The burpee exercise is one of the most common bodyweight exercises you can do, and it’s not hard to see why with its immense health benefits that help you get fit and improve your overall fitness. But what exactly is the burpee exercise? And how do you do it correctly? This article will discuss all things burpees, so let’s jump right in! What Is Burpee Exercise? and the benefits of burpees exercise
What Is Burpees Exercise?
Before we delve into how to do burpees properly, let’s take a quick look at what burpees are. As fitness trends change from year to year, it’s important that you know what exercises are out there. What Is Burpees Exercise? The burpee exercise, also known as a burpee for short, is a full-body compound exercise. In other words, it works your arms, legs, chest, back and abs.
Benefits Of Burpees Exercise
The Benefits Of Burpees Exercise include a great workout for full body muscle groups. The upper body engages in shoulder pressing action while other muscles are engaged in lifting leg and shoulder movements as one drops down into an airborne-squat position. The knee joints are often strengthened by encouraging them to absorb more stress than they usually handle during running or jumping activities such as basketball or football.
Burns a substantial number of calories.
To get rid of fat or build muscle, one of the best exercises you can do is the burpee. In just five minutes, you can burn between 50 and 100 calories. That’s an impressive amount of calories in such a short period. Not only that, but burpees work virtually every muscle in your body (legs, arms, back, chest), meaning it’s also a powerful total-body exercise. So if you’re looking for fast results with minimal equipment – as well as something fun to do – add burpees into your workout routine!
Provides a full-body workout
Burpees provide a full-body workout. That’s because they work with every major muscle group in your body, including your arms, shoulders, chest, abs, legs, and glutes. So if you’re looking for an all-in-one exercise that works out most of your muscles without requiring equipment or training sessions at a gym—burpees are for you. And don’t worry about being perfect: It’s better to do burpees with bad form than not at all. You can improve your technique over time as you continue doing them regularly.
Burns fat and increases stamina
Burpees are a high-intensity cardio exercise that builds both strength and endurance. They are a form of interval training that can help you lose fat faster than other types of exercise. Just 20 minutes of burpees five days per week for four weeks has been shown to improve aerobic capacity by about 15 percent, increase metabolism by about 300 calories per day, decrease body fat, reduce blood pressure, and lower heart rate in men with metabolic syndrome. When done correctly, burpees are a very effective way to lose weight fast!
Suitable for every level of fitness
Burpees are suitable for every level of fitness, but just because they’re a beginner-friendly exercise doesn’t mean they don’t provide benefits for more advanced exercisers. An explosive full-body movement, burpees improve muscular endurance as well as strength. Promote functional fitness, burpees may also help you run faster or jump higher. It all depends on how you do them. Here’s how to do burpees correctly and safely, and variations you can try if you want an easier or more challenging burpee option.
How To Do A Perfect Burpee
The burpee is a full-body exercise that trains you in both anaerobic and aerobic endurance. It’s a great way to torch fat quickly, but it’s also one of the toughest bodyweight exercises around. Below are step-by-step instructions on how to do a perfect burpee so you can start getting in shape today!
1. Start standing with your feet together and hands at your sides.
2. Bend down into a squat position with your arms extended out in front of you.
3. Kick your legs back into plank position while simultaneously pushing yourself up into a jump using your arms for momentum. Your legs should be extended behind you as if jumping over something—this will be considered one rep when done correctly.
4. When you land, immediately bend down again into a squat position and bring your knees toward your chest. Then stand up again to complete another rep. That’s one burpee! Continue doing burpees until you reach your desired number of reps.
How to make it more challenging?
As you get stronger, add more repetitions or increase the speed at which you perform each rep to make things more challenging. There are lots of different variations of burpees that you can try once you’ve mastered these steps:
Burpee With Push Up
Video by Pavel Danilyuk
Burpee With Push Up: Instead of just bringing your knees toward your chest after jumping up from the plank position, lower yourself down into a pushup position before returning to the plank and then jumping back up.
Knee to elbow Burpee
Knee-to-Elbow Burpee: After landing from your jump, instead of bending down into a squat position right away, bring one knee up to touch your elbow before returning to plank and jumping back up. Repeat with the other leg.
Burpee With Twist
Burpee With Twist: After landing from your jump, twist 90 degrees so that you’re facing sideways instead of forward. Bring one knee toward your chest and then extend it straight out in front of you as you return to the plank position. Repeat with the other leg.
Burpee With Jump
Burpee With Jump: After landing from your jump, kick your legs back into plank position and then jump straight up as high as possible. Land softly and repeat by kicking your legs back into plank position.
One-Legged Burpee
One-Legged Burpee: Perform a normal burpee except kick only one leg back into plank position instead of two. This variation makes for a tougher workout because you have to work harder than usual to keep balance during the movement.
Burpee To Box
Video by cottonbro
Burpee To Box: Stand in front of a sturdy box or bench that’s about knee height. Place your hands on top of it and then jump up onto it. Step off, turn around, and jump back onto it before repeating burpees as normal. The higher box you use, the more difficult burpees become. You can also increase the difficulty by performing single-legged burpees to a box rather than regular ones
Burpee Ladder
Burpee Ladder: Perform a set number of burpees (such as 10) followed by a short rest period (such as 30 seconds). Once your rest period is over, continue with another set of burpees. Continue in intervals like this until you’ve completed however many sets you want to do. The idea here is that each time you finish a set, you’ll go faster than last time since you won’t need as much rest between sets.
Burpee Climb
Burpee Climb: Stand underneath a pull-up bar and grab hold of it. Perform a burpee, but instead of jumping upward, pull your chest up to meet your hands and then lower yourself back down into a squat position. Complete as many burpees as you can without letting go of the bar. If you don’t have access to a pull-up bar, you can substitute a low wall that you’ll need to climb over.
Burpee Broad Jumps
Burpee Broad Jumps: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and jump as far forward as you can. Immediately drop into a squat position and jump back to where you started.
One-Armed Burpee
One-Armed Burpee: Grab a dumbbell in one hand and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Perform a burpee, but instead of jumping up, press your arm overhead to help give you extra momentum. Switch arms halfway through your burpees if you’d like to change it up.
3 Alternative Exercises If You Can't Do A Perfect Burpee
A burpee is a great exercise to have in your fitness routine. It is a full-body exercise that can be done anywhere and it will work your entire body. But, if you can’t do a perfect burpee, don’t worry! There are plenty of other exercises for you to try out.
Squat Jumps
Photo by Monstera
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart or wider and squat down so that your thighs are parallel to the ground. Jump up as high as you can and land softly in the same position you started in. This is an explosive movement with an emphasis on jumping up rather than bending at the waist while jumping.
Push-ups
Place hands on the ground, shoulder-width apart or wider, then walk hands out until they are at about arm’s length from your body. Your toes should still be pointing towards your head. Lower down into a push-up position with your hands in front of you. Push up with your arms until they are straight again, then repeat.
Sit-ups
Photo by Polina Tankilevitch
Sit on the ground, placing your feet on the ground and knees bent at right angles to the floor. Reach forward with both hands and place your opposite hand on the ground behind you. Push up with your arms until they are straight again, then repeat.
