Just as we eat certain healthy food even when they’re not our favorites, the same goes for workouts: we do them because we know they’re good for us. And when we think of not-so-pleasant exercises, burpees are probably at the top of the list.
The good news is that you don’t have to do burpees as often to reap the health benefits. Here’s everything you need to know, according to the trainers.
The benefits of burpees
Burpees are not only a great way to get your heart rate up, but they can also build strength and endurance. Burpees are a complete full body workout.
“Burpees are a great move to warm up and get your cardio pumping. Burpees work the entire body and improve strength and endurance,” he says. Emily Skyetrainer and creator of physical aptitude program, Emily Skye FIT. “This movement has a cardiovascular element: it gets your heart rate up and your muscles work explosively, including your legs, glutes, upper body, core, and back.”
Related: 19 exercises that are great for your heart, from walking and water aerobics to boxing and burpees
In addition to activating numerous muscle groups, you’ll also burn more calories per minute compared to other workouts.
Burpees activate the entire anterior (front) chain of the body. This includes pecs, delts/anterior shoulders, abdominals, glutes, quads, and hamstrings, as well as obliques and multifidus to stabilize the spine. Since it’s a level-shifting exercise, burpees will raise your heart rate quickly, allowing you to burn more calories per minute. All of this can be tracked while wearing a heart rate monitor, Brooke Taylor says a New York-based personal trainer, owner of Taylored Fitness, and creator of the Brooke Taylor Fit app.
How many burpees do you need to do per week to see results?
This is a great functional training exercise to add to any program designed to maximize your time in the gym and energy expenditure, explains Taylor. Try to cycle in different variations of the exercise to get the most benefits. Too much impact over an extended period of time can cause injury or exhaustion.
This is why Taylor suggests adding a variation of two or three sets of 12 to 15 repetitions in a training regimen over time every two months. This way your body has an adequate amount of time to recover, reset and start, and you will see results.
In some cases, it may be a good idea to implement high repetition burpees. For example, 50-60 burpees with as few breaks as possible, Thoren BradleyMA in Exercise Science, former D1 NCAA strength coach and brand ambassador for C4 Energy, suggests.
However, to get the most out of the burpee, we can use it as a “side dish” with our selection of exercises. Let’s say you’re going to do some leg extensions for four sets of eight reps. You could include eight burpees between each set.
“Now what you’re doing is increasing the oxygen uptake and energy demand of your workout, while simultaneously overloading your quads,” adds Bradley. So with methods like this, not only are you constantly chasing more and more reps, but you’re making your workouts harder by demanding more of yourself between traditional moves. Using this method, just doing 80-100 burpees in a week would allow you to get the most out of the movement.
burpee workouts
Here are some trainer-approved exercises to help you get started:
classic burpees
by skye
How to do it:
- Starting standing with your feet hip-width apart, lower your body into a crouch and place your hands on the floor in front of you.
- Jump back so your feet land together behind you to form a push-up position.
- Do a push-up and then jump back so your feet are under you so you’re in a crouched position again, and jump back to the starting position.
Slide Plate Burpee
“When you go through the full range of motion, the burpee is a great muscle mover and a great calorie burner. The more reps you can fit in 50 seconds, the more calories you’ll burn,” says Skye.
How to do it:
(swipe to continue reading)
- With the slider plates under both feet and shoulder-width apart, reach down to place your hands on the floor in front of you and slide your feet back (at the same time) until your body is in a plank position.
- Bend your knees and slide your feet toward your hands, release your hands from the ground, and return to a squat position, putting your weight on your heels instead of the balls of your feet.
- Keep repeating the movement.
push-ups with burpees
taylor
How to do it:
- Start standing with your legs wider than hip distance apart.
- As you inhale, send your sit bones into a nice deep squat, place your hands directly under your shoulders, and jump your legs back, forming a nice long dart position from head to toe.
- Inhale to lower your body down at a 90-degree angle at your shoulder joint with your elbow.
- Exhale, extend your arms, while jumping your legs to stand up.
- Repeat 10-12x
Burpee Push-Ups to Deadlifts
taylor
How to do it:
- Start by standing with your legs wider than hip-distance apart holding a dumbbell in each hand.
- Inhale to articulate your hips by placing your hands directly under your shoulders.
- Exhaling, jump your legs back into a nice long dart position from head to toe.
- Inhale, lower your body down at a 90-degree angle.
- Exhale to extend your arms, jump your legs back to find a neutral spine, and extend your legs to stand up.
- Repeat 10-12x.
Burpee to front squat deadlift
taylor
How to do it:
- Start by standing with your legs wider than hip-distance apart holding a dumbbell in each hand.
- Inhale to articulate your hips by placing your hands directly under your shoulders.
- Exhaling, jump your legs back into a nice long dart position from head to toe.
- Inhale, lower your body down at a 90-degree angle.
- Exhale to extend your arms, jump your legs back to find a neutral spine, and extend your legs straight.
- Inhale, contract your abs, move your arms up in a bicep curl so they’re in line with your shoulders.
- Then pivot at the hip, sending your sit bones back into a front squat.
- Inhale and extend your legs.
- Repeat 10-12x.
Burpee Push Up a Renegade Row
taylor
How to do it:
- Start standing with your legs wider than hip distance apart.
- As you inhale, send your sit bones back into a nice deep squat position and place your hands directly under your shoulders and jump your legs back into a nice long dart position from head to toe.
- Inhale to lower your body down at a 90-degree angle at your shoulder joint with your elbow.
- Exhale, extend your arms, keeping your core tight and tight with the goal of keeping your hips square as you exhale, pull one elbow back in line with your ribs, then bring it down, then pull the opposite arm back.
- Exhale, bring your legs back to standing.
- Repeat 10-12x
How to Modify a Burpee
Bradley provides an easy, slightly difficult, and more advanced version of burpees.
Make it easier: If you’re not ready for the full pushup, kneel just before the pushup and perform a modified version of the traditional pushup burpee.
Slightly more difficult: Instead of just jumping, add a high knee tuck at the top of your jump.
Even harder: Instead of just increasing reps, we can also add dumbbells to the movement. This opens up a whole new avenue for progressive overload. Remember, it’s becoming more and more important to have robotic form while doing a dumbbell burpee. We don’t want to see any dumbbell movement before the jump, and the dumbbells should stay at your sides as you jump. Start with 2.5 or 5 pound dumbbells until your fitness level warrants more weight.
Next: Here’s Exactly How Many Squats You Need To Do Per Week To See Results, According To Trainers
Sources
- Emily Skyetrainer and fitness program creator, Emily Skye FIT
- Brooke Taylor a New York-based personal trainer, owner of Taylored Fitness, and creator of the Brooke Taylor Fit app
- Thoren BradleyMA in Exercise Science, former NCAA D1 Strength Coach and C4 Energy Brand Ambassador
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