Watch This Athlete Try to Smash the Turkish Getup World Record

The Turkish getup is a move that requires perfect technique and challenges not just your full-body strength, but also balance, stability and mobility. But to strength coach Mike Aidala, it represents more.

“The Turkish getup movement symbolizes the struggles of life,” he says. “When life knocks you flat on your back, you need to lift yourself back up and stand tall. The more you practice standing back up, the stronger you’ll become.”

In the latest in Ten Thousand’s Feats of Strength series, Aidala tries to establish a new world record for the most weight lifted by Turkish getup in one hour. Aidala has partnered with veteran suicide prevention organization Mission 22 for his attempt, in order to raise awareness for mental health struggles among veterans, an issue which has personally affected his family.

The existing record which Aidala has to break was 12,998.5 pounds, and he sets out on the day with the goal of lifting a combined total of 15,000 pounds, using a 97-pound kettlebell in his left hand and an 88 in his right. Staying at maximum effort for a full hour is a real test of physical conditioning as well as mental resilience.

In addition to his strength training, Aidala says that incorporating mindfulness into his routine has helped him prepare for the big day. “I’ve been focusing on yoga, meditation, and spending a lot of time in nature,” he says.

Over the course of what is probably the most arduous hour of his life, Aidala succeeds in lifting 13,823 pounds all in all. It might be short of his 15,000 target, but it’s still 900 pounds or so more than the precedent, meaning it’s the new record.

“I wasn’t counting for as much of the emotional aspect,” he says afterwards. “That really took a toll on my body and my mind and my heart. The Turkish getup is one that spikes your heart rate, and if you go past that red line you’ll just burn out, so I was trying to flirt with that line as much as I could. And I’m proud of that.”

Ten Thousand

While this is an impressive record, and the Turkish getup is an interesting move, it has limited value in your regular workouts, as we point out over on the Men’s Health Muscle YouTube channel: instead, you might want to just try these three alternatives instead.