Heavy Kettlebell Turkish Getups, part 1

Table of Contents

Introduction

Hello and welcome to the first part in the series of articles dedicated to Heavy Kettlebell Turkish Getups (TGUs). I’m an intermediate kettlebell (KB) enthusiast, having trained with kettlebells for over 5 years now. The last 3 years out of these 5, TGUs have been present in my training routine in one way or another, sometimes being a simple accessory, and sometimes being the main focus of the training sessions.

I’ve collected a few cues, hacks, tips and tricks over the years, and I would like to share them with you in this series of articles, as well as positive and negative aspects of heavy TGUs. My experience is heavily based around Simple and Sinister (S&S) program by Pavel Tsatsouline, and I will refer to it a lot in this series.

The first part will focus on the basics and main points, and the following parts will be more focused on individual aspects.

Definition

Now, what exactly is a heavy TGU? In my opinion, a kettlebell one size higher than the weight than you can strict press, would be a heavy TGU (or heavier of course). For example, I can strict press 40kg, so 48kg or higher would be considered heavy for me.

This definition is based on one factor: control. You can probably control your press weight reasonably well, and avoid the kettlebell twisting your arm and falling on your head. If the weight is higher than that, it requires next level of focus and control, and that’s where the fun begins (especially if training at home).

Current status

Currently, I am training with a 48kg kettlebell, and I have been training with it for over two and a half years. I have a 60kg bell that I try every now and then, but I’m not ready for it yet.

With this context, let’s start with the benefits, and then move on to the dangers and drawbacks.

Benefits of heavy TGU

Full-body resilience

This for me is the reason heavy TGUs stuck around in my training routine. It’s a full-body exercise, and it’s a great way to build resilience in your body. If you are on a good streak of hitting TGUs several weeks in a row frequently, you will get this feeling of being “unbreakable”. Heavy weight in the gym and impact sports (martial arts) does not scare you as much.

TGUs, similar to loaded carries, hit every muscle in your body, even the ones you don’t know about!

Shoulder stability

This benefit applies more to the lighter bells than heavy, still TGUs together with Indian Clubs (I might start a separate series on that) are my tools of choice for shoulder health. Honestly, I don’t remember having any shoulder issues in the last years, and I attribute that to TGUs and Indian Clubs. Before that, any time I would go to the pool, that would free up my shoulder joints and cause some pain during and after the session.

Mobility and overhead confidence

Getups are decent for mobility, especially if you don’t do anything else. However, it is probably not a good idea have them as the only exercise to address mobility.

What they are truly great about, is the overhead confidence. This is more of a psychological benefit, but it is a big one. If you can get up with a heavy bell, that gives you more confidence in the press, jerk, snatch, etc. This also has carryover to barbell lifts like overhead press.

Ability to focus

As discussed earlier, the heavier the bell, the more focus and control it requires. In fact it requires so much focus, that you can’t think about anything else while doing it. In my experience, a single untimely thought about work can lead to failing some stage of the TGU. This happened more often than I would like to admit.

When I was really focusing on progressing with the 48kg bell, I would have to take a few minutes to prepare myself mentally before the set, remove all distractions, and even put some meditation music to listen to during a set. This last point might sound strange for a lifter, as usually we prefer more energetic music style, but when you need to have a laser focus for the 35 seconds that a good, technical TGU takes, you need something that will help you to stay in the zone.

Drawbacks and dangers of heavy TGU

Heavy iron ball above your head

Heavy TGUs are not without their dangers. To loosely quote Dan John, “you have a heavy iron ball above your head, what could go wrong?”.

I completely agree with this take, and I think about this very often. Still, I decided that for me, the benefits are worth the risks - but everyone decides for themselves.

So far, I haven’t dropped the bell neither or my head nor on the floor, but I’ve had a few close calls.

Systemic fatigue

Now, this can be a big one. I found that heavy TGUs can be very taxing on the body, especially if you are doing them frequently. I’ve had a few times when I had to take considerable time off from training, because I was feeling too fatigued. For example, after completing the Timeless Sinister for the first time in June 2022, I had to take almost two weeks off due to extreme systemic fatigue.

Even on smaller scale, sometimes it has an impact on things like sleep quality, mood, and overall energy levels. Many times I couldn’t sleep well after a heavy TGU session, and I would wake up in the middle of the night with a feeling of being too hot or too cold.

Forearm and wrist pain

Finally, my worst nightmare - forearm pain. It started right when I first started to use 48kg regularly, and it took me over 2 years to figure out how to deal with it.

This issue is common for heavy TGU practitioners, I’ve discussed with people including Guinness World Record holder Jackie Vazquez¹, and she also had this issue. Her recommendation is reflected in point 2 of the solutions below.

Basically, the kettlebell pressing on the forearm creates a lot of pressure in one point, which could lead to muscle pain and even nerve damage.

I will cover this in more detail in the next part, including the solutions I’ve tried, but for now I’ll just give you ready answer:

1. Do not use any wrist protection gear, it might make it worse. I found that after certain weight, the wrist guard cannot maintain its shape and structure, and it starts to press on the forearm even more. This has been tested on several wrist guards from the market with different materials and inserts, also I tried making DIY wrist guards that are more rigid, but the result was the same.
2. Always massage the forearms after the session. Ideally, find a person who specializes on deep tissue massage, and have them work on your forearms at least once per week. If you can’t find a specialist, you can do it yourself using a small diameter foam roller for the forearms (usually climbers use those). The massage gun was not effective for me, as it was not able to reach the deep tissue.

Is it worth it?

After reading all of this, you might be wondering whether it is worth it at all to do heavy TGUs?

I don’t have a definitive answer to this question, as it depends on your goals and priorities. For me, the benefits outweigh the risks, and I will continue to do them, while being mindful of the dangers and mitigating the forearm pain. Ultimately, everyone has to decide for themselves.

Have a good day,

Andrew