01Foundation
One each side, no weight, a shoe balanced on your fist
The eleven tests / Turkish get-up
Test 05 of 11 · Strength
If you only ever test one thing after fifty, test this
The rule. Floor to standing and back down, one unbroken rep on each side. Slow is the point. Eyes on the bell until you are standing.
It is strength, balance, shoulder stability and the ability to get off the ground, which is the single most practical skill on this page. Nothing else on the list covers that much ground in one rep.
The four rungs
Find yourself on one of these.
Your level on this test is the highest rung you can hold cleanly today. Not the one you could hit on a good day five years ago.
02Working
8 kg / 18 lb each side
03Strong
16 kg / 35 lb each side
04Standard
24 kg / 53 lb each side
Where it goes wrong
The two that cost people a rung.
Mistake 01
Rushing the roll to the elbow
The first third of the get-up is where most reps fall apart. Punching up to the elbow fast throws the bell off line. Slow is not a style choice here, it is the technique.
Mistake 02
Losing the eyes
Eyes stay on the bell until you are standing. Look away and the shoulder follows, and a loaded arm that stops being stacked is how this movement hurts people.
Moving up
How to earn the next rung.
- 01
Learn it with a shoe
A shoe balanced on your fist punishes every wobble and weighs nothing. One clean rep each side with a shoe is the Foundation rung and it teaches more than a light bell does.
- 02
Six positions, owned separately
Roll to elbow, elbow to hand, bridge, sweep the leg through, half kneel, stand. Practise them as six separate things before stringing them together.
- 03
One rep at a time
This is never a set of ten. One slow rep each side, rest, repeat. Five singles a side is a full session.
What this test needs
The kit that helps with this one.
Links go to Amazon and a purchase through one pays me a small commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change what gets recommended. The full list, with what each piece is actually for, is on the gear page.
Before you ask
Two questions that come up every time.
What is a good Turkish get-up weight for a 50 year old?
Sixteen kilos each side is Strong. Twenty-four is the Standard and it is a genuinely hard number. Eight kilos each side already puts you at the Working rung.
Why is the get-up so important after 50?
Because it is the only test here that asks you to get off the floor under load. That is not a gym skill, it is the one that matters most on the day you actually need it.
Going deeper on this one: One Bell, Three Lifts
Read about itOn the channel
Watch the turkish get-up tested at every rung.
What Foundation looks like next to Standard, filmed from the side so the form is actually visible. Every one of the eleven gets its own video.