I was working with a client on the Turkish Get Up the other day and he was having some trouble with the sweep through of the leg on the way down. He was sliding his body too far through. It occurred to me that I see this pretty often when people are first learning the TGU.

Typically we cue people in the transition from the 1/2 windmill position to the tall sit position, to place their butt where their knee is. However that cue doesn’t always work for people and I’ll still see people sliding their body forwards. I think when we start to sweep the leg through, that we tend to forget where our knee was and we end up sliding too far forwards.

I came up with a new drill to correct this problem. You’ll need a shoe, yoga block or something light that will slide with you. Safety comes first so please make sure you practice this without a kettlebell! Once you feel comfortable with the new, proper position you found, you can then feel free to go back to your kettlebell.

Check out the video below to see how this is done, then have fun practicing!

Don’t know what the heck we’re talking about with this mysterious TGU exercise? Please seek out an instructor who is certified to teach kettelbells and ask them how you can learn the Turkish Get Up.