What The Hey’s A Burpee?

It may sound like a gastrointestinal complaint, but in reality, a burpee is one of the oldest old-school bodyweight exercises out there.  Nobody’s really 100% sure where it came from or who invented it (there’s plenty of theories floating around out there), but the only thing that matter is, the burpee is a easy, free exercise pretty much anybody can do.

Like most bodyweight exercises, the burpee is really quite safe.  If you can jump up in the air and do a push-up without hurting yourself, you can do burpees.  In fact, that’s pretty much all a burpee is; a squat jump combined with a push-up.

Just What Is A Burpee?

Here’s how the exercise is performed.  Stand normally with your feet at shoulder width.  Bend your knees to squat straight down until you can put both hands flat on the ground next to your feet.

After that, shoot your legs backward so that now you’re in the push-up position with your arms straight (also called the plank position).  Lower yourself down into a pushup, then push yourself back up to a plank.

Draw your legs back underneath you so they are next to your hands again, and jump up into the air.  That’s one repetition.

The burpee is designed to be done for many repetitions, like a push-up or crunch.  Of course, you can try to make it harder by doing all kinds of crazy variations, like adding a pull-up.  In that variant, you end the burpee by jumping up to a pull-up bar, doing a pull-up, and then dropping down to a standing position on each rep.

Or, you could alter the push-up by making it a more explosive push-up, the kind where you spring up high enough into the air so you can clap your hands.  Really, you can alter the burpee however you like to make it suit you more effectively.

Here’s a video of a very fit women doing a modified burpee as part of a circuit training routine:

Can’t do a push-up yet?  You can modify the burpee as follows.  After you lower yourself into the plank position, take a half-second and rest your knees on the ground.  This will make the push-up easier to do until you build up enough strength in your arms to handle a “proper” push-up.

Who Should Do Burpees?

Simply put, anyone and everyone can and should mix some burpees into their exercise program.  It’s a great, simple, all-around full body exercise.  Multi-joint exercises, in general, are fantastic for rapid weight loss and building up functional strength and agility.  And, as I mentioned, they’re pretty mild to do… that is, for one repetition.  Start doing a bunch of burpees in a row, and you’ll quickly see how challenging they can really become.

The biggest advantages of the burpee exercise is that you don’t need any equipment whatsoever, and really, not much space at all.  Actually, the main space requirements are that you won’t hit your head on anything as you jump up into the air!  So for people who travel a lot, or can’t get to a gym, the burpee is a great exercise to help them either get or stay in shape.

Also, as I mentioned, since they’re pretty easy to do, burpees are great for beginners who aren’t quite ready (either physically or emotionally) to join a gym.  But make no mistake, advanced athletes should mix burpees into their routine as well from time to time.

Stay healthy!