Burpees: Everything You Need to Know
For fitness enthusiasts, even the fittest people out there have a love-hate relationship with burpees. They love them in that they’re considered the ultimate functional exercise, yet they hate them because they’re absolutely brutal to perform. As the saying goes ‘no pain, no gain’ and with burpees, there’s plenty of both. Originally created by Royal. H. Burpee (if you were wondering about the name) burpees were originally created as a way of gauging a person’s overall fitness levels. Since 1939 when it was created, how the exercise is performed hasn’t really changed. It is a four-point movement that is found in the most brutal of training regimes. Here’s a more detailed look at burpees.
How to perform a burpee – Keeping things simple, here is a very brief explanation of how to perform a burpee:
- Begin standing upright, then squat down into a squat position, placing your hands on the floor in front of you.
- Next, kick your feet backward so that they’re in a push-up position and lower your chest to the floor as quickly as you can.
- Lift your chest and leapfrog back into a squat position as quickly as you can.
- Finally, jump into the air as quickly as you can.
- Repeat for as many reps as you can.
Major muscle-groups worked – So what is it that makes Burpees so awesome?
Well, they’re basically considered the ultimate multi-functional, multi-joint exercise. You see, they’re a great form of cardio so your conditioning improves as will your cardiovascular system. Not only that, but the exercise involves squatting, jumping, and push-ups. You therefore work your lower body muscles including hamstrings, quads, and glutes with squatting, as well as deltoids, triceps, core, and pectoral muscles with the push-ups. The explosive nature of the jumping also means that you engage more fast-twitch muscle fibres required for short bursts of speed and strength.
Tips for the perfect burpee – We’ve looked at how to perform a burpee and at which muscle-groups the exercise targets, so let’s now share a few tips with you on how to perform the ultimate burpee:
Keep core tight – When performing a burpee, don’t forget to engage your core and keep your abs nice and tight. This helps improve your form, plus it means that you’re targeting your abdominal muscles in the process. It also means that your back takes less punishment.
Land on your heels – When doing burpees, don’t do what a lot of people do and land on the ball of your feet in the jumping part of the exercise. Instead, when jumping from the push up position, jump from your heels instead. This puts less stress on your joints and helps prevent fatigue in the legs from setting in too early.
Why are burpees so beneficial? – Well, other than the fact that they allow you to target multiple muscle groups at once, and the fact that they serve as an awesome form of cardio, there are plenty of other benefits associated with burpees. For example, burpees are quick and easy to perform, and can be performed pretty much anywhere. Whether you’re at work, at home, or out of town in a hotel, burpees can be done pretty much anywhere, at any time.
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