In March 2022, Mike Aidala set a brand new Guinness World File 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 seek out out why the file breaker selected Turkish Getups as his torturous specialty, and shortly realized the motivations and coaching that introduced him such convincing success.
What are Turkish getups?
The required motion, energy, and stability 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 way of strengthening its troopers. Extra not too long ago, this gruelling train has been picked up by the kettle bell group for its skill to supply a full physique exercise.
Begin by mendacity flat in your again after which, whereas holding a kettlebell at full extension over your head, increase 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 outdoors of Manhattan and grew up in New York earlier than transferring to Boulder, CO. He was a proficient soccer participant in faculty and in addition competed in Olympic weightlifting competitions. His love of sports activities and health extends to strongman, marathons, stand-up paddle boarding, acrobatics and yoga. As of late, he coaches shoppers with simply as a lot deal with their psychological sturdiness, and their bodily energy. “I work now as a efficiency, psychological, and emotional coach,” says Aidala. “I really like testing my physique in all sorts of other 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 focus required. It actually requires 3 completely different points; energy, mobility, after which focus. It is rather just like hand balancing. I do loads of handstands and I really 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 resembling lunges and break up squats. Then, his conditioning days would embrace endurance assessments to see how lengthy he might compete with the getups. In his first session, Aidala might barely perform the transfer for 10-minutes, however by the top of his coaching, the athlete was assured that an hour could be doable.
Along with lifting the kettlebell, Aidala tried his hand with various completely different objects that assisted along with his coaching. “I’ve carried out it with a barbell, with a Concept2 rower, with a motorbike, and with loads of my associates,” he shares. It was significantly vital for Aidala to seek out heavy weights that he might raise whereas nonetheless adjusting to the harshness of the kettlebell. “It’s arduous to seek out kettlebells which can be actually heavy, and in addition the heavy ones are so massive that whenever 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’ve gotten the burden with out the abrasion, and also you simply get the stability facet.”
Sadly, Aidala caught Covid three weeks earlier than the file try, shaving at the very least 1 week from his coaching time. He recovered and threw himself again in to coaching, and was in a position to take a look at himself by finishing up getups for 20-minute blasts, whereas executing every rep in round 11-seconds. Aidala then elevated the length of those blasts, additionally lowering the remaining 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 so as to really feel comfy 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 E-book of World Information. “I had not carried out 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 had been raised in assist of Mission 22 as a tribute to his personal grandfather; a Vietnam conflict 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 vital points. This passionate coach is intent on inspiring folks to try for their very own wins and successes, every day, irrespective of how massive or small they could 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 are feeling and what you’re pondering,” says Aidala. “I do know that guys resonate quite a bit 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 needed to make use of this as a approach to present them that you are able to do issues that may appear inconceivable.” Now right here’s a coach that leads by instance!
