The Turkish Getup, or simply the Getup is one powerful tool because of its simplicity, its loadability, and its impact on overall health and mobility.
As we age we lose the ability to move, especially if we neglect it. Moving down to the floor and getting back up may sound simple but for many people it is either difficult or downright impossible.
At some point in my training, I strive to have all of my clients capable of getting up from lying on the floor on their back.
Other than being able to save yourself if you fall, it has a lot of potential as a workout itself; spend 5 minutes of nothing but getting up and down. Add a weight vest. Do full turkish getups with a kettlebell or dumbbell. Add sprints, or push ups, or box jumps, or pullups in between rounds of getups. It is a total body experience especially if done with added resistance; the core activation, the shoulder stabilization, the unilateral leg work.
Now that I write this, I don’t do enough of them myself.
Let’s say your life is hectic, you can’t make it to the gym. You get home, walk up and down the stairs for 5 minutes. Then perform 5 minutes of getups. You’re done in 10 minutes and you’ll probably feel better.
Here’s a YouTube search: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=getups&sm=3
You don’t necessarily need any added resistance. Just get down and get back up.
Lie on your back with one knee up.
Roll up on to the opposite elbow.
Press up onto the hand.
Thrust up the hips and bring the lying leg back underneath you into a kneeling position, hand still on the ground.
Lean up.
Stand up.
Reverse it.
-Larry
Larry Henrikson 