How to do burpees correctly

How to do burpees correctly. For this miracle exercise, all you need is your body and a clean execution. How to do it correctly and what variations there are.

An exercise that is part of almost every HIIT workout ? The burpee, of course. It’s no surprise that the exercise is so popular, as hardly any exercise is as effective as the push-up jump (as the “burpee” is called in German). To do it, you need nothing but your body, a little space and the willingness to put yourself through a little torture, because admittedly, the burpee is not easy and it sometimes takes some effort to tackle the exercise.

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In return, you get a whole host of positive effects, such as an increased metabolism, more strength and improved endurance – provided you do the burpee correctly. Unfortunately, this beautiful bodyweight exercise has a potential for error that should not be underestimated. To ensure that you do the burpee correctly and fully benefit from its advantages, here are the ultimate instructions for a flawless burpee.

What are burpees?

The burpee is, if you look closely, not a single exercise, but rather a combination of several exercises. “A burpee consists of a squat , push-ups and a jump, which are combined into a fluid movement. However, there is no universally accepted definition of the process,” says personal trainer Christoph Bluhm from Hamburg.

The execution looks different depending on the training level and the trainee. For example, there are trainees who briefly lie completely on the floor in the deep push-up position and raise both hands. “The so-called hand-released burpees add a pulling movement to the pressure-heavy whole, as you pull the shoulder blades back as far as possible,” says Bluhm. This variant has become established in CrossFit. In competitions, athletes completed the original exercise faster and faster – until the more difficult version was created.

In addition to CrossFit, the burpee is also one of the basic exercises in Freeletics that appear in pretty much every workout. The reason for this is that both CrossFit and Freeletics rely on “high-intensity interval training” (HIIT for short). As a real all-rounder, the push-up jump is perfect for this. How to finally make your six-pack visible

What does the word ‘burpee’ actually mean?

Why is the ‘burpee’ actually called a burpee? The exercise takes its name from its inventor, the American physiologist Royal Huddleston Burpee. In 1939, he developed the burpee test, a “fitness test for everyone”, which also included the burpee – at least in a simple form, because at that time the elements of the drop and the stretch jump were still missing. Three years later, the US Army integrated burpees into its fitness test program.

There is one warning, however: According to personal trainer Bluhm, you should avoid burpees if you have acute problems with your knees, shoulders and/or back. “Knee problems could get worse, especially when landing from a jump,” says the expert. In that case, you can do the burpee in one of its countless variations (see below), such as a knee-friendly half burpee without a jump.

Doing Burpees correctly: How to do the exercise correctly

There are now a variety of burpees. The classic version starts with your feet hip-width apart. From this position, bend forward, bring your hands to the floor and your feet back. From there, you get into a deep push-up position and push yourself back up. Instead of standing, you jump forward and land on both feet, followed immediately by a straight jump with your hands together above your head.

Chris Bluhm’s clients have to do an extra round of burpees because they have to lie down on the floor after the push-up and briefly lift their hands off the floor – the CrossFit variation mentioned above. “This turns the movement into a real full-body exercise with moments of pressure and pull,” says the professional. Bluhm is not a fan of not completely lowering the chest. This means that important elements that cover the “range of motion” are lost, and some muscles remain unused, says the trainer. How to train for the steel-hard stomach of an eight-pack

Typical execution errors: What can I do wrong when doing a burpee?

Even if a burpee sounds very simple in theory, you often see adventurous variations in practice that only have a distant connection to the push-up jump. “Some people are more like a seal when they do it because they work without abdominal tension, their back is overextended when standing up and sags in the push-up position,” says personal trainer Bluhm. The most important thing for a burpee is a strong torso, which reduces the risk of injury and makes the burpee a real full-body exercise that also benefits the core. Other mistakes that are often seen when doing the burpee are an overextended back and a shoulder position that is too low when doing the push-up.

“Many people land on their toes rather than on their whole foot when doing push-ups, pushing their knees far forward – that’s not very ergonomic,” explains the CrossFit HH trainer. When landing, the knees can fall inwards uncontrollably, which increases the risk of injury. Even if this prejudice persists, it is not a problem to push the knees past the toes. However, this requires that the movement is carried out in a controlled manner and with the whole foot on the ground.

Basically, you should always keep control of the movement when doing a burpee by landing on your whole foot in a slightly wider position. Avoid falling to the ground like a wet sack – otherwise you risk injuring tendons, ligaments and joints. Be careful The best 6 endurance sports for losing weight

burpees

level	main region
Advanced	whole body

exercise steps

1. From an upright standing position, get into the push-up position by placing your hands on the floor and jumping backwards with your feet.
2. Tighten your core and buttocks so that your body forms a straight line. Perform push-ups. The lowest point is when your chest touches the floor.
3. Straighten your arms and lift your upper body off the ground. Jump off the ground with both feet and land as close to your hands as possible.
4. Push off the ground with force using your legs. Jump as high into the air as possible, stretching your arms vertically above your head. Land with both legs upright.

Burpees & Effects: What are the benefits of burpees?

“Burpees are a great exercise for increasing endurance. Depending on how many repetitions are involved, strength endurance or reactive strength improves,” says personal trainer Bluhm. Let’s say you aim to do 1,000 burpees in a row, you will improve your endurance considerably. If you integrate the burpee into a short, sharp HIIT workout instead, your reactive strength will be at its best.

However you do burpees, the exercise has the advantage that you can do them anywhere, without any additional equipment and using only your muscle power. You don’t even have to change location and you can get fit on the spot with push-up jumps. You also burn a lot of energy: depending on the weight and speed of the exercise, you burn around 10 calories per minute of burpees.

If burning calories is less important to you and you’re primarily looking to increase your strength, Coach Bluhm says you should prioritize other exercises, such as push-ups. “Burpees and push-ups are often confused. Push-ups are about maintaining a straight line, while burpees are about soft, fluid movements,” explains the trainer. You can turn a burpee workout into a real full-body workout by adding a pulling movement to the jumping exercise – such as rowing on a sling trainer or on rings. Fancy a little challenge? Full Bodyweight Exercises for Weight Loss for Beginners

Which muscles benefit from the burpee?

The exercise involves the thighs, buttocks, chest, triceps, shoulders and the back extensors. “Since it is very important to build and maintain core tension when doing burpees, core strength also improves,” says expert Bluhm.

What are burpees good for?

Burpees keep you alert. Not just you – but also your metabolism. This was shown by a study by the American College of Sports Medicine, which showed that 10 super-fast burpees have the same effect on the metabolism as a 30-second, all-out sprint. “Because you’re working in the anaerobic range, your heart has to pump properly, your blood circulates faster and your breathing races. Your metabolism is therefore running at full speed, even long after training,” explains the coach.

To ensure that you actually achieve the same weight-loss effect as sprinting, you should do at least 5 to 10 minutes of burpees. Ideally, you should alternate the time between short, extra-intensive bursts of exertion and phases in which your pulse can calm down for a moment. Admittedly, this is incredibly strenuous, but it is more effective than almost anything else. Beginners and advanced users alike benefit from this type of training. As a beginner, you should concentrate on the movement sequence and take it relatively easy. It is best to go through the individual movements briefly one at a time and gradually combine them into a fluid sequence.

“The good thing about the burpee is that everyone can decide for themselves how quickly they perform it. Once you have internalized the movement, there are no speed limits,” says Bluhm. To prepare your joints for the exercise, the professional recommends stretching briefly and circling your arms. You can then use the burpee as a warm-up move for a subsequent workout. Can I build muscle even with light weight?

How many burpees should I do?

How many burpees should you do? That depends on what you want. If you’re planning on joining the US Army, you should be able to do at least 27 push-up jumps in 60 seconds. “Doing 40 or more burpees is very advanced. 30 is very good, 20 is good, and everything before that is considered beginner level,” explains the expert, who himself does 28 burpees per minute.

But you can also approach the question differently and test in your personal fitness check how long it takes you to do 100 repetitions. “Anything between 4 and 5 minutes is really good, advanced users need 5 to 7 minutes and as a beginner you need to be moving for between 10 and 11 minutes,” says Bluhm. If you are in between, you are well on your way to reaching the next level. But before you get too caught up in the numbers, make sure you do it correctly.

“I can tell from the speed at which my clients perform the exercise how many more repetitions they can do. If someone is slow to get up or loses tension in their body, they need a break.” As always, quality is more important than quantity.

Goal 100 or 1000 burpees: How do I do more burpees?

Lord of the Burpees: The world record holder for doing burpees is the American Lloyd Weema. In 2013, he managed a total of 9,480 (!) burpees in a row. “There are no limits when it comes to repetitions. You keep going until you can’t stand up anymore because of the pain,” says Bluhm. Perhaps that’s the reason why there are various 1000 burpees challenges circulating online. Whether such challenges are really good for the body is another question, however. “In my opinion, that makes very little sense,” says the expert. Because: “With that amount of work, it’s almost impossible to maintain correct posture. The training effect suffers as a result, you just destroy yourself.”

It is possible that such challenges are only so successful because the participants want to prove something to themselves. Anyone who can do 1000 burpees has achieved something – even if it is just overcoming their own laziness. Instead of proudly showing this on social media and hoping for likes, you should concentrate on yourself and doing it correctly. In the end, this is 1000 times more important than the number of repetitions.

Doing more burpees: What does a good more burpees plan look like?

Do you want to do more burpees? Then try this: “First do a few jumping jacks to get your circulation going,” says Bluhm, “then do 2 to 3 squats to activate the back of your body – it is often shortened or quite weak due to sitting so much.”

This warm-up exercise is followed by a round of arm circles and you are ready for burpee training. This consists – who would have thought – primarily of push-up jumps.

To avoid it becoming too one-sided, you should also incorporate a few pulling exercises. “Choose another exercise with a high pulling component, such as pull-ups or rowing,” advises the personal trainer. “Do 5 to 8 repetitions of these in 4 strenuous sets.” Then follow the burpee in a so-called “Every Minute on the Minute” sequence, which comes from CrossFit.

“Take 10 minutes. In every minute, do 5 burpees.

If you manage to do them faster than in a minute, you have the remaining seconds to rest until the next minute begins with the next 5 burpees. On the next training day, play this game with 7 burpees, then 8, and so on,” says the expert. Don’t forget to write down the number of burpees you completed so that you know how many repetitions to do next time.

After training, you should take a break. How long this should be and how much time you should leave between each burpee training session depends on your fitness level. “Beginners don’t manage to get into the red zone of high training stimulus during training. That’s why they can start the next training session after around 24 hours. Advanced users need a much higher stimulus to exert themselves and that in turn requires a longer recovery time of at least 48 hours,” explains the coach. So give it your all, no matter what fitness level you are at! By the way.

What burpee variations are there?

A little variety never hurts, it guarantees that you won’t get bored and the push-up jumps remain nice and challenging. The great thing about burpees is that there are countless variations of the exercise, such as this one:

• Burpee High Jumps : In this variation, you pull your knees towards your chest in a stretch jump.
• Burpee Frogs : Here you don’t jump high, but far.
• Alternatively, with the box jump burpee you land on a box , a training bench or a tire instead of on the floor.
• Half burpees do not involve standing up at all and only alternate between squatting and push-ups.

You can also add variety to the routine by using various small pieces of equipment . For example, you can hold dumbbells , a medicine ball or a kettlebell in your hands and support yourself with one hand on the ball or bell when doing push-ups.

• Or you can go to work on one leg and have one foot in the sling trainer .
• Of course, one-arm training also works without a sling trainer.
• To work with more weight and thus burn more calories, carry a backpack filled with wet towels on your back or simply a sandbag in front of your chest.
• If you want to involve your buttocks even more, lift one leg during the push-up and either do 2 push-ups or remember the side until the next repetition.
• For better coordination , rotate continuously around your own axis from repetition to repetition, then do the other direction.
• In all variations, you can skip the jump from the push-up back to the squat and place your feet forward one at a time.

Conclusion: Kill calories, train coordination

Burpees belong in every HIIT workout, and for good reason: They boost your endurance, burn a lot of calories, and train the whole body. Sure, they’re hard – but it’s worth the effort! If you pay attention to proper execution, you’ll get the most out of them and avoid injuries. And the best part? There are countless variations that you can use to spice up your training, whether you’re a beginner or advanced. So, get your butt up – and then get it back down again straight away!