There are many exercises that work your whole body. Dead lifts, back squats and over-head squats come to mind. All of them are great exercises. Each of them make you work extremely hard and can develop your body. But you need a gym to go to or equipment at your home to do these. What do you do if you can’t get to the gym or afford the equipment? Stop working out? I think not.
[She won't be dancing around and smiling for long when she finds out what exercise is in store for her!]
There has to be an exercise that you can do that works the whole body, includes cardio, strength and core work, is portable and be can be done at any age. The exercise has to be able to be modified for each person if needed, have different levels of difficulty and be easy to learn. I believe that there is one such exercise out there that does these things. And just mentioning its’ name make some people shudder at its’ evilness.
The Burpee – Invented By Satan For People Who Think They Are In Good Shape
You knew it was going to be the Burpee didn’t you? What else could it be? I mean, the Burpee is one bad ass exercise. Every time it is included in a workout people let out moans and groans. Why? Because it is hard to do. No matter what condition you are in the Burpee can humble you in a matter of minutes. Why is that? What makes it so hard to do?
How To Do A Standard Burpee
It looks simple enough. Jump into the air, squat down, jump back the legs, do a push up touching your chest to the floor, jump the legs back up under you, jump into the air, repeat. Now do that repeatedly for 5 minutes and you’ll want to die. Seriously. Burpess are that tough. Watch this guy:
That was incredible! 100 in under 4 minutes is insane. His speed was the most impressive thing. That takes incredible endurance and strength. Kinda the things we want in a workout huh? The Burpee has all of that in spades.
How To Build Up Your Endurance Using Burpees
It takes incredible endurance to complete a large number of Burpees. If currently you can’t do but only a couple at a time then you need to practice them. Every day. For 100 days in a row. It’s called the 100 day Burpee challenge and it sounds as bad as it looks.
Starting on day 1, do one Burpee. Day 2, do 2 Burpees and so on. Do that for 100 days in a row. If you miss a day you need to make them up. So if you miss day 31, on day 32 you need to do 31 Burpees (to make up the missed day) and 32 for the current day. That adds up fast! Missing days in the beginning is no big deal but missing a day at day 80 would suck. So plan it out and challenge yourself to complete it. It’s only 5050 Burpees in 100 days.
12 Different Versions Of The Burpee
The videos show the standard Burpee. So how do we make this exercise even more sucky? There are a ton of ways to modify the Burpee to increase its’ difficulty (like it needs it). Here is a partial list of variations of the Burpee that you can do once you have “conquered” the “easy” version:
- Do a broad jump instead of a jump and clap
- Jump on and off a box
- Jump over something
- Combine them with pull ups (Do a jumping pull up at the top)
- Wear a weighted vest (doing the standard version)
- Jump and tuck the knees to the chest
- Jump and turn 180 degrees
- Perform them with 10lb dumbbells in your hands
- Perform them with 10lb dumbbells in your hands and with broad jumps
- Perform them with one arm (including the push up!)
- Perform double push ups and double jumps
- Perform a hindu push up instead of a standard pushup
Start Including Burpees In Your Standard Workout Routine
This can be a difficult exercise to do if you have knee or shoulder problems. Build up some initial endurance by doing air squats with a little jump and push ups separately. That will help get your body used to motions used in the Burpee. But ease into it and make sure you have the correct form first.
When you are ready to do the Burpee at full speed, use it as a supplement your current workout. Add 3 sets of 10 rep after lifting weights or after your core work. Build up your reps until you can do 3 sets of 25 in a row. Then you could confidently attempt the 100 day Burpee challenge and have a good chance of finishing it. But no matter what you would be in better shape because of your consistent effort. And that is what you need to get fit and get lean.
I absolutely agree. When I feel like punishing myself I just do a burpee pyramid. Always killer.
Dan
Dan,
I especially hate them. I’m 6’6″ tall and getting up and down is hard. I got a long way to go! But they sure do give you a cardio and full body workout. Whew!
David
Burpees are awesome. They’re a staple of my routine when I can’t hit a gym. So unbelievably simple, so deathly difficult.
Great reminder!
-Drew
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Drew,
I think that I need to start the 100 day burpee challenge. That may be something to post about as I go along.
David
David,
Burpees can be a serious test of will. I once tortured myself by doing Tabata intervals with burpees. I spent most of the day on the couch after.
Dave
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Dave,
Yes they do suck the life out of you. Death by Burpees!
David
That 100 day challenge is interesting. I am still thinking about it–maybe tomorrow. Thanks for all of the great info, Dave.
Ellen,
I started it yesterday (May 1st). I did 100 to start so I knew how long it took me. It took me 10:45 seconds. I am going to do a series of posts/updates on how I am progressing in the challenge. I’ll keep you informed.
David
Hey David, awesome post. I love burpees, that is to say I love what they do for my body, but hate doing them
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David,
I hate them too. But we should practice and do the things that we don’t like so that we get better at them: ie handstand push ups, double unders, muscle ups, etc. Then we do get better overall.
David
Iam a beginner can I just do burpees?
David, I want to see a video of you doing 100 burpees under 5 minutes! It’d make a great blog post.
Tom,
I am going to try my hardest. And I think that I have to put it out there publicly to show people what can be done. I am going to do the 100 day challenge and I will post about that. Stay tuned.
Grim
Oh burpees – how I love to hate them. True these are a killer exercise and a great total body movement. I will reintroduce myself to the hellish exercise tomorrow
Thanks for reminding me David!
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Dave, Dave told me about your challenge so I started last night with 13 and this morning with 14. Its tough jumping right into it and I sprained my big toe on the first one this morning.
Gary
Gary,
Good for you. Watch getting hurt right out of the gate though. It can set you back. Good luck and let me know how it goes.
David
[...] will probably feel a lot longer. If you’re looking for bonus points after that, perform ten Burpees. This should be a well-rounded daily workout. Doing this routine three times a week will maintain [...]
Hey David,
I enjoyed reading your post. i also find your challenge intersting. there is one qusetion i had though: if i consistently do burpees 4-6 days a week, do i still need to incorporate cardio? or would this count? also, i notice that burpees workout your pecs, abs, triceps, and many leg muscles. but what about the biceps and back? because i dont want to have a hunched back and i also want bigger biceps.
pleaes reply back, as it will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jonathan
Jonathan,
If you do Burpees 4-6 days a week, frankly I think that it is too much. 3 days a week is fine. To make these a cardio workout, do them Tabata style (20 seconds on, 10 seconds off for 4 minutes). That 4 minutes will definitely feel longer. Make your cardio the HIIT (high intensity interval training) to keep it short and intense.
As for the muscles the burpees work, your back will get some work from the push-ups. Add in some chin-ups to pump up and strengthen your biceps. Good luck with your workouts.
David
Hey thanks so much for the reply. it helped out a lot. but i dont understand the ‘time intervals’. is it basically doing 4 sets of burpees worth 20 seconds? then take a 10 second break? then keep going for 20 seconds? because frankly, wouldnt it be better to force myself to do 20-25 reps (assuming i can) for 3 sets?
Jonathan,
Check out this link: http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFitLA_TabataThisWOD.wmv
The exercises are different but the principle is the same. Do 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest for 4 minutes. This way you will do 8 sets of burpees. Try and do the same amount each time. So if you do 6 burpees in the first 20 seconds, try and do 6 burpees every time. This will give you a quick cardio workout. If you want to do 3 sets, try and only rest about 1 minute between each set. Good luck and check out next week for the final post on my 100 burpee challenge.
David
David,
thanks so much again. and burpees are hard! i can barely do 10 in one set. whats worse is that i cant even keep it up. so right now, im trying to as much as i can until i drop, then contiune to go on. eventually, i just give up =/
David,
I apologize for asking so many questions. But when I was at the gym doing burpees today, a trainer came to me and told me that what I was doing would help me lose weight, but not put on muscle. Is this true? Because honestly, I can’t tell the difference. From my understanding, burpees is a ‘full body workout’ which I thought meant that I was putting on muscle while burning fat. Please lead me in the right direction.
Thanks,
Jonathan
Jonathan,
The trainer is right, to a point. If you have extra fat to burn off the burpees will help do that. They will help you build a foundation of muscle. If you really want to add a lot of muscle you will have to lift weights (dead lifts, squats, presses). Burpees are a full body workout and will also build your cardio. But to really put on muscle you have to lift heavy things.
David
So doing push-ups wouldnt increase the muscle in my pecs?
Jonathan,
It will over time. But lifting weights is a faster way to accomplish a bigger chest.
David
I started burpees a year or so ago. I do Ashtanga yoga mostly, and a burpee is a bit like one of the transitions in the Sun Salutation. After seeing burpees done in the gym I decided to try, and they really help with my yoga too. Not sure I can quite do 100 though! Sets of 10 are enough.
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Marcia,
Well I think that Yoga is hard too. Keep at it and watch your elbows. Mine started hurting when I started doing them everyday.
David
And my wrists! Once I dropped a little too quickly, got too enthusiastic I think! Learnt to go slow now.
If I had the option to do just one exercise, I will do burpees. I find it to be the best and most challenging bodyweight exercise. Improves strength and stamina with just one exercise.