I received an email from Scott Iardella, The Scientist of Strength, about a 21 day Turkish Get Up program that started up on May 1. I decided to sign up for it and am six days through it. The program is supposed to be a supplement to what your current workout is, and done at the end of your workout. The volume is surprisingly low, but there is a caveat. Each get up must take about a minute to perform. Which for me, is long. I'm usually on a slow day, 30 seconds and efficient. I see where he is coming from. Focus on perfect movement and time under tension. It should be hard, but not a struggle. Each sequence should improve as you graduate through the program. I'm using a 70 to start, it's fatiguing yet achievable. The Easy Strength Street of the TGU. Getting better through practice.
But here is where I question it. If one is efficient with all the steps of the movement, and you want to focus on time under tension, wouldn't you achieve the same effect by doing multiple repetitions on one side, before switching hands? That way you would get more movement in, while achieving time under tension. Or, another way, do the get down first, then a get up. What makes this hard is the bell never comes down to the floor when you alternate hands. You're switching at the top of the movement and have to press or snatch it to the other side.
I am following the program as it is written out, but this is what is going through my head as I'm performing it. I like the Turkish Get Up, it's a great exercise that helps build shoulders and fluidity of movement. Making sure all your parts are moving in working order. Is it the Holy Grail of kettlebell exercises? No, but I think it helps prepare your body to everything you can do with a kettlebell. It's sequential parts are similar to a kettlebell chain, which I believe is diabolical in an underrated way. The program is challenging. On day 5, it's 4 get ups on each side which takes about 9 -10 minutes. I was glad it was over. Maybe I'll move up to the 88 next week, now that will be a challenge on the way back down. I'll probably stick with the 70.
The beauty of get ups is you can do them every day in low volume. The book Simple and Sinister has shown that. In my opinion, that program is great as a finisher or if you're really pressed for time. Or if you just want a program where there is zero thinking involved and you're deloading from another program. But by no means is it the magic formula. A good beginners program as well. I've done the 100 swing test with an 88 and lived to tell about it. Those days are over. Last time I did high volume one hand swings with a 70, 7 sets of 15, 15 L,R rest 30 seconds, my sacrum acted up an I had to take a few days off. I'd rather snatch.
I purchased Geoff Neupert's More Kettlebell Muscle 3 years ago. It has 20 different 6-9 week programs using double kettlebells. You can do the programs as a complex or as a chain. I have completed 19 of the 20 programs using at least two 45 lb. kettlebells. The only one I cannot complete is The A & P. The heavy days are too much and I'm not buying another 35 lb. bell just to do it. Heart rate and breathing are never an issue for me. I panic when the grip starts to go or the posterior of my shoulders start fatiguing. Don't believe me? Try it, take double kettlebells, a pair you're confident with. 30 seconds of cleans, 30 seconds of high pulls, 30 seconds of double snatches, 30 seconds of swings. That's about 12-14 cleans, and 17 high pulls. So you're at 30 reps before you start the double snatch, and because the grip is tighter with a high pull, the grip is starting to go. Finish with double swings. I bet you can't get it above your hips. The first round, maybe the second round can be completed. Put a stamp on the third. Or the other heavy day. Front Squat x 30, Press x 30, Front Squat x 30, Push Press x 30. That's about 10 squats, and holding the bells in the rack is pre-fatiguing the press. Then, another 10 squats. The push press will require a lot more leg drive. Leave the puke bucket next to you. I made it to the third week. I was stressed out between sets with anxiety about how terrible the workout was.
When you do complexes for time, it can be extremely challenging to keep good form and pace in the rep scheme. When you're doing a complex for reps, instead of time, I feel the chain is harder. With a complex, you can get into a rhythm and the fatigue is isolated. 6 cleans, 6 press, 6 squats, 6 double snatches. A chain is done sequentially. 1 clean, 1 press, 1 squat, 1 double snatch, repeat 6 times. It seems SO easy, until you the 3rd or 4th sequence and fatigue is spreading through the body. I finished the Wolf which is one of the squat programs. I used 55's on easy and medium day and 45's on heavy day because I wasn't going to take my head off doing double snatches in a chain. Medium day is clean, squat, press, clean, squat x 5. It's a 25 rep chain with 10 squats. I've never been so happy to release the bells out of a rack with a clean. The 4th or 5th press set off the lunk alarm down the street at Planet Fitness.
Like a Turkish Get Up, the sequence of a chain stresses the body. When doing ballistics, such as a swings or snatches, you're heart rate, rises. Do a few get ups, when finished, even though moving slower than a ballistic, how high your heart rate is as well as how tired you feel. That is the beauty of a chain.
Currently I'm doing two complexes from the book. One is done as a chain, the other as a complex, alternating days and the get up program.
Next post, I'll focus on the the benefits and limitations of kettlebells.
