People often ask me, "Jocelyn, what is your favorite exercise?" Without a doubt, I always answer Burpees! Burpees are the shit. In my opinion, they are the ultimate exercise. What are burpees? A burpee is a compound exercise: a combination of a squat, a push-up, and a vertical jump. It is similar to a squat thrust, but there is a jump at the end, which separates the "boys from the men". It requires strength, balance, endurance, and flexibility. It increases cardio endurance while working the entire body, including the core muscles. The burpees is a highly challenging and effective exercise. I love incorporating them in my classes and personal workouts. The burpee can also be modified in different ways, which can stave off boredom.
To perform a basic burpee, just follow these instructions:
Begin in a squat position with hands on the floor in front of you.
Kick your feet back to a pushup position.
Immediately return your feet to the squat position.
Leap up as high as possible from the squat position.
When performing burpees, the key is to perform them in quick succession in order to get the conditioning benefits this exercise is famous for.
Benefits of Burpee
Strength Training- Burpees are a great exercise in order to build and strengthen muscles. Some of the muscles worked during a burpee include trapezoids, lower back, pectorals, deltoids, triceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves, quadriceps, and abdominals.
Aerobic Exercise- Doing burpees for 15 to 30 minutes constitutes a full cardio workout. This exercise will keep the heart rate up at a maximum rate. (A great workout to do when you can't get to the gym or on vacation).
Flexibility- Burpees provide an increase in flexibility in areas of the body such as the back, hips, legs, and core.
Weight Loss - Burpees are a great fat burner and can be used effectively to lose excess weight. It's pretty apparent, when you are gasping for breath and your muscles are burning, that you are getting you ass kicked by these funny named exercises.
Cardiovascular Endurance- Burpees are useful for reducing muscle fatigue for long athletic events, as they improve cardiovascular endurance.
Tone Muscles- Because the burpees work numerous muscles and areas of the body, muscle tone becomes much improved with frequent exercising, creating a better looking appearance.
Time Efficient & Convenient- The burpee is a very convenient exercise; it requires no equipment and can be done almost anywhere. Also, this exercise is not time consuming and does not require going to a gym or getting out any equipment.
Inexpensive- Because the burpee requires no gym or equipment, it provides a highly inexpensive workout.
Since most muscles of the body are used during a burpee, some say that they stress the body into producing higher levels of testosterone, which is useful in building more lean muscle and dropping excess body fat.
Drawbacks of Burpees
The burpee is a great exercise, but it should not be the one and only aerobic and strength exercise used. It does not adequately train some of the muscle groups, such as the pulling muscles (unless a pull-up variation is included). You can do a burpee underneath a pull up bar, and jump up to the bar and complete a pullup- CRAZY FUCKING HARDCORE!
For these reasons, burpees should be added to a well-rounded aerobic and strength training workout program.
On Monday, I'll be doing the 100 day burpee challenge... any takers?
Day 1 = 1 burpee.
Day 2 = 2 burpees.
Day 100 = 100 burpees.
Day 101 = Rest.
Day 102 = "Hey, shouldn't I be doing burpees?"
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