Burpees are tough — grueling, even — but we always find our way back to them. An important question remains, though: Truthfully, are burpees good for you, or do we functional fitness athletes just like to torture ourselves? A combination of jumping, push-ups, and squats, the burpee is a highly demanding movement that trains our whole bodies and improves functional fitness and athletic performance without any equipment. So, endure the challenging movement, perfect your technique, and reap all the benefits of doing burpees!
The Right Way to Do Burpees
A burpee is a high-intensity, full-body exercise that starts with a squat and ends with a jump. Like jumping jacks, inchworms, and mountain climbers, it’s a good strengthening and conditioning activity that requires nothing but your body weight and a small space.
Follow these steps to execute the burpee correctly:
- Begin by standing with your feet placed shoulder-width apart.
- Engage your core and move down into a squat. Maintain a neutral spine as you move downward. Once you’ve reached the bottom of your squat, shoot your legs back.
- You should transition into a plank position, holding yourself up on your hands and toes. Lower yourself down so that your chest hits the floor. (You should now be in the bottom of your push-up position.)
- Explosively jump your legs back in and push off your hands to go back into a low squat. From there, jump up and land in a squat again for another repetition.
Are Burpees Good for You? Here are 5 Benefits
It can be tempting to skip out on difficult exercises, especially ones that you’re new to. But trust us, this multipurpose move cannot be missed. With all the muscle groups burpees activate, consider it a way of working hard and working smart. Here are five very important reasons to make time for burpees at the gym.
Burpees Can Be Easily Modified and Switched Up
Can’t do the traditional burpee just yet? You’re not alone. A lot of us are too winded after just a few reps. Fortunately, just like any other exercise in functional fitness, we can tweak it all we want, based on our current fitness level and goals. Burpees can be done in many ways.
For instance, some beginners use a bench to make the movement more manageable. Instead of placing your hands on the ground, you place them on the bench. This reduces the distance you need to travel, making the burpee easier.
Want to make your burpees harder? Try hanging onto dumbbells while you do them! You could also do hand-release burpees, which add a layer of difficulty.
Need ideas for how to spice up your burpees? Check out our definitive list of burpee variations.
It’s a Full-Body Workout
Burpees engage nearly all the muscle groups in your body at once, especially the abs, arms, hamstrings, shoulders, glutes, and back. Each repetition of this calisthenics exercise challenges your strength, stamina, and aerobic capacities, making it an excellent exercise for those who want to build strength and get their hearts racing.
Calisthenics exercises like burpees are beneficial because they can be done even without complex gym equipment and still engage various muscles and benefit the entire body. Despite how low-maintenance burpees are, they can increase muscular and cardiovascular endurance. Yes, burpees are great for cardio and strength-building!
Burpees are High-Intensity and Explosive
Burpees are a go-to exercise for athletes who want to improve explosiveness — which translates to many other things you do in the gym. Think of sprinting, the Olympic lifts, and squats. All demand an element of power and explosiveness.
But that’s not all. High-intensity exercises are some of the best you can do to torch calories and manipulate your body composition. Combined with traditional strength training, movements like burpees can help you chase down your fitness and physique goals.
You Can Incorporate Burpees into Any Programming
Another reason why burpees are good for you is that you can adjust them to help you achieve just about any goal. Want to build strength? Do fewer reps and focus on jumping as high as possible. Want to burn calories? Set a timer and do as many reps as you can. Burpees are for everyone and can seamlessly fit into any fitness journey.
Burpees are Simple, Straightforward, and Low-Impact
It doesn’t get much simpler than this: Fall down and stand back up again. That’s the premise of a burpee. Anyone can do this — even toddlers! Not only do they require minimal technique, but they’re low-impact. This means that it’s pretty darn hard to injure yourself doing something like a burpee. Compare this to something like a heavy barbell deadlift. Deadlifts can still be executed safely, but due to the nature of the movement, they inherently carry more risk.
Even if you’re dealing with a finicky back, aching knees, or a pesky hip problem, the odds are still that you can find a burpee variation that works for you. Play around with different options and talk to your coach if you think you need to modify the movement. Remember: Functional fitness is infinitely scalable!
Side note: If movements like burpees bug your wrists, you might find wrist wraps helpful. They’ll give you extra support and stability, and they protect the joint.
We know the feeling of seeing burpees in a WOD and groaning. But just keep in mind that the only way to turn a weakness into a strength is to attack it head-on and work at it consistently. Burpees are good for you, and if you regularly schedule them into your programming, they’ll slowly start to grow on you. We promise. 😉
