Combined with the Swing, the Turkish Get-Up forms the foundation of our basic kettlebell exercises.  In contrast with the Swing which is considered a ballistic move (it’s fast and explosive), the Turkish Get-Up is a considered a grind (slow and controlled).  One of the best descriptions of the movement I’ve heard comes from world-famous physical therapist and Certified Russian Kettlebell Challenge Instructor Grey Cook: “(The Turkish Get-Up) is as close to weighted yoga as you’re going to get with a kettlebell”.

Take your time to learn the Swing and the Get-Up before moving on to more advanced kettlebell drills.  I was guilty myself of trying to jump the gun and get too fancy when I first started my kb training; when I took the time to go back and focus on refining the basics is when I really started to see serious improvements.

So here’s a quick video of what the Turkish Get-Up looks like:

Let’s break it down:

1. Start the movement lying on your back with the kettlebell at about shoulder height.  Roll to your side, pull the kettlebell into the body, roll to your back, and punch it up towards the celing like you’re doing a chest press.  Both hands should remain on the ‘bell until you get it situated.

2. Keeping the arm extended, roll to the opposite elbow and straighten the off arm.  Refer to the video if you’re having trouble visualizing any of this.

3. Bring the leg underneath you, come up to a lunge position, and stand up.  Keep the shoulder ‘sucked down’ – nice and stable and attached to the body.

4. Reverse the motion and return to the ground.

That’s the Turkish Get-Up in a nutshell.  A good way to learn this movement is by simply doing the first 1/2 of the movement – here’s another video for you breaking that down into a little more detail:

Once you have the 1/2 Get-Up down cold, you can move on to the full version. Master the Get-Up and you’ll be well on your way to bigger and better things!

The Kettlebell Swing forms the foundation of kettlebell training.  It hits almost all of your major muscle groups, especially those of the all-so-critical posterior chain (a fancy term for the back of the body): the glutes, hamstrings, back extensors, and lats.  It can be used for a wide variety of applications, including fat loss, conditioning, building explosive strength, and much more.  First, watch this video to see how the movement is done:

Now we’ll break it down into steps:

1. Before you attempt the full kettlebell swing, do a kettlebell sumo deadlift.  Start with the kettlebell between the feet.  Initiate the movement by pulling the hips back.  This is different from a squat; you should feel a stretch in the back of the legs if you’re doing it right.

2. The swing is simply an extension of the deadlift.  Start with the weight about a foot or so in front of you; hike it back between the legs and use the legs and hips to snap it up.  Remember that the swing is a lower-body driven movement, not a squat and front raise.  When the ‘bell reaches the top of the swing, it should float for a second if you’re doing it right; snap the weight back down and repeat for reps.

Those are the basics of a kettlebell swing.  Refine this movement until you’ve got it down before moving on – you must perfect the swing before moving on to more advanced drills like the clean and press and the snatch.  Good luck!