Five Reasons Why Burpees Should Be Your Favorite Exercise - 12 Minute Athlete
Nov 27, 2012
What do extreme athletes, elite military forces, and football teams have in common?
They all embrace burpees and regularly include them in their workout routines.
Lots, and lots, of burpees.
But burpees aren’t just beneficial for hardcore athletes or certified badasses…
They’re for everyone.
Because not only will burpees
turn you into an athlete, they’ll also help you scorch fat, rev up your metabolism and get you conditioned like no other exercise can do.
But what the heck is a burpee…
And why should you care?
Burpee basics
Burpees are an awesome, calorie-torching, strength-building, full body exercise.
Later in this post, you’ll learn
why you should love them. But first, you need to know how exactly to actually
do a burpee.
Just follow these simple steps:
- First, get into a squat position with your hands on the floor in front of you.
- Kick your feet back into a push up position.
- Return your feet back to the squat position as fast as possible.
- Immediately jump up into the air as high as you can.
- Add a little clap for pizzazz!
To see how it’s done, and to get a better idea of the pace you should try and keep, take a look at this instructional video where I show you exactly how to do a proper burpee:
Burpees are all about speed, but don’t go too fast…or you’ll burn yourself out after doing just a few.
Trust me.
And now, here are five reasons why burpees are awesome—and why they should be your new favorite exercise:
1. They burn mega calories
Burpees make your body a fat burning machine.
That’s because since burpees are an intense fully body exercise, they burn a shitload of calories. Plus, research shows that high intensity exercises like burpees burn up to 50% more fat than moderate exercising.
And better yet, they speed up your metabolism throughout the day—meaning you’ll burn more calories all day long, even after your burpee hell is over.
So if you want to lose weight, ditch the recumbent bike and elliptical machine—and do some burpees instead.
2. They make you stronger
The burpee is a full body strength training exercise and the ultimate example of
functional fitness.
With every rep, you’ll work your arms, chest, quads, glutes, hamstrings, and abs. After a few sets of burpees, your legs should feel a little bit like lead.
3. They’re great for conditioning
Why do you think burpees are embraced in the hardest of workouts (like CrossFit)?
Because they’re great for developing conditioning and endurance! And they get your heart rate up—fast.
Burpees are a great way to get in shape quickly, whether your goal is to
learn a new sport, train for a triathlon, hike a big mountain, or, just to look good.
4. They’re portable and require no equipment
The best thing about burpees? They require absolutely no equipment.
That’s right. Zip. Zero. Zilch.
You can do burpees in your house, in a nearby park, even
in your hotel room.
5. You can add them to almost any workout
Unlike running, which is a slow, monotonous form of exercising (unless you’re sprinting), burpees are fast paced, dynamic, and never boring.
Like I already mentioned, adding burpees to your workout routine will bring you tons of benefits and whip you into shape quicker than you ever thought possible.
However, if you do have equipment available, there are tons of burpee variations you can do to mix things up. Here are a few:
Burpee pull ups. Do a burpee in front of a pull up bar, then do a (jumping) pull up.
Burpee knee ups. Do a burpee in front of your dip station or a set of chairs, then do a knee up.
Burpee box jumps. Do a burpee in front of a box or a high surface you can jump on, then do a box jump.
Be creative and come up with your own!
Give burpees a try
For a really awesome (and challenging) burpee workout, try doing 100 burpees in a row as fast as you can.
Some people look at this as an impossible workout—but it’s all about pacing yourself, and most of all, believing in yourself. See if you can beat my record of 7:41!
If you’re looking for more burpee inspiration, here are some other burpee-filled workouts to try:
Burpee workout #1
Burpee workout #2
Burpee workout #3
Now go do some burpees!
