09/01/2026
WHY WE LOVE THE TURKISH GET-UP 💪
The Turkish Get-Up is one of those movements that looks simple… until you actually do it correctly.
You start flat on your back, finish standing with a weight overhead, and then reverse the entire movement back to the floor.
That means your body has to coordinate the shoulder, core, hips, legs, and trunk through multiple planes of motion—all while keeping a load stable overhead.
And there’s actually some science behind it.
Researchers using EMG have found significant shoulder-muscle involvement throughout the Turkish Get-Up, with particularly high muscular demand during portions of the movement where you transition from the floor and sweep the leg underneath the body. (PubMed)
So what are we training?
🔥 Shoulder stability
You aren’t simply pressing the weight—you’re controlling and stabilizing it while the rest of your body moves underneath it.
🔥 Core strength & anti-rotation
Your trunk has to resist unwanted twisting and collapsing as you move from lying → sitting → kneeling → standing.
🔥 Hip mobility & stability
Bridging, sweeping the leg and transitioning through half-kneeling require your hips to move AND stabilize.
🔥 Coordination & body awareness
The Get-Up is essentially seven movements linked together. Your brain has to continually organize your body around the load.
🔥 Strength you can actually use
Instead of isolating one muscle, you’re teaching the body to transfer force from the ground, through the trunk, and into the upper extremity.
The Turkish Get-Up has even been described in the rehabilitation literature as a way to progressively develop strength, endurance and motor control through full-body movement. (PubMed)
And here’s the important part:
You don’t have to go heavy.
A slow, controlled Get-Up with a moderate kettlebell can expose weaknesses VERY quickly.
If you can move a heavy weight from the floor to standing while keeping it controlled overhead the entire time…
you’ve got more than strength.
You’ve got control.
Make it sleek and sexy before you go up in weight.