Burpees
Primary Muscle Group: Full Body
Secondary Muscle Group:
Equipment Needed: None
The Benefits of Burpees
Burpees are one of the most challenging bodyweight exercises you can do and for that reason, they play a role in many athlete’s workout plans. Burpees use just about every muscle in your body to do it properly which means it’s an excellent for improving you cardio vascular fitness. They're also used by many, as part of their fat loss plan.
The Burpee exercise is a plyometric movement that works muscles such as your Chest, Shoulders, Ads, legs, glutes and arms. Because of the wide range of muscles, it’s great for full body workout plans that you can do at home, in the gym or a hotel room workout.
Fun Fact: Burpees originated in the military as a way of dodging bullets!
For workout plans where we have incorporated Burpees into the workout make sure you check out our Free Workout Plans and our other Full Workout Plans that can be done in the gym, home or even in a hotel room when travelling or on holiday!
The Risks of doing Burpees
When performing a burpee, it’s really important that you keep your abs and hip flexors engaged because if you don’t it can lead to a high risk of lower back injuries, spinal joint injuries and spinal disk injuries. These injuries happen because these joints and the surrounding muscles are not designed to take the weight or impact of this exercise, hence why you use your abs and hip flexors etc. to take most of the weight and impact.
But to get the most from every rep and do the exercise safely, you need to know how to do a burpee first excellent technique. Below you can see a step by step guide along with illustrations and a video so please read & watch these before adding a burpee to your workout routine.
How To Do Burpees
1. Start by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, weight in your heels, and your arms at your sides.
2. Push your hips back, bend your knees, and lower your body into a squat.
3. Place your hands on the floor directly in front of, and just inside, your feet. Transition your weight onto your hands.
4. Jump your feet back to softly land on the balls of your feet in a plank position. Your body should form a straight line from your head to heels. Be careful not to let your back sag or your bum stick up in the air, as both can keep you from effectively working your core.
5. Jump your feet back so that they land just outside of your hands.
6. Reach your arms over head and explosively jump up into the air.
7. Land and immediately lower back into a squat for your next rep.
For Perfect Technique
1. Burpees is a demanding movement on the body so make sure you have properly Warmed Up and you've done some mobility work, including press-ups, lunges and squats, to loosen up your joints.
2. You can are struggling with this exercise you can break it down into sections and practice it until you are comfortable with it.
Variations
Once you have mastered the Burpee exercise you can try alternative exercises that target similar muscle groups such as;
How To Do A Press Up
1. Start by lying on your front.
2. Place your hands on the floor shoulder width apart and your feet slightly apart.
3. Using your elbows push up off the ground, making sure your abs are tight and your spine is in neutral position.
4. Slowly lower your chest towards the floor by bending your elbows and keeping your back straight.
How To Do A Jumping Lunge
1. Start with your feet shoulder width apart and you abdominal muscles tight.
2. Then, take one big step forward with your right leg, keeping your arms by your side.
3. Move your weight forward onto your front foot so that your foot is flat on the floor and then lower your body until your front foot is parallel to the floor.
4. Explosively, jump up in the air from the bottom position & quickly switch the position of your feet while mid-air so your right leg moves back behind you and your left leg comes forward. You can propel your arms to help get momentum. To help you move explosively, propel your arms into the air while you jump.
5. Gently land back on the floor in a basic lunge position with the opposite leg forward.