Lying Down and Getting Up with a Barbell [1916]

The get-up with a dumbbell, barbell, or kettlebell was a favorite exercise of many old-time strongmen, such as Hackenschmidt, Arco, and Klein. It was usually (but not always) performed as a get-down/get-up: they would press, push press, jerk, or bent press the weight up, then lay down and stand up.

We still recommend learning and practicing the get-up with a kettlebell first (regular grip, not bottom up), under the guidance of a StrongFirst certified instructor. The dumbbell get-down/get-up is an excellent “specialized variety” drill, a great “move-prep” exercise before your lifting session, and valuable on its own.

Here is a quick tutorial from “Uncle Vanya” Ivan Vladimirovich Lebedev’s Heavy Athletics book, published in 1916 in Saint Petersburg. The manual covers many barbell, dumbbell, and kettlebell exercises. The accompanying illustrations show an athlete using a short barbell or a larger dumbbell.

This movement develops an athlete’s agility and flexibility and, at the same time, teaches them to maintain balance. It is performed as follows:

While holding a barbell with an extended arm above the head, lower yourself onto the opposite knee, using the palm of your free hand for support on the floor. Then, move from the palm to the elbow, simultaneously straightening the leg on the same side along the floor, while the other leg remains bent at the knee. Next, lower yourself from the elbow to the floor with both shoulder blades touching and stretch out both legs, keeping the barbell held with the extended arm.

To stand back up, reverse the process: rise to the position, and so on. Once, E. E. Tevyashov performed this exercise with remarkable speed and ease, lifting a barbell weighing 160 pounds.

Many athletes prefer to perform this movement with a kettlebell instead of a barbell, but this is significantly easier unless the kettlebell is held “bottom-up” (inverted), which is extremely challenging. For instance, Stepanov and Sorokin lie down and stand up holding a 3-pood kettlebell „bottom-up.”[1 pood ≈ 16.38 kg or 36.11 lbs]