Burpees are the newest exercise sensation, and no, this isn't a strange way to fit in burping into your exercise routine.
This multi-jointed bodyweight movement has been a favored move by the BodyRock movement, as the exercise is a guaranteed way to make anyone -- even professional athletes -- feel tired out just after 30 seconds of repeating this movement. Main body parts worked: your legs, core and arms.
Here's how to do a regular burpee:
1. Hunker down into a squat position, with your buttocks near the ground. Put your hands on the floor.
2. Kick your legs back to enter a push up position. You may do a push up here if you like, but it isn't necessary.
3. Return back to the squat position by returning your legs back into a squat.
4. Now jump! Use your legs to jump high into the hair, raising your arms above your head.
5. Return to the squat position and repeat the process.
As you can see, the burpee combines two exercises--the push up and the jump squat. To a lesser extent, it also combines a plank-type move, which targets the core. Combined, the burpee will thoroughly exhaust the major muscles of the arms, legs and core. Better yet, it also gets your heart pumping, making it a sort of pseudo-cardio exercise.
Other Burpee Variations
If a regular burpee doesn't catch your fancy, other burpee variations can make this exercise even harder. For example, the one-legged burpee is significantly harder because it puts more empahsis on the core--the abs must be tightened while doing this exercise to stay balanced. It's also good for increasing the strength of a lagging leg. For an even harder challenge, consider burpee pull ups. Instead of returning to the squat position after the jump squat, use the jump to grasp a pull up bar. From there, do a pull up before returning to the start position.
Ready to get pumped? Then add a burpee to your routine. Regardless of your physical fitness or where you are, burpees can be done anywhere at any time--great for workouts on the road or workouts with no available gym equipment.
Ace Burpee's birth name is David Burpee.
David Burpee died in 1980.
David Burpee was born in 1893.
Burpee Seeds was created in 1876.
Charles Burpee died in 1909.
Charles Burpee was born in 1817.
Ace Burpee goes by Ace.
Burpee's Seeds can be purchased on the Burpee homepage at www.burpee.com. Amazon.com also has Burpee seeds available.
Lawrence Johnstone Burpee was born in 1873.
Lawrence Johnstone Burpee died in 1946.
Charles W. Burpee was born in 1859.
Charles W. Burpee died in 1945.