Burpees

A guide to the fundamental Burpees exercise for developing elite fitness, strength and fat loss. 

Main muscle worked	Quads
Other muscle worked	Abs
Equipment	Bodyweight only
Mechanics type	Compound

How to do burpees

The burpee described below incorporates a jump movement at the end of the exercise to increase power output and activity levels. 

1. Begin in a squat position with hands on the floor, slightly wider than shoulder width.
2. Kick feet back to the starting push-up position.
3. Immediately return feet to the squat position. 
4. Jump up as high as possible from the squat, and drop back down to the starting position. 
5. Repeat the exercise, moving as fast as possible. 

Notes:

• Maintain a fast pace for the burpee exercise and jump as high as possible. 
• Keep movements smooth, fluid and controlled. 

Burpees exercise guide

The burpee is a full-body conditioning exercise that can be performed with very little space with nothing other than your bodyweight. This makes it an excellent impromptu workout or for exercising on the road.

Burpees are a great test of agility, coordination and general conditioning whilst promoting effective fat loss due to the intensity and speed of the movements. 

Essentially the burpee movement is actually several exercises performed together in rapid succession. This simple string of movements means that the exercise can be performed for high repetitions at high intensity, making it a good choice for general conditioning.

Try picking a number of burpee repetitions and record the length of time it takes to complete. Over time you can whittle the time down as you progress. As a starting goal try 100 burpees in under ten minutes. 

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Burpees for beginners

If you're not quite up to full burpees and looking for an easier variation of the exercise you can omit the jump movement from the final portion of the burpee. Instead of leaping in the air (step 4) simply rise back up to the original starting position and repeat the exercise. 

Alternatively, simply scale the volume of burpees appropriate to your fitness level by lowering the target number of reps.

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Advanced burpees

When you've mastered the standard burpee outlined above the simplest way to increase the intensity and effectiveness of the exercise is to introduce additional weight or resistance. 

You can introduce weight to the burpee by performing the exercise whilst wearing a weighted vest or holding dumbbells (as pictured above). 

Resistance bands also offer an interesting an effective means of increasing the difficulty of the standard burpee. Try wrapping a band round each foot, then over the shoulders. 

Alternatively see the many burpee variations described below to add more complex and targeted elements to the exercise.

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Burpees exercise variations

Try these variations on the standard burpee to add some spice to the exercise -

• Weighted burpees: Hold dumbbells or wear a weighted vest to introduce additional weight.
• Burpee push-up: Add an actual push-up at stage 2 of the exercise. Also try introducing the push-up clap, if you're particularly strong. 
• Long jump burpee: At position 4 jump forward as far as you can, instead of upward. 
• Tuck jump burpee: Whilst jumping in the air pull the knees close into the chest and extend back out upon landing. 
• Jump-over burpee: During the jumping portion of the exercise jump over an obstacle. 
• Box jump burpee: Jump onto a box instead of straight up (see box jump in plyometrics exercises).
• Pull-up burpee: Perform a pull-up exercise on rings or a bar when jumping (see pull-up).
• Wall ball burpee: Grip a wall ball or medicine ball during the burpee