In the last 10 years of training at home, I’ve tried a lot of different exercises, modalities, and equipment.

But I think there’s one movement that takes the cake for the best return in terms of time, space, equipment, effectiveness, mobility, strength, and endurance. And that’s the Turkish Get-Up.

At first, I thought the get-up was the most ridiculous and useless exercise. It just looked… weird. And pointless. So I avoided it for months when I started training with kettlebells.

Then I tried it with a heavy weight… and I couldn’t do it. And then I was hooked.

Here are three reasons why I think the Turkish Get-Up is the ultimate home gym movement.

1. The physical challenge

The entire point of the get-up is to stay under the weight. And that weight wants to go everywhere except to stay above you.

That physical challenge taxes every muscle in your body. Every time. It feels a lot more like a wrestling match with an iron cannonball than anything else.

2. The mental challenge

The get-up is a technical movement that requires focus. The heavier weights I used for get-ups (32kg, 40kg, 48kg…), the more focus that piece of iron demanded. It’s similar to the focus needed when competing in a sport.

3. The efficiency & effectiveness

The get-up is the king of compound exercises. In the 30 seconds it takes to do the movement, every movement category is accounted for. It’s a bit of push, hinge, carry, core and lunge, all blended together in one.

You only need one kettlebell. If you have space to do a push-up, you have space to do a get-up. 

And once you start stacking get-ups (doing doubles, triples, quadruples…) your heart rate gets elevated just like it would if you were running uphill.