Burpees for Beginners

Burpee conditioning requires no exercise equipment.

Burpees are a bodyweight exercise that combine cardiovascular training with resistance training. They are difficult to do but easy to set up, which makes them perfect if you don't have the time or energy to join a gym. What's more, since they're bodyweight exercises, they don't require any equipment. Finally, they don't focus on any particular muscles or muscle groups. Rather, they work your entire body.

Starting Position

Squat down low enough that you can put your hands flat on the floor in front of you. You should keep your feet flat and your back straight. While a straight back is not as important during bodyweight exercises as it is during weight training exercises, it is still useful. So, do your best to keep your shoulder blades together and pulled towards your bum and your bellybutton sucked in. This will keep your back neutral during the exercise and focus pressure on your stomach and back muscles.

Movement

Kick your feet backward so that you are in the pushup position, with your back flat and straight and your arms in front of you. Bring them back to the squat position, then jump as far as you can in the air. This is one single burpee. The exercise's effectiveness depends on speed, so you need to do this as fast as you can with as much intensity as possible. You also need to repeat the movement several times.

Workout

A burpee workout is generally 12 to 15 repetitions in 30 seconds. This makes you focus on both speed and intensity -- by trying to complete your repetitions as fast as possible, you are putting more strain on your system and forcing it to develop more muscle and burn more calories.

Variations

There are a number of burpee variations to change your workout and keep your body from adapting. The simplest example is to add a pushup. Rather than just jumping up from the pushup position, you perform a single pushup, then jump as high as you can. This makes the exercise more comprehensive.

Application

Burpees are best-used in interval training sessions. You should perform 30 seconds or so of burpees, then immediately do another exercise of your choice for 30 seconds. Straight cardio exercises are good, as they focus on your heart, whereas the burpees focus on your heart and other muscles. So, you could do 30 seconds of burpees, then 30 seconds of boxing, then have a 30 second rest, then repeat. This will give you an exhausting, efficient, intense workout that burns fat and builds muscle.

References

• Bodybuilding.com: Burpees