How To Do Burpee Workout – Exercise Pattern & Precautions

Reviewed by Dr. Sudhansu Singh, BPT Dr. Sudhansu Singh Dr. Sudhansu SinghBPT facebook_icontwitter_iconlinkedin_icon
Written by Priyanka Sadhukhan, MSc (Nutrition), CDE Priyanka Sadhukhan MSc (Nutrition), CDE Experience: 8 years
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Burpees are amazing calorie burners. This full-body workout also improves heart health and makes you swift and flexible. The burpee workout can also help tone and strengthen the entire body. Also known as the Body Blaster exercise, burpees are executed in four movements collectively known as ‘Four count burpee.’

If you are a beginner, start with normal burpees. Gradually increase the intensity and the variations as your body adapts to the strenuous activity.

Read on to know the benefits of burpees, their variations, and modifications. Scroll down!

Benefits Of The Burpee Workout

The following are the benefits of the burpee workout:

  1. It improves your physical skill.
  2. It builds strength. It improves physical and social functioning and strengthens the overall body capacity (1).
  3. This high-intensity workout helps add immense strength to your muscular bulk, legs, and the rest of the body (2).
  4. Burpees are effective in improving posture and body strength and composition. They also help tighten your core (3).
  5. Many fitness experts state that burpees are a strength-building workout or a high load workout, which works towards developing muscular fortitude (4).
  6. Through lower and upper level muscular exercise, it improves the capacity of your heart and lungs (5).
  7. Burpee is a form of functional training that requires the absence of free oxygen with high severity and potential. It is generally performed in a short time span and requires a lot of energy without oxygen. Practicing this workout can help you perform anaerobic and aerobic exercises properly (1).
  8. This high intensity workout also helps one lose more weight while burning calories. It may also aid in fat loss (6).
  9. It puts an outstanding load on your cardiovascular system. As a consequence, you can get an excellent cardio workout.
  10. The burpee workout plan improves the strength of your legs, chest, thighs, and arms (5).
  11. It is an ultimate fat burning workout, which helps you burn up to 50% more fat than any other conventional workout. It can accelerate your metabolism, which is helpful in burning calories all day round.
  12. The burpee workout boosts your endurance and improves coordination of muscles.

Who Can Do The Burpee Workout?

The burpee workout is done fundamentally by mixed martial arts practitioners and military forces as part of their regular routine exercise. Any adult can perform this exercise. This exercise is also usually done at the end of most bodyweight exercises. Sometimes, a few people may dislike this form of workout.

Various Forms Of Burpees

There are several forms of the burpee workout. These are box–jump burpee, burpee push up, dumbbell burpee, eight count push up, hindu pushup burpee, jump up burpee, jump-over burpee, knee push-up burpee, long–jump burpee, muscle-up burpee, one-armed burpee, one leg burpee, parkour burpee, pull-up burpee, shitee, side burpee, squat thrust burpee, and tuck-jump burpee.

Note: Burpee puts lots of stress on the ankles, knees, and wrists. Hence, you should warm-up before starting the burpee.

Methods To Perform The Basic Burpee Workout

How to perform a burpee exercise? During the initial period, you need to perform this exercise in the right way to get the best results.

  1. First, keep your feet together and assume a squat down position. Put your arms on the ground in front of your feet.
  2. Keep your feet together and get ready to jump back so that you can land in a push-up position. Bend your forearms and perform a single push-up in this position.
  3. Jump back to the previous position and bring your feet beneath your body. Leap into the air.
  4. Land on smoothly in a quiet manner and bend your legs.
  5. Repeat these steps again and practice as long as you can.

If you are an expert, you can do this exercise on your own. But if you are a beginner, you would need a guide or special supervision. You need to maintain a constant speed while performing this exercise.

Modifications

This burpee exercise can be performed in various ways. These can make the exercise much simpler or more challenging, as per your requirement.

You can adopt the style that is convenient for you; but the method has to be right, and you must feel comfortable doing it.

Beginners are advised to skip the push-up or jump step at the very beginning of this workout. Trained people can cross an obstacle to jump forward or sideways between their reps to make it more interesting or adventurous.

Experienced people can put on some weight on their vests or hold dumbbells while doing the burpee workout.

Exercise Pattern Of Burpees

Always try to do 100 burpees as fast as you can. Also, monitor how many sets of burpees you can perform in 10 minutes. You may also practice this exceptional workout with long jumps, just by replacing a simple jump step.

Precautions

Anyone can do this exercise, but you need to be physically fit. Doing this workout requires one to have extensive fitness as this is not a very simple workout. Keep these points in mind:

  • Always keep breathing while practicing this HIIT.
  • Be aware of your feet and hand movements.
  • If you have knee or shoulder problems, consult a doctor before attempting burpees.
  • Get a medical consultation from your physician with appropriate supervision to avoid any injury.

The burpee workout is a high-intensity physical activity that helps improve your overall body capacity, tone the core, improve posture, enhance lung and heart capacity, lose flab, promote metabolism, and build endurance. Beginners are advised to go with the simpler version of burpees and gradually climb up the difficulty ladder as they get comfortable. This exercise demands good physical fitness, so people with knee or shoulder issues must get clearance from their doctor to do burpees. Also, warm-up exercises for at least 10 minutes are essential to avoid injuries to your ankles, wrists, and knees.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many calories do you burn doing 10 burpees?

You can burn up to 10-15 calories if you do burpees for a minute. You may look at the number of burpees you can do in a particular time period to calculate the exact calorie count.

Do burpees burn belly fat?

Burpees are a whole body movement that engage your core, legs, and hand muscles. Hence, they help burn more calories and reduce overall body fat. This way, one may attain a toned shape.

Do burpees build muscle?

Following burpees with weight training or practicing burpees with dumbbells could help build muscle.

Why do burpees hurt so much?

Burpees are a high-intensity workout that involves the movements of legs and hands at a high speed. The exercise also engages your core. Hence, it could hurt initially. Following the proper form, posture, and breathing can help lessen the impact.

Are burpees better than running?

While running primarily involves the legs, burpees involve various muscle groups. Hence, they could be a better workout routine. They also can help burn more calories.

How do you breathe when doing burpees?

Breathe in before you land on the ground, and breathe out after you land. Breathe in before getting onto your feet, and breathe out after jumping in the air.

Sources

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Dr. Sudhansu Singh is a Physiotherapist, Sports and Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist, and Neuro Physiotherapist with 8 years of experience. He is a member of the Federation of Indian Manual Therapists (FIMT) and an active member of the Delhi Council of Physiotherapy and FIMT Australia Association.

Read full bio of Dr. Sudhansu Singh
Priyanka Sadhukhan
Priyanka SadhukhanNutritionist, CDE
Priyanka is a nutritionist and a Certified Diabetes Educator. She has over 8 years of experience in nutrition and dietetics with a strong research background. She is passionate about science and how it can be applied to one’s daily lifestyle.

Read full bio of Priyanka Sadhukhan
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