks
While the Turkish Get Up builds your balance and coordination, it has a few main drawbacks. First of all, this exercise requires a lot of coaching and practice in order to perform it safely. Second of all, you will be limited in your loads to what you can balance safely in the overhead position. You don’t want to strain or lose stability in the overhead position while performing a Turkish Get Up.
The Turkish Get Up also is not a great exercise for muscle hypertrophy or as a main strength movement. If your goal is to build stronger shoulders, you should prioritize exercises like the barbell overhead press. You will be able to overload your shoulders much more easily with the overhead press or push press than with the Turkish Get Up. The Turkish get up is also a poor training choice for the other major muscle groups. If your goal is to train your legs, back, or glutes, you should focus on major movement patterns like the squat, lunge, and hip hinge exercises like deadlifts and Romanian deadlifts.
Final Thoughts
The Turkish Get Up is a fun full body resistance training exercise. While it has some utility in building coordination, flexibility and balance, it’s not a great exercise for strength or muscle building. If you choose to include this exercise in your workout program, make sure to get proper instruction and progress gradually.
