Whether you like it or not, burpees are an excellent exercise to add to your fitness routine. The burpee is a full body strength and cardio training exercise and a perfect example of functional fitness. You will work your arms, chest, quads, glutes, hamstrings, and abs with every rep.
How to do a standard burpee:
Just follow these simple steps:
- Stand shoulder-width apart, drive heels into the floor and hold your arms at your sides.
- Your hips push back as you bend your knees, and lower your whole body into a squat.
- Next, put your hands on the floor right in front of you.
- Keeping your body in alignment, jump your feet back and softly land on the balls of your feet in a plank position. Avoid the common error of allowing your back to sag.
- Jump forward to return your feet in a landing position just outside of your hands.
- Move your body vertically as you reach your arms overhead and explosively jump up into the air.
- Land softly immediately engage back into a squat for your next rep.
TIP: While you want a little speed in your burpee, don’t go too fast…or you risk you’ll burning yourself out after doing just a few.
3 reasons to love the Burpee
1. It’s a calorie torcher
Burpees can turn your body into a fat burning machine.
Because you use so many muscle groups in this intense full body exercise, you will burn a ton of calories. Research shows that individuals can burn more calories performing a high-intensity exercise than spending the same amount of time performing a steady-state exercise.
2. It’s great for overall conditioning
Better, faster, stronger. If you are looking to up your endurance, cardio conditioning, and strength, the burpee is a magnificent multi-task tool to have in your fitness arsenal.
Better yet, burpees can speed up your metabolism throughout the day—meaning you may end up burning more calories all day long.
3. So many variations–you’ll never get bored!
With the multitude of burpee variations, you can build workouts for days. Choose a modifier if you are a beginner, or, if you are totally hardcore, add some fierce and creative choices to your burpee routine.
Make it harder:
Add a pushup to your burpee.
While in the down phase of the burpee, ease your body all the way to the floor so that you are hovering in a push-up position. Slowly rise back to high plank and continue with the burpee execution.
Some in the fitness field would say that all burpees should include a push-up or it doesn’t count. We would say that #everyburpeecounts.
Make it easier:
Walk the burpee.
Follow the same steps as you would during your burpee execution, but instead of jumping back and forth, simply walk into each phase. Then, instead of an explosive jump at the end, stand tall and reach your hands up over your head.
Get creative:
Add a tuck jump
Follow the steps of a standard burpee, but during the explosive jump, raise your knees up toward your chest while lifting your feet off the ground.
Or try a Medicine Ball Burpee.
Start in a plank position with both hands resting on a medicine ball. Bring both knees up towards your chest and then explodes upwards into a jump, holding and lifting the ball above your head while in mid-air. Return the ball to the floor, and jump your feet back to a plank position while hands remain on the ball. Repeat.
