How to Do Burpees
The modern gym or health club is usually stuffed with enormous exercise contraptions that are often confusing or miss their mark by being deficient in some aspect of fitness. While this may sit fine with some, others are left to seek out new methods in their pursuit of being truly "fit." A renaissance among the health conscious has led many to discover the benefits of simply blending aspects of cardio and bodyweight training into a sweat-inducing workout. The burpee is an exercise that's designed to do just that.
Instructions
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Go through the motions slowly before attempting a burpee at full speed. Stand as you normally would, with your feet apart. Crouch down enough so that when you fall forward you can catch yourself. Fall forward and catch yourself with your hands.
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Kick your legs behind you as you fall forward. Your body will be flat on the floor with your palms touching the floor. Push your body up (a standard push-up) into the push-up ready position, then kick your legs forward into a squatting position while maintaining contact with the floor with your hands (or fingers).
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Jump straight upward into the air as high as you can. Land and then, without rest, perform another. For extra difficulty, jump with your hands in the air above your head, which dramatically increases your heart rate. Once you have the sequence of moves in order, speed the process up to effectively perform a burpee.
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Tips & Warnings
Add another exercise favorite by performing burpees underneath a pull-up bar; when you jump into the air, grab the bar and perform one pull-up, then drop back into the burpee-ready position. Using dumbbells or a weighted vest ups the difficulty degree. For the dumbells, hold them in your hands and perform the burpee as you normally would, although for safety's sake, do not jump with your hands above your head.
