The Best Crash-Proof Exercises: The Get-Up

Do you want to build bulletproof shoulders, have fun doing an exercise, and look like a badass the entire time while doing so?

Then, the Turkish Get-Up (or, just Get-Up) is the perfect exercise for you!

And, as a wonderful bonus, the Get-Up is also one of the best go-to Crash-Proof exercises we use. It’s great for shoulder strength, stability, and mobility, but also ensures that everything else is strong, stable and mobile. The Get-Up is a total body movement! So, you’ve got to use that entire body to do it. 

Here’s how to do the Turkish Get-Up:

Now that you can see how it’s done properly, here are the reasons why we love it:

1) Coordination

As you can see, there’s quite a bit of steps to doing the full Get-Up. For many, especially those that have never ventured out of the sagittal plane (moving just up and down) or are new to exercise, this takes a considerable amount of time to learn to do well. But, once one has mastered the Get-Up, even if it’s without weight, that person will have gained an impressive improvement in overall coordination.

Which, as you may or may not find obvious, is very important for becoming Crash-Proof. Uncoordinated people are generally the ones that get hurt the most frequent and the most easily.

2) Strength, Everywhere!

It’s one thing to be strong. It’s a whole other matter to be strong within all planes and ranges of motion.

The Get-Up is one of the few exercises that forces you to adapt constantly within the movement because there are so many steps with the kettlebell fighting you the entire time. Being Crash-Proof means being strong, but not just superficially. You want to be the kind of strong that not only survives, but thrives, outside of typical ranges of motion.

3) Familiarization with the Ground

How often do you actually get on the floor and get back up? Probably not very much!

And, if you’re older, that’s a really big problem. Because, generally, when you avoid doing something, it means you’re probably not very good at that something and could stand to do it more often.

Which, in this case, is very important relating to becoming Crash-Proof. In training, you want to become very comfortable getting on floor and getting back up. You want to become an individual that is the envy of those individuals from the Life-Alert commercials crying, “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”

Get good at the Get-Up. Do so, and the ground (and, falling as well!) will cease to be as scary as it may seem.

4) Bulletproof Shoulders

There are two things that destroy otherwise healthy shoulders: too much use and too little use.

Exercise junkies tend to get torn rotator cuffs, impingement issues, and tendinitis from doing too many bench press and overhead press repetitions without balancing out their shoulder joints.

Couch potatoes tend to get torn rotator cuffs, impingement issues, and tendinitis because they fail to use their shoulders at all. So, their shoulder joints tend to deteriorate from disuse, or fall apart at the first sign of struggle during an activity from overall weakness.

The Get-Up is perfect for both of these populations as it helps strengthen the shoulder joint outside of very high-stress areas, while still applying the right amount of stress to maintain healthy rotator cuff muscles and supporting tissues.

But, if you’ve got already healthy shoulders, the Get-Up will make them even more resilient

5) Confidence

One of the most interesting things we’ve found working with lots of different people is that movement, especially new and unfamiliar movements, can be kind of intimidating. The Get-Up is no different.

But, as with all of the coaching we provide, everything is progressive and appropriate, which is perfect for learning a movement like the Get-Up.

With that in mind, we find that once someone has learned the Get-Up and can do it with what that individuals feels is a “heavy” weight, he or she gains a new level of confidence and comfortability with his or her own body. It’s really cool to see the look on someone’s face go from, “Crap, this is hard,” to, “I got this!” That confidence is pivotal in not just developing a Crash-Proof body, but a Crash-Proof mentality as well.

How to Program It

The Get-Up is one of those movements that accomplishes a bit of everything. It can be used for mobility, strength, muscle gain, conditioning, or in support of other movements like the Press.

Here’s what we recommend:

For Mobility: Do the movement slowly as part of your warm-up; spend 10 seconds in each main position with a lighter weight, making sure to transition from position to position slowly as well.

For Strength: Do 5 sets of 1 on each arm. If pushing yourself, make sure to give yourself at least a minute or so between reps and have a spotter for safety.

For Muscle Gain: Do a Get-Up before/during/or after each set of Presses for extra Time Under Tension.

For Conditioning: Start at the top of the movement, and do as many Get-Ups as you can, switching sides as needed without setting the bell down. Add some swings, cleans, squats, and presses for even more fun!

For Press Support: Do 3-5 sets of 1 Get-Ups on each arm with a bell heavier than what you have been pressing on your non-training days.

Want to learn how to do the Get-Up properly and make it part of your Crash-Proof training?

Sign up for a FREE Intro Session with us at Empowered Strength and get on your way to becoming the most resilient you’ve ever been!

Book it here:

 

 

Are you interested in learning how to Become Crash-Proof in-person at Empowered Strength by our very own coaches?

You can easily enroll yourself into our up and coming Becoming Crash-Proof Clinics right through this link here:

http://bit.ly/CrashStrength

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