You could have a blog solely dedicated to the Turkish Get-up.  Granted, not many people would read it - besides myself, obviously - but there are so many intricacies and variations that it's hard to learn them all.  If you've been around kettlebells and heavy get-ups for any significant period of time, you know what I'm talking about.

(Unless, of course, your idea of a get-up is to stand up "any way possible."  Because that's a terrible idea.)

While StrongFirst has plenty of content on the difficult steps of the get-up, I'd like to highlight one of the more underutilized steps: the hinge. And if you a) are shaking your head vigorously in agreement, or b) had no idea there's a hinge in the get-up, you're going to want to read below.

I'm a firm believer that most supplements are a waste of money. The exceptions depend on the person, but 97% of people can improve their life and results just by eating more vegetables as well as maybe taking fish oil and/or vitamin D.

So I’m never going to tell you what’s the best protein shake (there isn’t one and I don’t drink them), or what pre-workout supplement will spur dem gainz (in which case, address your sleep habits and caffeine intake so you don’t need a pre-workout in the first place).

But there is one supplement I've found to be a vital part of my progress. You can’t buy it, and unfortunately, I can’t just give you some of it either.

What is it?

Consistency. Because consistency is more important to results than stated goals or finding motivation.

Last weekend I tested my mettle in the Tactical Strength Challenge (TSC).  Composed of a max deadlift, max strict bodyweight pullups, and as many kettlebell snatches in 5 minutes as possible, it's fun for people that can move some weight.  But utterly nightmarish for my inner introvert.

Nonetheless, I hit personal records in all three events (click Men's Open and scroll to #21) and you can't ask for more than that!  But more valuable than how I performed are the lessons I took from my training and the event.  Even better, my three takeaways below have already made me a better physical preparation coach.

I think there's some masochism inside all of us.  At least when it comes to suffering through conditioning and cardio. It's why high intensity work is so popular, and the association seems pretty clear - work hard, embrace the suck, get results.  And to some degree that does happen.

But only using high intensity conditioning, or using it too frequently, is going to lead you nowhere fast.  It's a lesson I learned through my own conditioning, as well as writing programs for my clients.  Both myself and (most of) my clients loved sweating, breathing hard, and getting smoked.  But I couldn't figure out why some people weren't getting better, and why they weren't improving markers of fitness (lowering their resting heart rate, increasing their heart rate variability, increasing VO2 max, decreasing musculoskeletal pain).

That's because I had fallen for what I like the call the "Tabata fallacy."

It's hard to get excited about core training.  I always prefer to lift heavy things, post about it on Instagram, and then eat a ton of vegetables.

And if it's a Monday night, that's all followed by a healthy(?) dose of "The Bachelor."

But core training is valuable.  While no one has ever said the words "Brah, you just killed those dead bugs!!" it's about time we started thinking that way.  When performed correctly, proper core training will provide injury prevention, get us out of pain, maximize our strength, and optimize our performance.