How a fitness test for military personnel became a super exercise

What unites professional athletes, elite military personnel and football players?

That's right, they all do burpees (in some sources, burpees), which are an integral part of their daily workouts.

And if you think that only hardcore athletes or titled professionals can benefit from this CrossFit exercise, then you are wrong.

The advantage of burpees is that this exercise is suitable for absolutely everyone.

Burpee can get you in shape like no other exercise: it will help you burn excess fat, speed up your metabolism and turn you into a real athlete!

You may have a reasonable question: “Why is it called so strangely?” This popular CrossFit exercise is named after its inventor, American physiologist Royal Burpee. He developed it in the late 1930s to assess people's fitness levels. Later, during World War II, it gained incredible popularity when it was used to evaluate the physical fitness of recruits in the United States Army.

A little later in this article we will explain to you why you should love it. But first you should learn how to do it.

The technique is not complicated, carefully do these simple movements:

• From a standing position, squat down, placing your palms on the floor in front of you.
• Quickly jump back into a plank position with your arms straight, then quickly lower your torso toward the floor.
• Return to a straight-armed plank position, then return to the squat position as quickly as you can.
• Immediately jump up as high as possible.
• As you jump, clap your hands directly above your head.

The speed is what makes it so effective, but don't overdo the tempo or you'll run out of steam before you've even completed five sets. Believe me.

So the answer to the question “What is a burpee?” It sounds pretty simple, but that's only until you start doing it. In this case, simple does not mean easy. That's why it's considered one of the best exercises you can add to your regular workout routine.

For clarity, watch this interesting video in which the girl will show you how to do burpees in three variations, depending on your level of training:

Now we'll tell you why burpees are so amazing and why they should be on your list of all-time favorite exercises.

A little history

To understand what burpees are in sports, you need to remember a little about its history. It became popular with the advent and development of cross-fit, where it is used. However, the exercise was invented earlier - in the late 30s of the last century, and it was done by a physiologist named Royal H. Burpee. This American simply combined several simpler elements into one exercise, and burpee appeared, which initially had the goal of determining the level of training of the American military, because they should be versatile. Having reached the present day, the exercise has changed in some ways, but its name remains the same. It is also often called a burpee. Burpees and burpees are exactly the same thing.

So, burpees - we already know what it is, and now we’ll briefly look at the technique of doing it. One repetition includes the following sequence of actions that must be performed without pauses:

• Starting position – standing.
• Next you need to sit down on the crusts, rest your hands on the floor.
• Now you need to throw your legs back and take a lying position.
• Do push-ups from the floor.
• Return your legs to a sitting position.
• Now you need to jump up and clap overhead.

You can find a separate article about the burpee technique and its different variations. You can also watch a video about burpee, what it is and how to do it, which will explain a lot about this exercise.

Advanced Burpees

For people in good physical shape, we offer a program, after which you will reach 100 repetitions per set.

Reference. You can divide the implementation of this program into weeks. That is, for the 1st week you do burpees without push-ups and jumping. Next week - burpees without push-ups. Next is the classic version.

For intermediate level

A little complexity and variety in burpees won't hurt. We present possible modifications with a brief explanation.

1. Shoulder touch burpee. After the emphasis, touch each shoulder in turn with the opposite hand. Then jump out.
2. Burpee with knee touch. In the plank, touch the opposite knee with your hand one at a time. Jump out.
3. To make it more challenging, do Indian push-ups. After the squat, move your pelvis back and do push-ups in a wave, pushing your shoulders forward. Next, return to the squat position and jump up.
4. Combine burpees with mountain climbers. After taking the plank, bring your legs up. Next, jump out.
5. Burpee with a twist. After jumping, turn in the opposite direction while jumping.
6. Burpee with a leg twist or “spider”. After taking the plank, bring your knees not to your chest, but in the opposite direction, turning your pelvis. A similar thing can be done by pulling your legs to the side from the elbow - like in spider push-ups.
7. Burpee with dumbbell row. Take dumbbells in your hands. Sit down, stand up, push up. Get into a pulling position (straight back, leaning forward). Perform several repetitions of deadlifts. Repeat the exercise.
8. Burpee with dumbbell row in plank. After taking the push-up position, pull the dumbbell with each hand alternately. Make sure your elbow goes back and not to the side.

For advanced level

For an advanced level, you can offer more complex options that require certain skills.

1. Rolling burpee. After returning to the squat position, roll onto your back, perform a roll, and jump up while maintaining momentum without using your hands.
2. Burpee with star jump. When jumping, spread your arms and legs to the sides.
3. Burpee with side jumps. After taking the prone position, jump alternately in 2 directions. Then return to point-blank range and jump up.
4. Burpee with leg extensions in plank. From a push-up position, move into a plank position on your elbows. Jump and bring your legs together. Jump up and repeat.

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Benefits and Benefits of Exercise

You already know what a burpee is, but now let’s figure out what it gives us and what its advantages are. First of all, the main advantage of the exercise is that it allows you to use many important muscle groups throughout the body. This is not strange, because you need to consistently do push-ups, jump from a deep squat, and complement all this with a straight-armed plank pose. For those who perform or perform burpees, which muscles are used during this process is an interesting and relevant question. The exercise works many muscle groups, but the hamstrings, triceps, quadriceps, calves and buttocks, pectoralis major, deltoids, and abs receive the most load. Active muscle work combined with an intense pace provides enormous energy expenditure, so the benefits of burpees for weight loss are very great. Both men and women often include this exercise in their training programs.

The burpee exercise, we already know what it is and what muscles work, also has the following benefits :

• To give yourself the maximum load, you do not need a special room or additional equipment. All you need is motivation, your own body and a couple of square meters. The exercise can be performed both at home and in the gym, which makes it universal and popular.
• Burpee exercise, which has great health benefits, trains the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, improves blood circulation and has a beneficial effect on metabolic processes, energizes and invigorates, which makes it a good choice for morning exercises.
• Thanks to burpees, you can develop explosive strength, speed and endurance, train balance and coordination. It will give you the opportunity to learn how to control all the muscles of the body and perform the necessary movements clearly, quickly and consistently.
• When it comes to the question of the burpee exercise and what it is good for, weight loss comes to the fore. Exercise helps burn a lot of calories and excess fat. The advantage for those losing weight is that it combines both strength and cardio exercise.
• Exercise is good for busy people as it helps save time. It is enough to do several intervals every day, and this will already be a sufficient load. Of course, it all depends on the desired results. If you need to lose a lot of weight or increase muscle mass, you should supplement it with burpees and other exercises.

Many people looking for all kinds and the most effective ways to lose weight are interested in the question, how many calories does burpee (burpee) burn? After all, the fame of this universal exercise runs ahead of it, attributing to it a lot of miraculous properties. Let's analyze the calorie consumption when doing burpees in comparison with other types of activities based on different weight categories.

How many calories do burpees burn is a pressing question for those who want to lose weight. The answer to this will depend on the weight of the person doing the exercise. The larger it is, the more kilocalories will be burned. For example, let's take a person weighing 70 kilograms. Walking slowly for an hour will allow him to burn 150 kcal, fast walking - about 280 kcal, running at a medium pace - 480 kcal, jumping rope - 540 kcal, and burpees for an hour - about 980 kcal. For a person weighing 90 kg, an hour of intense burpee training will burn up to 1200 kcal.

These calculations are taken from a calorie consumption of 2.8 kcal per 1 repetition of burpees at a pace of 7 exercises per minute.

Why do burpees help you lose weight?

Because this is not only a load on all the large muscles of the body, but also a repeated change in body position from horizontal to vertical. Burpees for weight loss work exactly like this.

The physiological reaction to such a change in position is the production of the hormone adrenaline. And this is one of the important fat-burning hormones that accelerate metabolism.

By the way, it is for this reason that it is not advisable to do burpees in the evening. The effect of the exercise can be like a couple of cups of strong coffee!

Contraindications and possible harm

Despite the effectiveness of the burpee exercise, the benefits of which are also known for men and women, there are a number of conditions in which it is not recommended to perform it. These are any injuries, heart and vascular diseases, blood pressure problems, as well as pregnancy. To exercise effectively and safely, you must feel good.

There is no need to rush to overload yourself. Beginners should start with a moderate pace and a small number of repetitions, gradually increasing them.

If the full version of the exercise seems too difficult for you, you can simplify it somewhat by choosing a short version of the technique. So, you can lower the bouncing up. The jump should be as high as possible. You need to land on your entire foot, bending your knees. Your back and neck should be kept straight while performing the exercise. When doing push-ups, straighten your arms all the way. Don't stick out your pelvis. It is recommended to pull in the stomach. Try not to bend your legs.

When performing movements of one cycle, do not take breaks between them. You can do several short sessions per minute, and do as many repetitions as possible during this period. The optimal time to do exercises is in the morning.

Breathing plays a huge role in burpees. For many, especially at first, proper breathing technique is difficult. The breathing mode for burpees should be as follows:

• We adopted the mode of lying on our hands - inhale, do push-ups as we exhale.
• Landed - inhale, rose to your feet - exhale.

And then this cycle continues. Thus, for one burpee we have three phases of breathing
.

Recommendations for heart rate values

It is not recommended to do burpees to the point of exhaustion; this can harm the body, because when the internal organs are overloaded, they are disrupted from their normal working rhythm. Therefore, it is important to increase physical activity gradually.

To calculate your individual maximum allowable heart rate, you can use a heart rate monitor that is built into any fitness bracelet. Or use the usual method of counting your pulse on your wrist.

Maximum allowable heart rate = 205.8-(0.685* your age).

The resulting value will be marginal and when it is reached it is necessary to stop the lesson. It is important not to exceed the maximum value so as not to harm the heart.

Features of the exercise

So, you already know the burpee exercise, what it is and what sequence it involves. Now let's look at some of the nuances in his technique. So, push-ups in this case are quite conditional. It is extremely rarely performed in the classic version. More often, the athlete simply lowers himself lower, lying with his whole body on the floor surface, sometimes inertia helps. This is achieved by lifting the legs off the floor as the lower phase of the push-up approaches and creating a kind of wave. This can be justified, especially in the case of the female gender, because it is more difficult for women to perform full push-ups.

Instead of a squat, you often just bend over with your hands on the floor. Similar actions, but in reverse order, are performed when lifting. As a result of this, the explosive movement of throwing out the legs is partially lost, and the jump is not done from a deep squat.

The technique is very important . You need to jump as high as possible, although it is difficult. This way, the effectiveness of burpees (you already know how useful this exercise is) will be maximum.

To develop proper burpee technique, first try not to rush too much and do the exercise consciously and thoughtfully. Over time, you will make the right movements automatically. It is important to remember that an intense pace is an important guarantee of the effectiveness of the exercise, so you should not feel sorry for yourself either. But watch your health. If it gets worse, give yourself a rest. They will help you learn more about burpees, what kind of exercise it is, videos about it and the technique of doing it, presented on the Internet.

What muscles are involved?

All large joints are involved in the movements when performing burpees: ankle, knee, hip, shoulder, elbow, wrist, and spinal joints. This means that the muscles that move these joints are also loaded. That is, practically, this exercise involves the entire musculoskeletal system.

The greatest load falls on the biceps muscle (biceps) of the thigh, calves and buttocks. The pectoral muscles, triceps, abs, and shoulder girdle muscles are also significantly loaded. The effectiveness of the burpee exercise is so high that it can replace a whole complex of gymnastics; it trains most of the main muscle groups.

Burpee is one of those rare exercises that train the core muscles - the stabilizers of the body, the strength of which is a necessary basis for physical development. In addition to burpees, only static exercises such as straight and reverse planks are used to train the core muscles.

Is it possible to train every day?

Burpee is one of the exercises in the complex called CrossFit. It was developed at the beginning of the century, after which it was registered as a method for developing the physical condition of the body. Despite statements about the uniqueness of the idea, the philosophy is based on the principles of general physical training (general physical training) that are familiar to many.

Both CrossFit and physical training involve working out a series of exercises every day to improve endurance, strength, flexibility, and speed. Therefore, repetition of the complex, often twice during the day, is mandatory, including burpees. This type is responsible for the endurance indicator.

Important information!

Burpee is a high-intensity exercise, so it can only be performed by healthy people with a sufficient level of physical fitness.

People who are very overweight, as well as those with problems with the heart, blood pressure, liver, or joints, should be very careful when performing this exercise. It is recommended to use the burpee version for beginners and reduce the intensity of the load to a minimum. It’s better to give it up completely until you can improve your health and fitness through regular exercise.

Signs that you are not yet capable of performing burpees are the following that appeared during the implementation:

• nausea;
• dizziness;
• severe shortness of breath;
• pain in the chest, liver or spleen area;
• pain or crunching in the joints;
• arrhythmia;
• increased heart rate above the maximum permissible value.

If you notice these signs, stop immediately. However, you should not sit down or take a lying position. Walk around, catch your breath, wait for the symptoms to disappear, without stopping moving.

Duration of training

The duration of any workout depends on the program and the goal that the person sets at the beginning. To do this, you first need to determine the number of repetitions and approaches.

Burpees (how to do them for beginners, you need to remember the order of movements and the time to perform them already in the first lesson) on average, together with jumping, takes 30 seconds at low speed, and the rest between approaches is no more than 1-2 minutes. Therefore, 30 burpees of 3 repetitions will take 14-23 minutes. By increasing the amount in the approach up to 5 times, the time will be reduced to 10-15 minutes.

A gradual increase in skill will help reduce training time. By increasing speed, a person can perform up to 6-7 burpees per minute, that is, the entire daily complex of 30 exercises will take no more than 10 minutes. even taking into account rest between approaches. At the same time, it is important to maintain the correct movement technique so as not to injure the ligaments.