Burpees are a dreaded exercise at every regular gym, Crossfit box, or at-home workout studio – and for good reason. They get your heart pounding, work every single muscle, and have you out of breath in the first five reps. But that’s a good thing.
Burpees target the entire body, meaning nothing rests during this exercise. The up-and-down motion provides a huge cardiovascular benefit, toning, and strengthening your shoulders during the pushup, legs during the jump, and back while you lower yourself to the ground.
For a one-size-fits-all exercise that requires absolutely no equipment, burpees come out on top.
Benefits of Burpees
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There are numerous benefits to doing burpees as a stand-alone workout or incorporating them into your fat-blasting, full-body routine.
Burns Tons of Calories
Burpees are hard, but they burn a lot of calories. Any exercise that skyrockets your heart rate is sure to keep the afterburners on for a long time, meaning your calorie burn will be through the roof. Plus, since it is also a strengthening exercise along with an endurance/cardio exercise, the added muscle growth will aid in burning calories well after your workout is over.
Full-Body Toning
Burpees incorporate every muscle group and part of your body in every rep. You need to squat, which targets your quadriceps. You put your hands on the ground and lower yourself down, which targets your shoulders and back, and repeatedly get in and out of the plank positioning, hitting your entire core.
Aerobic Fitness Gains
Your aerobic fitness could be lacking if you only go on daily walks and hit the gym for strength sessions. Adding burpees means you can burn calories AND improve your aerobic cardiovascular level without having to go running, biking, or swimming.
Versatile
Burpees can be done almost anywhere. As long as you have room to stand, sit, and lie down, you have room to do burpees. You can even modify the burpee exercise to accommodate other exercises in your workout, such as a burpee over a barbell, a burpee to a box jump, or a burpee to a pushup. The possibilities are endless to accommodate the burpees to your unique workout goals.
Burpee Variations
Speaking of variations, there are tons of ways to switch up your burpees to make them more interesting, easier, or a little bit tougher on the days that you really want to get a sweat going.
The first way to make your burpees harder and challenge your legs more is to do a burpee box jump. We love this exercise for athletes and those who want to increase their power and explosiveness. Box jumps are ideal for power-based sports like basketball, weightlifting, and football.
Another burpee variation that you can add to your full-body workout is a burpee with a bosu ball. The bosu ball is great for the plank variation of the burpee that challenges your core even more with its instability. Plus, you need to squat and press the bosu overhead at the top of each rep, burning your shoulders and toning your delts.
Lastly, doing burpees with dumbbells is one of the most challenging full-body workout options that you can choose from. The dumbbells add extra weight for the shoulder purses at the end, adding more muscle growth to your shoulders, lats, and rhomboids. Plus, if you add a plank row with the weights, you can work your bag and latissimus dorsi even more.
As you can see, burpees are a fantastic full-body workout that targets the upper and lower body—plus, they shred your core the entire time!
This article is simply intended to provide information. It is not intended to replace the advice from a physician. Please speak with your doctor if you have any questions or concerns.
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