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Kettlebell Turkish Getups -- Go Slow.

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SF1989

SF1989

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"The swing is a Yang exercise; the get-up is a Yin. It stands to reason the speed recommendation for swings is reversed for get-ups-- go slow." ~ Simple & Sinister

Though I've been following S&S with success for the last year, I've recently discovered the magic of doing TGUs very, very slowly. I did not appreciate the above guidance from S&S and now recognize that I was rushing through TGUs and prematurely moving to higher weight. As I type this, my arms feel depleted for the first time in quite a while.

This is a friendly reminder to always revisit the basics and foundational guidance of your programming -- you might just discover something new that takes your game to another level.
 
Agreed. I personally also recommend to get-ups:

- slow and smooth in one continuous movement
- slow with smooth transitions, but with stop at each of the phases
 
I agree wholeheartedly on hypnotically slow TGUs. For this reason (and I tread very lightly with this), I am not a fan of the ten minute window given for the S&S goals, and have never given my students any time crunch for this drill. Provided that they are taking no rest beyond a quick switching of sides with the weight, and even then only during sessions when they are going after their ten (my progression standard--once a trainee has demonstrated the ability to perform ten perfect TGUs, five per side, without taking breaks for three consecutive workouts, they get a week off from the drill, and then they start the process over with the next KB size heavier).

To me, it's always been about time under tension for this exercise; reps a distant secondary. I also encourage trainees to pause and contemplate at each step of the way; making little adjustments if anything doesn't feel absolutely correct to them.
 
I personally like the ten minute window (which is applied to test, not to practice).

The reason behind is: when the weight feels relatively right, so you can perform basically not stop get ups (without rushing your individual get-ups!), it is time to insert a heavier weight - and take it slowly again, meaning without worrying about the time and having as much rest as needed.

Slow, patient, under control, precise technique, beautiful?

Yes.

"Hypnotically slow"? Not necessarily. Occasionally, why not, as Phil Scarito, Master SFG told me - "do many variations of get-ups." But not always - I usually allocate cca. 20% of my training time to the variations of the lifts. The rest is "punch the clock" lifting.
 
i am a huge proponent of the TGU, i credit my TGU practice with creating stability and strength throughout my body, i have been practicing the exercise consistently 4-7x per week for more than 3 years. i hear the advice of the super slow advocates and i have experimented with super slow TGUs, taking 5 breaths at each step, i've also tried adding a waiters walk at the top before coming back down and i have tried successive TGUs per side before switching to the other, but then i am reminded of Pavel's advice that a properly performed TGU will take roughly 30 seconds, about the same amount of time as 8 repetitions of a bench press. More time than this under a heavy weight on a consistent basis could prove detrimental and if more time than this is easily controlled then we aren't practicing a movement of strength, but endurance and the weight is probably too light. i keep coming back to a normal paced repetition, methodically moving through the exercise with grace and simply changing sides and starting over on the other without an exaggerated rest period in between and i find that my pace comes in around 7 to 8 minutes, thats roughly 30 to 35 seconds per repetition and 10 to 20 seconds in between. i don't believe that is rushing through the exercise whatsoever. i weigh about 88/90kg, i am practicing with a 40kg bell and i will move towards adding in the 48kg once i purchase it.

so personally i like the sub ten minute window as a daily practice - i don't watch the clock and i don't try to come in at a certain pace - i just find that my normal pace comes in between 7 and 8mins. this mentality also resonates with me from the standpoint of fitting in a daily practice. one of the reasons i find S&S so intriguing is that i don't have to think and i know that i can find 20 minutes to allocate to it. if the practice becomes 45 minutes to an hour then i will undoubtedly start missing days. i train in the morning, i need the practice to be do-able on many levels in order to convince myself to get out of bed at 5am, time allotment being towards the top of that list.
 
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