Featured Fall Fitness Move: “Turkish Get-Up” by Fitness Partner Equinox Highline

At Equinox Highline, one of our favorite fitness moves are ground to standing exercises (example above!)

Ground to standing movements are big indicators of overall health for people of all ages. It represents fundamental movement patterns and progressive strength that we developed as babies to get us off of the ground. A ground to standing exercise can improve cardiovascular fitness as well as movement quality and strength capacity when loaded.

As a body goes from a lying position to a standing position the heart has to compensate for various level and pressure changes causing it to work more. In addition, proper joint synchronization and muscular engagement is needed to overcome any imbalance and possibility of falling down.

The apex of ground to standing exercises is the Turkish Get-Up which is a formalized set of movements done under load. Even simply gauging your progress on how easy or difficult it is for you to stand can indicate how healthy you are. Ultimately it’s the practice of going back to the fundamentals on learning how to stand up for ourselves.

Turkish Get-Up:

1. Grip your weight and move your arm so it is perpendicular to the floor.
2. Place the opposite arm on the floor approximately 45 degrees from the body, and bend the knee on the side of the body that’s holding the kettlebell.
3. Roll up onto the elbow, and then roll onto your hand slowly.
4. Lift the hips, take the straight leg and sweep it under your body.
5. Take the supporting hand off the floor, and get your legs in a lunge position. Stand up from the lunge!