As a strength coach, one of my daily strength program staples is the Turkish get-up. All of my clients do get-ups in their training, every damn day. In response to training increased TGU volume for about a month, one of my distance coaching clients James Weedall, Owner of Ethos Fitness in Boston, perfectly summed up the purpose and results of training this increased volume of get-ups daily when he said to me,

“My hands, weirdly feel “bigger”, as if they have grown. I think I put this down to the get-up volume. My wrists basically feel like concrete now. As I am sure the plan intended.”

Not only does the TGU build upper body strength and stability, and overall dynamic stability, since the movement requires you to stabilize a weight overhead while moving through multiple planes of motion and fundamental movement patterns (e.g. roll, hinge, drop step lunge), but the TGU also builds tremendous grip and overall hand and forearm strength.

Due to the asymmetrical shape of the kettlebell, since the mass of the weight rests on the forearm, daily TGU training builds incredible tissue tolerance and strength in one’s hands, wrists, and forearms as one’s body adapts to managing both the mass of the kettlebell handle in the palm of the hand, as well as to building the strength and tissue tolerance to handle the mass of the kettlebell weight on the forearm for the time under tension it requires to complete 1 TGU (~30 secs) or even multiple consecutive get-ups.

This explains why petite women can build the strength to stabilize massive kettlebells the size of small humans over their heads while moving through the TGU with the grace of a dancer combined with the strength of a “strongwoman”.

28kg (62lbs) get-up at 115lbs bodyweight shown here, 30kg (66lbs) is my 1 rep max

Training the TGU daily will carry over to every other movement in your training from ballistics like 1 arm swings and snatches to grinds like presses. With this carry over, even though your hands and forearms will not have really grown, they will become stronger and tougher, and the kettlebell will feel like a pea in the palm of a Jolly Green Giant hand.

Get-ups every damn day.

Learn more about all the juicy benefits of the Turkish get-up at my StrongFirst Kettlebell Course in at Barbell Republic in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 29, 2017.

The deadline to register for this course is October 25, 2017.

I look forward to learning and lifting with you!