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Kettlebell getting started with which variation of TGU ??

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Dave Johnson

Dave Johnson

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I'm a 61 year old healthy male. New to Kettlebells and happily following S&S (focusing on Simple for now). I've read S&S, Enter the Kettlebell, Easy Strength, and more. Watched many videos on YouTube and seen some of the longer ones such a Pavel's Enter the Kettlebell and the one Mark Toomey did on SFG Level 1 Technique Standards. My question is some advice on getting started with the TGU. There are so many variations that I'm trying to get a handle on. Karen Smith does it one way, Pavel another, Mark Toomey another, Zar Horton another, and so on. Venture outside the SFG (I'm reluctant to do this) and the variations become wild.

Can someone suggest the best to use as a guide for getting started or should I go by what Pavel says in and Enter the Kettlebell video which is get up and down any way your comfortable with.

Thanks !!!
 
The style taught in S&S is a great foundation. Enter the Kettlebell left it more open to specifics, but I think that time and experience have revealed techniques that are safe and efficient and produce the desired results, thus the updated instruction in S&S. A lot of variation you see could just be adjustments based on individual anatomy, but all based on that StrongFirst standards laid out in the S&S book and their technique standards video.

Try to get 50 reps in without weight just so you understand the positions a little. When you start adding weight, it might be worth to just work on a half-getup, where you stop once your supporting arm is locked out behind you and your are sitting with your chest up. For me that's the trickiest part of the movement anyways, and a lot of the variations that exist come after that point.
 
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Dave, I don't think of each of the people you mentioned as doing the getup in different ways. They're all different people with different builds, different limb lengths, etc., but they're all doing the same thing.

Please post a video of _you_ doing a getup and we will be glad to let you know if it meets the standard.

And Welcome to the StrongFirst Forum!

-S-
 
Hi, I used to be Tom Bop, now Matts. I got ETK years ago, and when I looked at the TGU in it, I just had a vague "not the kind of thing I do..." reaction. Last January, after getting S&S, though, I decided I'd bite the bullet and learn it. The only way is to get down on the floor and start at the beginning... Work on each step as long as it takes, then move to the next one. I hit a number of "problems" along the way (won't bore anyone...), and just had to solve each one. After a few weeks, I added some weight and got an SFG review (some good suggestions there; thanks Delaine!), and off to the races. I'm still learning new refinements almost every day. Now I bore all my friends telling them how it's the best exercise going and they should learn it. So just get on the floor with the S&S book, lay on your back, and you're on the way.
 
Dave, here is a recent video where I got a new PR with the get-up (36kg) I've been told my form is good, and it is the same form I learned and passed with at my SFG certification in May of this year. This might not be the best example because it's at my limit (go to my youtube channel, plenty of other videos which might be better examples), but if you watch all the way through to the attempt on the left side, you will get a bonus of an example "bail out" when you get the weight overhead and it's just too heavy! Anyway, it is a wonderful exercise with many benefits. Hope this helps.
 
Thanks everyone for some great responses.
I'm very enthused about working to S&S.
To all the other cool things about it I can add a very helpful community.
 
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