Most athletes’ distaste for the Turkish get up results from a lack of understanding of the benefits, or of how to perform them well. My aforementioned article offers a comprehensive guide to the Turkish get up to bring the love I feel for them to the masses.

Here I offer an alternative to the conventional get up. Many athletes prefer the squat-style Turkish get up because they can more clearly understand how it translates into other areas of their training. I use this alternative as the proverbial “spoonful of sugar” for the Turkish get up averse.

You Already Have All the Pieces

The squat-style get up consists primarily of movements and patterns that you already know. The bottom half is identical to the conventional get up. The top half is simply an overhead squat. All of the same key points to these two movements apply.

Turkish Get Up Keys

Overhead Squat Keys

For a full review of these two movements, check out my previous articles on each of them.

• Make Turkish Get Ups Your Best Movement 
• Grade Your Mobility Wtih Kettlebell Overhead Squats

Are You Ready for the Squat-Style Get up?

Proper squat-style get ups hinge on the deep squat position. To test your readiness, descend into the bottom of a squat and reach a hand to the ground just outside your feet. Ideally, you can place a flat hand on the group 6-12 inches outside your foot. Be sure to test both sides.

Scaling for Limited Range of Motion 

If you cannot touch the ground (or cannot do so without collapsing your squat position), scale the movement by bringing the ground up to you. A box or bench offers the most height advantage. Many people will not need more than a few inches of assistance. A short stack of plates or a yoga block work perfectly.

Improving Your Squat Depth 

Check out the bonus video below of my favorite tools to improve squat depth. Many of these translate directly to the transition phase of the squat-style get up.

Put It All Together

Once you have mastered the conventional Turkish get up (or at least the bottom half) and the single-arm overhead squat, you are ready to link them together into the squat-style get up. The only new piece is the transition phase, from seated into the overhead squat position. Fortunately, this transition is less complicated than the conventional get up transition phase, albeit more challenging to your mobility.

1. Rise to a seated, overhead position just like a conventional get up. You may need to move your hand in closer to your hip.
2. Bridge your hips up and bring your front foot underneath you.
3. Place your foot just next to your hand into a squat position.
4. Transfer weight into your feet and lift your hand off the ground.
5. Establish balance in the bottom of your squat, then rise to complete the get up.

On the way down, again find balance in the bottom of your squat before placing your hand on the ground, in-line with your foot or slightly behind you. Lift your foot, kick it through, and return to seated. Descent to the ground just as you would in a conventional get up (elbow first, one shoulder, finally roll down to the other shoulder).

Transiting well hinges on one key point: hand placement. While transitioning up or down, proper hand placement on the ground will assure a smooth and strong transition. The most common fault in the squat-style get up is placing your hand too far behind you. On the way up, you will need to throw your weight forward to transition from your hand to your feet. On the way down, you will end up falling back onto your hand.

Turkish get ups, of any style, should preserve strong structure throughout the entire movement. This means that you must establish the next structural position before transferring weight into it. It is possible throw forward and fall back with lighter weight, but these habits greatly limit your progress. You cannot safely and effectively control heavy weights through unstable positions. Athletes develop the habit to reach back due to limited squat depth. Swallow your pride, use a yoga block or plate, and continue working to open up your squat depth.

A Two-Pronged Movement Challenge

The squat-style get up poses a mobility challenge on two fronts: overhead position and squat depth. Transitioning into and out of a deep squat is one of the best ways to improve your squat mechanics. Even with a block under your hand, the squat-style get up will open up your squat position. The overhead stability challenge of moving through such a long and extreme range of motion will open up and strengthen your overhead position.

The squat-style get up is not only a valuable tool to improve and measure your mobility, but will bring variety—and dare I say fun—to your training.

There are lots more ways to get off the ground:

Mix Up Your Get Ups for Resilient Legs

The post The Squat Style Get Up Primer appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

I think that every fitness enthusiast who has been training for decent amount of time has been in such a situation. What to do? You can deal with it and grind through, but most of the time the simplest and most effective solution is to introduce some variety (at least for limited amount of time). But what if you have almost nothing at hand? Or what if you think you’ve already tried it all?

Here are nine unusual exercises that require minimum equipment and deliver maximum results:

1. Handstand

In my opinion, the handstand is the simplest and most beneficial exercise you can add to your current regimen. It doesn’t matter whether you train for strength, some kind of sport, or to be healthier, the handstand will still be effective. It builds strength and stability in shoulders and arms that no other exercise can match, as well as improves overall blood circulation. I’ve seen a huge increase in pressing power of anybody I forced to make the handstand a part of his or her strength training routine.

If that is not enough, just imagine how it is awesome to stand on your hands. In addition, there is only one thing that is cooler than the handstand – the one-arm handstand. And don’t forget that you can add push ups in this position to supercharge it even further.

Practical application: Start with doing two sets of back-to-wall handstand and two sets of the face-to-wall version three times per week. Once you will be able to hold both of them for thirty+ seconds, move to the wall-spotted variation and add kick-up-to-handstand practice. You’ll be able to hold freestanding version really soon after that.

2. Claw Fingertip Push Up

This exercise will build tremendous strength in fingers and grip, despite the fact that all you need is your bodyweight. What’s the difference between this drill and regular fingertip push ups? Look at the pictures. The first one is regular, and the second is claw.

As you can see, the difference is in the last joint position of the fingers. This is exactly what makes it much harder. Some people say that this way fingertip push ups are healthier, which can be true. Watch this video for demonstration:

Practical application: You may find yourself falling flat on the floor after trying these for the first time. My advice would be to start slow. The first exercise I would try is claw fingertip holds from your knees. After being able to hold it for twenty+ seconds, you can try to add the push up in this position. Work up to the full version this way.

3. Double Kettlebell Snatch

This is probably the most technically demanding drill you can perform with two kettlebells. The double kettlebell snatch requires tremendous strength and explosiveness, as well as coordination and shoulder mobility. Of course, when performed with heavy weight (32kg kettlebells and heavier), it will also develop the lower back and forearms of steel, as well as a nice addition in the form of huge traps.

Practical application: First learn the double kettlebell high pull. Once you get proficient with that drills, all you need to do is to perform the high pull, squat under the kettlebells, and just catch them at the top. (Definitely easier said than done.)

4. Front Lever

The front lever works arms and back while torching your core. Many people think it is easy, but obviously, they are fooling themselves. You’ll need lots of time to master the skill with proper technique, especially if you are eighty+kg and tall.

Here are a few tips:

• Always perform this skill with your elbows locked. Otherwise, it is not a front lever.
• Use false grip while performing it.
• Don’t overdo it. If you want to train it more than two times per week, don’t go even close to failure.

There are several ways of progressing in this position. The most popular two are:

1. Add assistance in form of resistance bands and decrease it as you get stronger
2. Manipulate the leverage with different positions of the body.

The first one is clear. Put the resistance band on the bar and under your lower back. As you get stronger, use less assistance. Repeat it until you are able to hold the full front lever.

The second one is trickier. You should get stronger in the exercise chain, from the easiest to the hardest. Start with the tuck front lever (knees touching your chest), then train the advanced tuck version (the same, but lower back is straight), one-leg variation (the same as previous, but with one leg straight), straddle front lever (almost full version, but legs are spread wide) and finally the full front lever.

Another trick is to convert repetitions into time (as you’ll be holding it for time). My advice would be to start with the progression step that is suitable for you, and hold it for a total of 30-60 seconds (no matter how many sets it will take). You should be able to hold it at least 5-10 seconds at the first set.

If you can’t progress from one step to another, try adding ankle weights to the current position. This will make the transition smoother.

Practical application: Treat this exercise as any strength move. You can’t squat to failure every day with the same intensity, right? This applies to front lever training too.

5. Sandbag Shoulder Squat

You need to train your legs and this is one of the most interesting ways to do it. The fun part is in unevenness of the load, because you hold the sandbag only on one side. This gives a nice twist to the regular squatting and makes your core muscles work twice as hard. The sandbag shoulder squat can be a breath of fresh air when it comes to legwork.

Practical application: Don’t forget to change sides. It would be wise to perform even numbers of sets to work both sides equally. I wouldn’t suggest going too high in reps, 5-10 should be just right.

6. Bottom-Up Kettlebell Press

Here is another great unconventional exercise to boost your grip strength. Just pick the kettlebell up, then clean and press it with its bottom up. As simple as that. But believe me, once the weight gets serious, you will struggle to perform even one rep.

Practical application: I wouldn’t go higher than 10 reps in this exercise. However, it is all up to you. I do have a couple tips for you:

1. Chalk your hands. This will help you big time.
2. If you can’t press a certain weight right away, don’t get too upset. Work on the bottom-up clean first. It is less demanding than press. In addition, it will help you get stronger grip and get used to the weight.

7. Sandbag Zercher Carry

According to Dan John, you need to add some sort of loaded carry to your workouts or you will burn in hell (okay, the last part was from me). With all seriousness, if you don’t carry heavy stuff around, you are missing out. It is an essential way to train. It will develop everything in your body. To make you miserable and to get your biceps and traps begging for mercy, I advise you to carry a heavy sandbag in the Zercher position.

Practical application: I would start with one loaded carry per week right at the end of the workout. The goal would be to work up to two to three carries weekly.

8. Alternating Renegade Row

Rowing kettlebells in the push up position, what can be cooler? The exercise is simple and effective. It will work your pulling muscles as well as pushing ones. Additionally, if you perform it for high reps (at least eight in this case), you will feel it in your core. Once, when I was doing it this way with 32kg kettlebells, I thought that blood flew from my mouth. Luckily, it was just sweat. Anyway, I left with a cool story to tell.

Practical application: If you do it for low reps (no more than six), then put it in place of any pulling movement in your program. If you do renegade rows for higher reps, I would place it in the end of workout like some sort of challenge.

9. Turkish Get-Up

The first time I learned about this exercise, I thought it was amazing. Being able to stand up with a pressed-up kettlebell is a great feat of full-body strength (especially if this kettlebell is heavy). Has my opinion changed since that time? No. I still believe that any person can benefit from this movement. It is somewhat technically demanding, but this should not stop you from acquiring this skill.

Practical application: Again, it all depends on what regimen you prefer to use the Turkish get up in. If you like to work with heavy kettlebells, you shouldn’t train this after heavy pressing. If you like to work on reps, then feel free to add this exercise at the end of any session.

Of course, this article is not a comprehensive guide to any of exercises above. It is just a highlight of what can be done to spice your workouts up. If you have any questions or thoughts regarding the topic, let’s chat in the comments below.

Photos 1,2,3, and 6 courtesy of Alex Zinchenko.

Photo 4 courtesy of Strength Education.

Photo 5 courtesy of Dragon Door Australia.

The post 9 Unusual Exercises That Will Boost Your Strength appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

But there are some things people always seem to get stuck on when it comes to the get up – like how the get up can fit into training or which implement to use. Before I get into all that, I think we should first look at a list of reasons why you should include the get up, broken down into sections for ease of reference. For some people even the idea that there are distinct sections within the get up could be eye opening in itself. I see many try to turn the movement into a single move from lying to sitting with no thought for how the pieces of the movement should look.

And while we’re talking about form, I always have to scratch my head at people whose idea of the get up is basically to hold a weight overhead and stand up with no care for how they get there. Yet, we think a squat should have certain components or standards, and we do with all other exercises from resistance exercises to bodyweight moves, so why would the get up not have a particular form attributed to it?

I’ve borrowed these definitions from Brett Jones and Gray Cook and their awesome product Kettlebells From the Ground Up. If you’re an FMS fan, kettlebell fan, or just a manic student of training and don’t have this yet, then should go get it right now.

Get Up Part 1: Roll to Press

We all know that rolling is good for you, as it is a developmental pattern. Well, the get up has a roll in it even before you start the movement. Just the action of rolling to your side, pulling the bell to you, and rolling to your back will help fire up this pattern. This also addresses the rotary stability component of the FMS. Once you are in what people think of as the start position you are demonstrating open-chain shoulder stability.

Get Up Part 3: To Elbow

The drive off the ground begins with the planted foot. So, if you have the kettlebell in your right hand, your right leg will be bent with the foot planted on the ground. You link your body together as you drive the foot into the ground and then pull your left elbow into the ground creating that cross-body X-pattern needed for gait and running patterns. Doing this displays midline stability (like the hard-core option of the trunk stability push up from the FMS) as well as showing that you should have no trouble with the X-patterns needed for gait.

Get Up Part 3: Tall Sitting

As you extend the left hand and screw it into the ground to pack the shoulder, you are now in the tall sitting position. Being here demonstrates that you have good hip flexion with both legs – one side showing the active straight leg raise from the FMS and the other showing whether or not you have the hip mobility needed for squatting. The down hand displays closed-chain shoulder stability, while the right hand, which is holding the kettlebell overhead, is still showing open-chain shoulder stability. To make all this work you’ll also need to have decent thoracic extension.

All this and we’re not even off the ground yet.

Get Up Part 4: Side Kneeling

To get into the next position, you’re going to bridge as high as you need to in order to make enough space to get the straight leg through and place the knee near your left hand. Going through that transition is the same action as crawling and again demonstrates the rotary stability from the FMS, as well as thoracic rotation. Meanwhile, the shoulders are still performing open- and closed-chain stability, and your planted right foot is demonstrating closed-chain hip stability.

Get Up Part 5: Lunge Position

The lunge position is the midway point between being on the ground and being on two feet. It sounds obvious, but from a developmental point it is a highly beneficial position to train. It demonstrates both ability in split stance as well as proves the ability to both hip flex and extend at the same time. Loading the bell on one side also proves anti-rotational strength.

Get Up Part 6: Standing

The get up goes through two of the three possible foot positions (standing and split stance, missing single-leg stance), as well as going from a fetal to fully upright position. And there are a host of other important elements that get you there. This is precisely why Gray Cook says that if you can do a get up well, then he’ll bet you can do many other things well, too.

Which Tool Is Best for the Get Up

Many people get stuck thinking that get ups can only be performed with a kettlebell. Not so, as using other objects brings about unique challenges based on the center of that object’s mass. Barbells, dumbbells, and sandbags are all great ways to do get ups and should also be incorporated into your training.

The Importance of Straight-Arm Strength Movements

One of the things many miss in their training (in my opinion because they don’t really seek to integrate their training) is that the get up is a superb straight-arm strength move. Straight-arm movements like levers and planches can be hard skills to acquire and there are usually many early steps to be undertaken before achieving the full love. But the get up can be a great addition to straight-arm strength practice and fits well within a circuit. For example:

• Tuck front lever x 10 seconds
• Tuck planche x 10 seconds
• Support flag x 10 seconds each side
• Heavy get up each side

Repeat this for five rounds, resting as needed. For those looking for amazing core development and strength without adding much bulk, this routine works amazingly.

Don’t get tied into thinking get ups are a beginner exercise and need only be paired with swings. Treat them like the rest of your training – do them heavy for low reps (though, I advise not going above three reps per side without putting the bell down), do them with a variety of implements, and do them in conjunction with other exercises to round out your training. As you can see, the reasons for doing get ups are numerous and having them in your plan can help get rid of many superfluous movements from your training.

Photos courtesy of Miguel Tapia Images and CrossFit LA.

The post The Value of the Get Up: Broken Down Into 6 Pieces appeared first on Breaking Muscle.