Two Reasons Why Runners Need the Turkish Getup

There are few movements as useful and as comprehensive as the get-up.  For runners, trail, or road, the getup needs to be part of your strength and mobility work.

There are multiple reasons why the getup should be considered.  I'm only going to cover two.

The first is the hip bridge.  For many runners, hip flexibility is non-existant.  Getting the hips to open up and 'unlock' will help release the internal brakes many of us have on constantly.

If your day job has you desk bound, chances are you don't open your hips much, and that sitting around can atrophy the hip flexors, making full opening of the hips problematic.  (check out Bret Contreras' site for more glute training) Doing the getup will help bring your hip strength back.

The second reason is ankle and foot health.  There's one movement that isn't highlighted much, but as a runner it's critical to do this movement frequently.  It's called dorsiflexion.

Dorsiflexion is where the toes are stretched toward the shin.  I currently have TERRIBLE flexibility this way, but after doing getups, I've noticed an improvement in the calf muscle soreness post run.  It's almost where I will need to do getup training as long as I want that ankle and foot flexibility.  Age is not in your favor on this one.  If you run and are getting farther away from your 20's, the ankles will take longer to recover from runs.  Especially if you run in a way that puts stress on your soleus and gastroc muscles.

So.

Do the Turkish Getup.

But first watch this: