The weightlifting community – the kettlebell community especially – can make things very black and white. Many times when people are first learning the Get-up, they get stuck going light all the time and don’t progress to heavy even after they have the movement down, the mobility and the strength the go heavy. Conversely, some lifters progress to very heavy and then never keep the light get-ups in their practice. For a detailed blog on the sides of the get-up coin you can check out a blog I wrote a few years ago for the StrongFirst website.

If you have progressed to heavy get-ups and are looking for a way to make light get-ups more interesting (for you or your student) you can add in a military press or two at each stopping point on the way up.

As shown in this video, adding the press keeps you from rushing through the get-up and keeps the pace slow – as the get-up pace should always be whether it’s light or heavy.