Favourite Exercise of the Old-time Strongmen and mine too

Do you admire the Old-time Strongmen? Do you admire the amazing feats of Strength these Strongmen were able to accomplish? If you haven’t heard about or seen these, I have attached a video below, please watch it.

I grew up hearing some Strongmen’s stories from my Grandfather about a few Strongmen who used to showcase their talents in some villages in India in the pre-Independence era.

If you too are fascinated by the Strength feats of these old-time Strongmen whether they come from your own regions or those in the video above and if you too would like to start on the path to develop your own strength potential, then continue reading.

Legend has it that the Old-time Strongmen in Turkey when asked to take the applicant as their apprentice, would teach them one exercise only and then ask them not to return till they were able to perform this exercise with 100 pounds (or 45 kg) Kettlebell. That exercise, folks is, the “Turkish Get-up”. (Source: Dr. Mercola website; click here)

Such is the awesomeness of this exercise !! That’s not only it, wait, there’s more. Pavel Tsatsouline, Chairman & founder of StrongFirst Inc., is a big fan of Turkish Get-up and in his book, “Simple & Sinister”, Turkish Get-up, is one the exercises, the other being Swing. Gray Cook, Human Movement Specialist, is a huge fan of Turkish Get-up. Dr. Mercola, a very famous Naturopath, is a very big fan of this exercise and practice this exercise in his workouts.

Over the last few years, “Kettlebell Turkish Get-up” has become one of my favourite exercises. I hope that once you have gone through this article fully, you too would become a fan of this exercise or at least would be willing to have a go at this “Functional Movement”. So, why do I call this exercise “Functional”? Maybe, you should hear from a very famous Strength & Conditioning Coach, Mike Boyle in the video below. Mike talks about how his elderly client was getting up from the ground in a very inefficient way and how Mike guided him to use the Get-up technique to get-up from the ground efficiently. Please watch below.

In the video above, Mike Boyle talks about some the benefits of Turkish Get-up such as it’s a fundamental pattern to get-up off the ground (something which we loose as we grow up), it’s a great core exercise and a great Shoulder exercise. Also, his assistant Anna talks about the mechanics of how to perform Turkish Get-up bodyweight first and then loaded or with a weight.

Last year, I was successfully able to perform this exercise with the “Beast” or the 48 kg kettlebell on both sides, right and left. This was a big accomplishment for me. I could definitely feel that it’s a great exercise for improving the Shoulder mobility, strength of shoulder stabilisers (these come in handy if you do or intend to do Heavy Bench Press). With a heavy kettlebell, it is quite common that your straighten out leg tends to lift while getting up to the elbow. It happened with me too, so I had to really focus on making sure I push my foot down, roll from the pelvis and actively pull myself to my elbow keeping the lats engaged. Many of my students have faced this issue of leg lift, so I have guided them through my own experiences.

When the load is as heavy as 48 kg, I have realised that every minor aspect matters, for example, keeping my eyes on the bell, being in the moment, maintaining the loaded arm in such a way that my structure is very strong.

Getting up from the Lunge position is another big challenge when the load is 48 kg. For this, I had to really drive or push off using the balls of the back foot and squeeze my butt muscles or Glutes really tight to avoid the load coming to my lower back muscles.

The wrist endurance plays a huge role while performing Turkish Get-up with the 48 kg. StrongFirst Certified Kettlebell Master Instructor, Shaun Cairns, gave me some great tips to tackle this challenge. He recommended that I practice Kettlebell carries with the 48 kg kettlebell and work up building my wrist endurance.

This exercise is great for one’s midsection especially if you perform with heavier bells. This exercise works all the 3 internal systems of our body, namely the Visual system, Vestibular system and the Proprioceptive system.

More benefits are covered in this article on the StrongFirst website. Check it out here.

I believe that every individual whether young or old, athlete or an average Joe, should invest time and learn this fantastic exercise which works each and every muscle of the human body first without any weight, then with a shoe placed on the fist to really get-down the right mechanics before attempting with any load. It’s a slow exercise so don’t rush. Really master each stage of the Turkish Get-up to lay down a strong foundation.

This exercise can be a great warm-up exercise, assessment exercise and a great workout exercise. Use it in different ways. Practice it either barefoot or with the Vibram Five Fingers shoes to get the right feedback from the ground. Make sure, you practice on the right surface. The surface shouldn’t be slippery. Some clients in the gyms, I have noticed end up slipping on their own sweat while doing this exercise. Use your common-sense. Stay safe yourself and keep others safe also.

So, there you have it, “the secret exercise of the old-time Strongmen, to get really very strong, which was their favourite and is my favourite too.” Hope you liked this article, do comment below in the comments section and if you are keen to learn this exercise, get in touch with me today. Email me at [email protected].