It just takes 10 minutes to get started with Burpees exercises!

Introduction

Despite their comical name and probably not being as well-known as pushups or squats, burpees are a tough workout that trains several of your body’s primary muscle groups.

A burpee is a two-part exercise consisting of a pushup followed by an air leap.

Doing many burpees in a row can be exhausting, but the benefits may outweigh the effort, especially if you want to build strength and endurance while burning calories and boosting your cardio fitness.

Here’s how to execute burpees correctly and safely, as well as variations you can try if you prefer an easier or more challenging burpee.

What is a Burpee?

Burpees are a rigorous workout that works for practically every muscle group in your body. It was named after physiologist Royal H. Burpee, who devised it as a fitness test in the 1930s.

It was originally composed of four different positions that were repeated four times in order to measure a person’s heart rate and how quickly it returned to normal. Burpees are regarded to be a superb combination of strength and cardio training.

That is, they not only raise your heart rate but also tone and build your muscles. Though this exercise is often a mix of a squat thrust and a squat jump, it can be modified to make it more challenging and useful.

What are the benefits of a burpee?

Consider the following benefits if you’re on the fence about burpees.

Expended Calories

The majority of people can do 20 burpees in one minute. Based on this, the table below shows how many calories you can burn by executing one minute of constant burpees.

A 155-pound person may burn around 250 calories by practising burpees for 20 minutes, according to this calculation. Burpees performed at a higher intensity burn more calories.

It gives you a full-body workout.

Burpees are a type of callisthenic exercise. This suggests they’re resisting your body weight. Burpees are a full-body callisthenics workout that aims to improve lower and upper-body muscle strength and endurance.

Burpees work the muscles in your legs, hips, buttocks, abdomen, arms, chest, and shoulders.

Enhances cardiovascular fitness and fat burning

Burpees can be used as part of a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) routine. HIIT is a type of cardio workout that consists of short bursts of intense exercise followed by a brief rest period.

HIIT may be an efficient approach for burning body fat, particularly around the belly and stomach, according to a study. Furthermore, according to a large study conducted in 2015, engaging in more intense forms of exercise appears to be associated with living a longer life.

Burpees, in addition to burning fat, can provide a number of other cardiovascular benefits, such as:

• enhanced heart and lungs
• improved blood flow
• reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes
• lower blood pressure
• reduce cholesterol levels
• improved brain function

Adaptable and convenient

Burpees do not necessitate any extra equipment. To perform the motion, all you need is your own body weight and ample space.

Burpees are an excellent way to get your blood flowing even if you live in a small apartment, hotel room, or office. You may simply add variety to the standard burpee by adding weights or an extra pushup or jump.

Proper Form And Breathing Pattern

If you want to add burpees into your workout programme, you must focus on maintaining proper technique. Keep your back straight and your core engaged at all times to maintain a natural and regular breathing pattern throughout the activity. Burpees, if done incorrectly, can put your body at risk of injury.

How to do a burpee

The easiest way to describe a burpee is to think of it as a pushup followed by a jump squat.

• Begin with a squat, knees bent, back straight, and feet shoulder-width apart.
• Hands should be on the floor in front of you, somewhat within your feet.
• Kick your feet back, putting your weight on your hands and toes in a pushup stance.
• Perform one pushup with your body straight from head to heels. Keep your back straight and your buttocks up in the air.
• To do a frog kick, return your feet to their starting position.
• Extend your arms above your head and stand up.
• Rapidly jump into the air and land back where you started.
• Rep in a squat stance one more time.

How to Make It Easier

If a conventional burpee is too difficult at first, you can modify it to make it easier. Try these burpee variations if you’re new to them:

Instead of doing pushups, jump. To begin, perform a squat thrust. It starts like a burpee, but instead of doing a pushup and then jumping up, you squat, kick your legs back into a pushup posture and then return to your starting stance.

You can skip ahead. Instead of jumping into the air after the pushup, simply return to the squat position.

Remove the pushup. Hold a plank position for a few seconds instead if your chest muscles or shoulders aren’t ready for pushups. Until your strength develops, you might also try a partial pushup.

One of the most important benefits of a burpee workout is that it helps to strengthen and stabilise your core. This, in turn, helps to prevent injuries, pains, and postural problems.

Burpee workout benefits include improving range of motion, coordination, balance, and mobility, which is similar to squat benefits. This increases your energy, raises your confidence, and allows you to get more done in a day.

Another great benefit of the burpee workout is that it can be done practically anywhere without the need for expensive equipment. They can be done at home, in the park, or even when travelling in your hotel room.

Which burpee varieties should you experiment with?

Do you like to put your strength to the test and try new exercises? Do you want to know how to perform a burpee variation? Here are some great burpee exercise variations to help you build endurance and strength:

Burpees with weights:

In this form, you must include dumbbells in your routine. Instead of jumping, raise both weights above your head. Return to the starting position by lowering the weights to your sides.

Mountain Climber Burpees:

To perform this high-endurance burpee variation, bend over and assume a plank position. As if you were sprinting, move one leg towards your chest while moving the other. Rep on the other side before returning to a standing position. Keep taking note that this version does not include any jumping movements.

Spiderman Burpees:

This is a powerful advanced burpee variation that works both your upper and lower body. Perform a pushup with your right knee close to your right elbow. Continue with another pushup, bringing your left knee to your left elbow this time. Return to a standing position and complete a knee jump before ending the workout.

How to make it more challenging

There are several ways to ramp up the difficulty of a standard burpee. Here are three examples.

Box jump burpees

You’ll need a plyo box, a bench, or another substantial item to support your weight for this variation.

• Stand in front of the box in your typical squat stance, but instead of falling down to the floor for a pushup, do a modified pushup with your hands on the box or bench.
• Then, rather than jumping into the air, hop up on the box.
• Land lightly on the floor, knees bent, and proceed to the next exercise.

Burpees on a Bosu ball

You’ll need a Bosu ball with the flat side up for this variation.

• Begin in a squat with your knees bent and your hands on the outer borders of the Bosu ball.
• Holding the Bosu ball, lower your hands to the floor.
• While performing a pushup, position the Bosu ball exactly beneath you and your hands on a flat surface.
• Then, while standing straight up, hold the opposing edges of the Bosu ball and pull it above your head.
• Lower it to the floor and do it again.

Dumbbells burpees

• Begin in a squat with a 5-pound dumbbell in each hand.
• With the dumbbells beneath your shoulders, lower yourself to the ground. Hold on to the dumbbells as you perform the pushup.
• Instead of jumping, stand with both dumbbells raised above your head.
• Return to the starting position by lowering the weights to your sides.
• You can leap while holding the dumbbells for an added challenge, but only if you can effortlessly control the weights.

Safety Advice

Burpees, like any other exercise, are only beneficial if done correctly and without injury.

Begin slowly and with simply a few repetitions. Consider increasing the number of reps after you’re familiar with the motion and can complete it without pain.

Work up to 8 or 10 reps in a row before pausing and repeating the set.

Burpees can exercise taxing on your wrists and shoulders since you must lower to a pushup position. Take care not to fall too rapidly and twist your wrist.

Make sure you understand the foundations of the programme before adding weights, more pushups, or leaps.

To summarise

Burpees are a difficult exercise. What makes them exhausting and tough is also what makes them extremely effective exercises for increasing strength, endurance, and cardiac fitness.

If you’re not sure how to do a burpee, seek the help of a qualified personal trainer. Also, if you’re new to fitness or high-intensity interval training, or if you have a medical condition, see your doctor before beginning burpees.