In the chaos of life, simplicity is strength. Especially for grapplers over 35 juggling training, work, and family, your time and energy are limited — but your performance doesn’t have to be.
Enter the minimalist duo I return to again and again: the Turkish Get-Up and the Heavy Club Mill.
These two movements alone are enough to prepare your body for the demands of jiu-jitsu — whether as a pre-training warm-up or a standalone training session that builds real-world strength and resilience.
I originally started using this combo when I only had a few minutes to warmup for BJJ.
But it quickly become a go-to combination that I use regularly in my off-the-mat training, not just for its simplicity, but it’s effectiveness in providing nearly everything I need for strength, mobility, and resilience.
Why This Combo Works
This isn’t just a warm-up — it’s a total-body workout that hits almost everything.
Each move trains essential qualities for the mat: strength, mobility, coordination, and control.
Together, they hit nearly every joint and movement pattern you’ll use in BJJ.
Let’s break it down.
The Turkish Get-Up
The Get-Up is a pillar of strength and movement. I’ve also argued that it’s an essential human movement that happens to be one of the very best exercises for grapplers.
It trains:
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Shoulder stability under load
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Core strength and control through multiple angles
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Spinal mobility and alignment
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Hip mobility
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Mat-specific transitions, like technical stand-ups and frame escapes
Few exercises offer as much in one package as this one. It trains strength and coordination, forces you to stabilize under pressure, and transition through complex patterns — all essential for grappling longevity.
The Heavy Club Mill
This is your rotational armor.
The Mill trains strength and fluidity in a movement pattern often neglected in traditional training: rotation.
While there are many valuable rotational heavy club exercises, the Mill is the pinnacle.
It’s a Heavy Club Circle combined with a Shield Cast, making it one of the most technical moves to master, but also the most valuable.
It builds:
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Rotational core strength
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Shoulder strength and mobility
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Spinal and thoracic mobility
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Hip resilient and mobility
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Grip strength and forearm endurance
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Coordination turning toward both directions
It’s also a dynamic form of shoulder prehab — protecting you from the wear and tear of shoulder locks, posts, and defensive frames.
A Full Workout in a Few Minutes
If you’re short on time, doing just a few rounds of Get-Ups and Mills gives you:
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A loaded movement sequence through multiple planes
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Upper and lower body activation
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Breathing control and focus
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Joint mobility for all the major joints
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And a sweat that builds, not breaks, your body
I’ve used this combo before training to warm up, after training as a finisher, and as a complete minimalist session on rest days.
It’s adaptable, effective, and scalable.
Here’s a simple structure you can try:
Option 1: Warm-Up (6-10mins)
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2 Turkish Get-Ups per side (35lb kettlebell)
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5 Heavy Club Mills per side (25lb club)
- no rest, just continued movement at a slow pace
Option 2: Strength Session (20–25 min)
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3–5 sets of:
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1 Get-Up per side (heavier weight – 72lb kettlebell)
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10 Club Mills per direction (heavier club – 40lb club)
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Rest 60–90 seconds between rounds
Final Thoughts
You don’t need an hour, fancy equipment, or a complicated plan. You just need consistent, smart training.
The Get-Up + Mill combo is the kind of work that keeps you in the game. It prepares your joints, strengthens your movement, and builds a body that holds up under pressure — on and off the mats.
This is what Order & Progress is about – high value methods to fortify your body for the demands of grappling.
The first step is to master each movement.
Master the Get Up here, and the Mill here.
Then add this whenever you need it.
WHENEVER YOU’RE READY, THERE ARE 3 WAYS I CAN HELP YOU:
1. Start improving your BJJ durability and performance with Foundations of Rotational Strength.
2. Fortify your body for BJJ with this free course on BJJ Resilience.
3. Join the free weekly newsletter here.
