Prisoner Get-Up
What Is the Prisoner Get-Up?
Prisoner Get-Up is a compound exercise that primarily targets the quads and also engages the glutes, adductors and core. It is a beginner-level movement that takes you from kneeling on both knees to standing tall, one leg at a time, with your hands held behind your head the whole way.
The "prisoner" hand position is what defines the exercise. With the arms out of play, you cannot push off the floor or swing your arms for momentum, so the front leg has to drive you up while your trunk keeps your chest tall. That makes it a simple way to train single-leg strength, balance and posture together with no equipment at all.
Most of the work falls on the front leg as you rise out of the half-kneeling position, much like rising from the bottom of a split squat. The quadriceps straighten the knee, the glutes extend the hip, and the inner thigh and the side of the hip keep the knee and pelvis steady on a narrow base. Placing the front foot a little farther out shifts more of the effort toward the hips, while a closer foot keeps it on the quads.
The exercise suits beginners building leg strength at home, people returning to training who want a low-impact leg drill, and anyone who wants to get better at getting up from the floor, since stepping up through a half-kneel is one of the most common ways people do it. Coaches also use it as a warm-up before loaded lower-body work or as a high-rep finisher in bodyweight circuits.
If kneeling is uncomfortable or the rise is unsteady, start with a Bodyweight Squat and a Bodyweight Reverse Lunge to build the strength and balance, then come back to the get-up on a padded surface.
Muscles Worked
- Rectus Femoris
- Primary
- Vastus Lateralis
- Primary
- Vastus Medialis
- Primary
- Gluteus Maximus
- High
- Adductor Magnus
- Medium
- Gluteus Medius
- Medium
Instructions
- Kneel tall on a mat with both knees about hip-width apart and your toes tucked under, hips fully extended so your knees, hips and shoulders line up.
- Interlace your fingers or rest them lightly on the back of your head and open your elbows wide to the sides.
- Brace your core and keep your chest up and your eyes forward.
- Step one foot forward and plant it flat on the floor, coming into a half-kneel with the front shin roughly vertical and both knees bent to about 90 degrees.
- Drive through the whole front foot to stand up, keeping your torso upright and the front knee tracking over your toes.
- Bring the back foot forward to meet the front foot and finish standing tall, with your hips and knees straight and your hands still behind your head.
- To return, step one foot back and lower that knee softly to the floor into a half-kneel.
- Lower the other knee down beside it to return to tall kneeling without letting your hands leave your head.
- Repeat, leading with the other leg on the next rep, until both sides have done the same number of reps.
Common Mistakes
Leaning forward to stand
Folding the chest toward the front thigh turns the rise into a hip hinge and lets momentum do the work, so keep the torso tall and drive straight up through the front foot.
Pulling on the head
Gripping the head and tugging it forward strains the neck, so rest the fingers lightly behind the head and keep the elbows open.
Poor front foot placement
A front foot set too close, too far out or in line with the back knee narrows the base and makes the knee wobble, so keep it in its own lane about hip-width from the back knee with the shin roughly vertical.
Letting the front knee cave in
The front knee drifting inward as you push up loads the knee unevenly, so keep it tracking in line with the middle toes.
Dropping onto the knees
Crashing the back knee into the floor on the way down jars the kneecap, so lower each knee slowly and touch down softly on a mat.
Arching the lower back
Flaring the ribs and arching to stay upright shifts stress to the lower back, so brace the core and keep the ribs stacked over the pelvis.
Injuries
Prisoner Get-Up is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. It uses only body weight and a short range of motion, so most problems come from the kneeling surface, a front knee that wobbles out of line, or posture that collapses as you rise.
The kneecaps take direct pressure every time a knee touches down, so always work on a mat or a folded towel and lower each knee to the floor gently instead of dropping onto it. The front knee is the other strain point: keep it tracking in line with your second and third toes, and set the front foot so the shin is roughly vertical in the half-kneel rather than far out in front or tucked in close. Keep your fingers resting lightly on your head so your hands never pull your neck forward, and keep your ribs stacked over your pelvis rather than arching the lower back.
If you lose balance, widen your stance slightly, slow the lowering, or pause in the half-kneel before you stand. You can also hold a wall or a sturdy bench with one hand until the movement is steady, or build up with a Bodyweight Reverse Lunge first. To progress, slow the tempo, pause in the half-kneel, or hold a weight at your chest as in a Kettlebell Goblet Reverse Lunge.
Stop if you feel sharp pain in the kneecap or the front of the knee, pain that kneeling on a pad does not ease, or dizziness as you stand up quickly. Anyone with a knee replacement or a painful kneeling knee should check with a physical therapist before loading this position.
- Primary Focus
- Quads
- Equipment
- Body weight
- Modality
- Strength
- Difficulty
- Beginner
Alternative Exercises
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: Is a prisoner get-up the same as a Turkish get-up?
No. The Kettlebell Turkish Get-Up starts lying on your back and stands up in several stages while holding a kettlebell overhead, while the prisoner get-up starts on both knees, uses no weight and only takes you from kneeling to standing.
- Q: Why do the hands stay behind the head?
Holding the hands behind the head stops you from pushing off the floor or swinging your arms for momentum, so the legs have to do the lifting. It also makes your trunk work harder to keep the chest up and the elbows open.
- Q: Should I alternate legs or do all reps on one side?
Either works. Alternating the lead leg each rep is the most common way to do it, while finishing all reps on one side before switching gives the front leg a longer, harder set; just keep the total reps equal on both sides.
- Q: Where should I put my front foot?
Set it far enough forward that the front shin is close to vertical and the knee bends to about 90 degrees in the half-kneel. A study of trained men doing loaded barbell split squats found that longer stances raised the peak hip extension demand on the front leg while the knee extension demand fell slightly, so a slightly longer step shifts the work toward your glutes.
- Q: How do I make the prisoner get-up harder?
Slow the lowering to three or four seconds, pause in the half-kneel before you stand, or do all reps on one leg. Once it is easy for 12 to 15 controlled reps per side, hold a weight at your chest or move on to a loaded lunge such as the Kettlebell Goblet Reverse Lunge.
- Q: Can this help me get up off the floor more easily?
Yes. Stepping one foot forward into a half-kneel and standing from there is one of the most common ways people rise from the floor, so practicing it builds the leg strength and balance that task needs. Keep a chair or wall within reach until the movement feels steady.