I've been feeling lately like this blog's title and catch phrase aren't quite as aligned with what I post about as I'd like. For the most part, the blog has been a personal exploration for me as a new fitness professional, trying to figure out my niche and carve a place out of this cyber universe that is uniquely mine. It's been a great place to vent, get out my frustrations with the current state of industry, explore my anxieties/fears/dreams/wishes/hopes, etc., and subsequently, grow. And the thing about growing is that it shifts your perspective on things. I want the blog to more keenly reflect my belief that fitness should be a happy, enthusiastic endeavor. It should be something that you look forward to, that enhances your life in ways that extend past the gym door.
One of the best ways that I can think of to convey my enthusiasm about health and hopefully help you to catch the same bug is to share more tangible aspects of health and fitness with you. That is: workouts, exercise tutorials, form cues, recipes, fitness-related products that I like and use regularly, etc. Since care of the whole person involves much more than physical health, I'll still post my personal musings here and there. I'm just eager to make this blog a more valuable resource to you as an individual pursuing a higher expression of yourself through health. I hope you enjoy what I come up with!
I want to focus today's post on one of my favorite exercises of all time: The Turkish Get Up. Don't ask me what's Turkish about it, but it's one of the best total-body exercises that you can do. The Turkish Get Up, or TGU for short, is an exercise that builds total body strength, incorporating the entire core from shoulder girdle to quadriceps. It helps develop shoulder stability, activates the deep core stabilizers, and strengthens the posterior chain. I advocate that the TGU should be part of the strength training program of beginners and advanced lifters alike. I incorporate this exercise into my clients' programs because it can be modified and progressed infinitely. This exercise carries over into other functional movements such as windmills, overhead presses, bent presses, and single leg exercises.
To prove to you that 1) I do incorporate TGUs into my programming for my clients; and 2) my clients are total bad-a$$es, I recruited my client Malinda to demonstrate the exercise for you here. You can use either a kettlebell or a dumbbell (as seen here) to perform this exercise. Some advanced lifters can even do it with a barbell!
Start lying on your left side in a fetal position, the implement resting in your left hand (not pictured here). Roll onto your back, squeeze the shoulder blades together down your back, bend the left leg and straighten the right on the floor. Right arm is extended to the side.
Extend the left arm up, "corkscrewing" the shoulder down into the socket so it's stable; maintain this stability in the shoulder for the entire exercise. Eyes on the left hand, use your core muscles to bring your torso up so you're in a semi-upright position, right forearm on the ground.
From here, engage your core and use the strength to hoist yourself up onto the right palm, left arm remains strong, stable and extended up. Keep your eyes glued to the weight in your left hand.
Keeping your gaze facing up, brace your core and push through the left heel to bring your hips up; right leg stays straight.
When you can't get your hips any higher in that position, pull your right leg back underneath you so the right knee is on the floor.
Swivel the right knee back so it's directly under your hip, and bring your right arm out to the side for balance.
Using your core muscles and lower body, push through the heel of the front left leg to come to stand. And voila! You've completed 1/2 of the exercise! Now you have to come back down...
You come back down the way you went up...squat down from standing until your right knee finds the floor.
Bring the right arm behind you, palm facedown, like a little kickstand. Brace the core and lift the hips up...
Swing the right leg back through and onto the ground, strong and straight; left knee is bent
Bring the right arm down onto the forearm, and slowly, with control, glide the shoulder blades back down onto the ground, starting the right shoulder. Bring the weight down with control and roll back into the fetal position.
You can repeat for reps on the left, or alternate sides for 3-5 reps per side. Be sure to add the Turkish Get Up to your strength training program, and I promise that you will not be disappointed by the improvements in shoulder stability, core and lower body strength. Complete 3-5 rounds per side as part of your warm up, 3-4x a week!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
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