The burpee is an exceptionally challenging whole-body exercise that raises your heart rate and develops strength, power and endurance. Here’s how to perform it.
WHAT
- The burpee is a high intensity exercise, that targets the whole body.
- The exercise combines upper body, core and lower body movements, which effectively increases heart rate.
- This classic exercise can EVOlve by adding a jump, like a simple squat jump, or even a lateral jump over a box.
HOW
- Start in a standing position and engage the core.
- Begin the movement by quickly bending down, reaching the hands towards the floor in front of the feet. As you do this, simultaneously jump, bringing your legs back and land on the floor in a push-up position
- Perform a push-up and on the way up, drive the hips up rapidly and jump into a squat position. Return to upright and repeat continuously for reps or time.
Training progression – when you have built a good level of endurance and control (usually when you can perform ten reps with the proper technique) you can add a squat jump at the top of the movement.
WHY
- The burpee is an intense exercise, and for this reason, it’s often avoided in workouts – even by those who are generally fit and active.
- While many can squat or perform a push-up separately, the continuous movement between both is often hard to achieve, due to the high cardiovascular demands. For this reason alone, it should be a staple exercise for anyone interested in no fuss, high-intensity training.
- While it may not be a popular movement, burpees will build high levels of strength, power, strength-endurance and cardiovascular endurance in a short space of time – which will transfer to almost any recreational and sporting activity.
