In March 2022, Mike Aidala set a brand new Guinness World Report for lifting weights by way of Turkish getups. The 32-year-old endurance athlete and health coach, based mostly in Boulder, Colorado lifted a complete of 13,823-pounds in 1-hour, crushing the earlier file by near 1,000-pounds whereas additionally elevating cash for Mission 22 , a corporation that focuses on veteran psychological well being and suicide prevention.
M&F sat down with Aidala to search out out why the file breaker selected Turkish Getups as his torturous specialty, and shortly discovered the motivations and coaching that introduced him such convincing success.
What are Turkish getups?
The required motion, power, and steadiness required to execute a Turkish Getup will work each single muscle in your physique, which is why the transfer has endured for hundreds of years. It’s believed that the Turkish Getup first discovered prominence through the reign of the Ottoman Empire within the late thirteenth century, as a method of strengthening its troopers. Extra lately, this gruelling train has been picked up by the kettle bell group for its potential to offer a full physique exercise.
Begin by mendacity flat in your again after which, whereas holding a kettlebell at full extension over your head, elevate your self till you might be standing up straight. Subsequent, whereas nonetheless holding the kettlebell at full extension over your head, lay down flat in your again and repeat. Turkish Getups are brutally easy however difficult to grasp.
Who’s Michael Aidala?
Michael Aidala was born simply exterior of Manhattan and grew up in New York earlier than transferring to Boulder, CO. He was a gifted soccer participant in school and likewise competed in Olympic weightlifting competitions. His love of sports activities and health extends to strongman, marathons, stand-up paddle boarding, acrobatics and yoga. Nowadays, he coaches shoppers with simply as a lot concentrate on their psychological sturdiness, and their bodily power. “I work now as a efficiency, psychological, and emotional coach,” says Aidala. “I like testing my physique in all sorts of alternative ways!”
Why the Turkish getup?
“I just like the Turkish getup,” shares Aidala. “I do know lots of people don’t prefer it, however I just like the problem and the main target required. It actually requires 3 completely different points; power, mobility, after which focus. It is vitally just like hand balancing. I do numerous handstands and I like that psychological problem. I attempted to look-up the earlier world file for 1-rep, as a result of I used to be lifting my body weight, which on the time was 205 kilos. I couldn’t discover a one-rep file however I did discover an hour-long Turkish Getup file and so, I figured I might attempt to give that one a go.
How did Mike Aidala practice to set a Turkish getup file?
Aidala started critical coaching for his file try 10 weeks out. He broke the times down into heavy days and conditioning focussed days. The heavy days consisted of heavy getups, overhead presses, and leg workouts reminiscent of lunges and break up squats. Then, his conditioning days would embody endurance checks to see how lengthy he may compete with the getups. In his first session, Aidala may barely perform the transfer for 10-minutes, however by the tip of his coaching, the athlete was assured that an hour could be doable.
Along with lifting the kettlebell, Aidala tried his hand with a lot of completely different objects that assisted along with his coaching. “I’ve achieved it with a barbell, with a Concept2 rower, with a motorcycle, and with numerous my pals,” he shares. It was notably necessary for Aidala to search out heavy weights that he may carry whereas nonetheless adjusting to the harshness of the kettlebell. “It’s exhausting to search out kettlebells which might be actually heavy, and likewise the heavy ones are so massive that if you seize it, there’s an enormous bell, and it took some conditioning of my forearms to get used to that abrasion. The barbell is nicer as a result of you may have the load with out the abrasion, and also you simply get the steadiness facet.”
Sadly, Aidala caught Covid three weeks earlier than the file try, shaving no less than 1 week from his coaching time. He recovered and threw himself again in to coaching, and was in a position to check himself by finishing up getups for 20-minute blasts, whereas executing every rep in round 11-seconds. Aidala then elevated the period of those blasts, additionally decreasing the remainder occasions between them.
Later, Mike Aidala used the barbell till he was as much as round 135 kilos as a warmup after which lowered his weight, and lifted a 97-pound kettlebell with a view to really feel snug with the awkward object. His dedication paid off as a result of on the massive day, Aidala accomplished 75 reps with a 97-pound kettlebell in his proper hand, and 74 reps with an 88.6-pound kettlebell in his left hand, lifting a complete of 13,823 kilos in a single hour as formally acknowledged by the Guinness Ebook of World Information. “I had not achieved a full hour till the day,” says Aidala. “The longest I went in coaching was perhaps 45 minutes, and I felt actually good after that. However I attempted to taper off to be sure that I used to be ready for the precise day.”
What’s subsequent for Michael Aidala?
There’s no doubting that Aidala intends to push himself additional sooner or later. His Turkish Getup file got here as the results of his need to boost consciousness round psychological well being and suicide prevention, and proceeds have been raised in assist of Mission 22 as a tribute to his personal grandfather; a Vietnam battle veteran who tragically took his personal life.
Along with his personal extremely laudable work, addressing the emotional in addition to the bodily along with his shoppers, Mike Aidala has additionally partnered with the boys’s activewear label Ten Thousand to boost additional consciousness of those necessary points. This passionate coach is intent on inspiring folks to attempt for their very own wins and successes, every day, regardless of how giant or small they might appear.
Pushing himself to the max as soon as once more, Aidala’s subsequent feat will contain an 80-mile paddleboard crossing from the Bahamas to Florida in late June, within the shark infested waters of the Gulfstream!
“I do know that there’s a lot of stigma round speaking about how you’re feeling and what you’re considering,” says Aidala. “I do know that guys resonate lots with bodily challenges, so I attempt to use my physicality as a approach to impart these bigger messages. A part of my job as a coach is to facilitate completely different introspective practices for males, and I wished to make use of this as a approach to present them that you are able to do issues that may appear unimaginable.” Now right here’s a coach that leads by instance!
