Should or should you not do the Turkish Get-Ups? The answer is YES if you want a strong and balanced body that will serve you well for a long time.
However, it is not unusual for people to hate the Turkish Get-Ups (TGU) because of the struggles to make sense of it. How would they even get any sort of benefits out of TGU if they do not understand the TGU? It is certainly true it will be hard to get any health and strength-building benefits out of the TGU if you struggle with it.
But it is precisely the struggle that you have with the TGU that you should do the TGU. Here is my case…
Do you want a body that is free of stiffness (pain and aches) and yet at the same time STRONG & useful?
To be free of stiffness, the body needs to be in balance meaning there is minimal muscles imbalances. The muscles in the body should operate as a team to move the body in a fluid fashion rather than get in the way of the muscles doing their intended jobs.
And I am very sure that the job of your muscles is to carry you anywhere you want and do whatever you want physically freely. Your muscles in your body need to know how to work in symphony instead of working against among themselves. And the TGU will precisely get your body to do that.
For sure, you have tried the Turkish Get Up (TGU) before and it seems to beat you up. It felt horrible on the shoulders, you could not move yours hips off the floor to get clearance for the leg to swing through or you simply could not stand up from half-kneeling. And many other things you can think of.
Have you ever wonder why it is so hard to perform all these difficult moves?
And then someone else just did the TGU beautifully with no glitches and just flow through the TGU.
How about look at the Turkish Get-Ups (TGU) as a screen?
FMS Co-founder Gray Cook who is a world-class movement expert talked about using TGU as a self-screening exercise/tool that assess at how you MOVE probably in The Kettlebell From The Ground Up DVD.
TGU “talks” to you by making you wobble a lot or feel uncomfortable at certain position of the TGU. In fact, it may not allow you to move into certain position if you move poorly. It exposes you at position where you may lack strength, mobility, stability and coordination. If you are having troubles moving past certain point of the TGU, you may actually have “problems” there that you need to work on before you become successful in the TGU. Why not skip past the “problems”? You simply cannot do that because you have to work through the “problems” and resolve it in order for you to perform a full TGU movement. And the “problems” you have in the TGU could well be a movement issues you need to fix in order for you to move well and achieve a balanced body.
And you cannot just simply perform the TGU with brute strength alone. You have to work with it or it may break you. Yes the TGU demands a well-moving body. In fact, a balanced body free of un-coordinated movement. A balanced body that will have the muscles working as a coordinated unit. If you cannot move well enough, TGU will honestly “talk” to you and tell you where you need to work on. And it will tell you if you have major asymmetries between your right and left side of your body. Yes in short a person who cannot move well enough will have trouble doing the TGU. It will have you take an honest look at how you move.
The truth is how is the body going to serve you well if it is not balanced
And doing the TGU will not only show you what you NEED to work on specifically it also will allow you to start building not only a balanced body but a strong one if you let it “talk” to you.
When you start working on specific movements that you possibility lack stability, mobility, balance and coordination you will start to manoeuver safely and more efficiently under the weight. That is when you will start getting stronger because the muscles are working better as a team in a coordinated fashion. No one is overworked because everyone is doing their intended job. And everyone is happy and no one is in pain due to overload because no one is overworked.
When you start moving more fluidly with the TGU you will start to notice that you can handle a heavier weights with less effort. That is when you truly become stronger and becoming more balanced because you train the body to move well with the Turkish Get-Ups.
In short, TGU will help you improve your movement quality by taking a hard and honest look of how you move and tell you where to work on. If you want to learn more about how to perform the TGU, here is FREE Step-by-Step Turkish Get Up Guide for you.
If you want to get hands-on instruction how to safely and effectively perform the Turkish Get-Ups, do check out our 2-hours comprehensive Turkish Get-Ups workshop happening this Saturday on 10th Sat at 10am. To learn more, CLICK HERE.
