all posts post new thread

Bodyweight The Burpee

oukeith1

oukeith1

Level 6 Valued Member
Interesting read about the Burpee. You’ll have to forgive the Detroit Lions slant.

It touches on the history, usage in the military and sports, as well as physical adaptations, both positive and negative.

I’m curious if any Strong-Firsters ever use this exercise. I have not in a number of years, but I did them fairly regularly B.K. (Before Kettlebell)

What value do you see in them, if any?

www.espn.com

How the burpee turned the Detroit Lions into contenders

From weekend warriors to elite athletes, everyone loves to hate burpees. But where did this perfect, exhausting movement come from? Here's how Dr. Royal H. Burpee's quest to strengthen an army evolved into a worldwide understanding of pain and gain.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 
On the SF articles site:

www.strongfirst.com

Burpees and Kettlebell Swings for Improved Athleticism | StrongFirst

We are StrongFirst. Therefore, we know kettlebells. We know the many benefits they can have. The swing is why you get into kettlebells right? Well, it was for me. What I realized after practicing with kettlebells for many years was that I got better athletically. Simply put, the kettlebell swing...
www.strongfirst.com

Not sure if that article mentions it but there is a version called the humane burpee too....

As the posted article says, there is a downside....form goes out the window pretty quickly. Given the mobility issues of many, could be a problem.

Have done gazillions of them. Not so frequent in terms of regular practice these days. I like bringing knees to chest on the jump too for some hip flexor speed. I might do a couple as part of a sprint warm up to fire up but not as a thrash.

It's a potent complex move under rated and over rated, loved and hated, under used and over used.

Reminds me, I may take the SF swing and burpee for a spin.
 
oukeith1 said:
Interesting read about the Burpee. You’ll have to forgive the Detroit Lions slant.

It touches on the history, usage in the military and sports, as well as physical adaptations, both positive and negative.

I’m curious if any Strong-Firsters ever use this exercise. I have not in a number of years, but I did them fairly regularly B.K. (Before Kettlebell)

What value do you see in them, if any?

www.espn.com

How the burpee turned the Detroit Lions into contenders

From weekend warriors to elite athletes, everyone loves to hate burpees. But where did this perfect, exhausting movement come from? Here's how Dr. Royal H. Burpee's quest to strengthen an army evolved into a worldwide understanding of pain and gain.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
Click to expand...
Will +1 for anything mentioning the Lions!
 
Here's another article in which Pavel describes A+A burpees:

www.strongfirst.com

How to Train Against a Virus | StrongFirst

A simple recipe to become more resilient: do moderate dynamic aerobic exercise and avoid overtraining with any type of exercise. And lift.
www.strongfirst.com

This has me thinking hard about doing some Al Ciampa style A+A. I am given to understand he is fond of snatch left, snatch right, two hand swing, so I am think snatch left, snatch right, burpee might be kinda nifty.

Seems to me the burpee is pretty similar to double long cycles, but with a horizontal push instead of a vertical one.
 
Last edited:
If you’ve got a subscription to Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited, this book (Amazon.com) has a great chapter on the history of burpees (specifically the 6 count and 10 count).

With that said, I’ve been doing burpees in the morning as my “get the brain and body working” movement after I wake up. 10 to 20 minutes of burpees with an equal amount of time doing inverted rows, and then hop in the shower. I treat them like LSS. Pick a pace that keeps my heart rate in my Maffetone range.
 
A squat. A plank. A pushup. Stitched together. I don't see how that's a bad thing for anyone to do.
I think the rush to do HIIT work has meant that any movement can be made to look ugly and useless. Including the swing.

The burpee has level changes (a concept that Coach Dan John talks about) and has fundamental movements as its constituents. Why wouldn't one use it?

In my gym, we use the burpee regularly. We use it in multiple modes. For example, to get the HR up in a 30-60 second window. As part of a conditioning circuit. As part of our warmup, where we will conduct it, spend time at various sticky points, throw in a few cross-touches and groiners etc.

So, yep, use it all the time.
 
I've followed a few proponents of the burpee being their main practice. I was convinced enough by their enthusiasm to at least incorporate them into my life. I do very strict ones when I warm up/cool down. 2 sets of 5. I find this is enough to keep good form and learn the exercise. I find it to be a pulse raiser with good aspects of mobility.
 
I did burpees in school growing up also in the army. I am jealous of those that can do them. For the last ten years though I try to avoid doing any exercise under extreme fatigue. All I can think about is “one bad rep” and my lower back. For those who like them I’m sure you’re conscious of keeping strictness. Don’t stop.
 
justinr said:
With that said, I’ve been doing burpees in the morning as my “get the brain and body working” movement after I wake up. 10 to 20 minutes of burpees with an equal amount of time doing inverted rows, and then hop in the shower. I treat them like LSS. Pick a pace that keeps my heart rate in my Maffetone range.
Click to expand...

That sounds like something I've been thinking about doing. What kind of improvements have you been seeing?
 
Didn’t know we had so many Lions fans here! You’re all suckers btw, lol! Gave up on them kitties years ago. Why would anyone ever try to use the Detroit Lions as a selling point! “The worst team ever gives away training secrets!” (Hint, ignore defense and O-line forever, and only draft qbs, receivers, and other flashy things).

On a serious note I have been having my students do them through our fitness unit and was reminded of the sprawl style burpee used with wrestlers. Always thought this was much more of a natural and realistic style than down ups (burpees). Curious what peoples thoughts on that are I guess.
 
Arvind Ashok said:
A squat. A plank. A pushup. Stitched together. I don't see how that's a bad thing for anyone to do.
Click to expand...

I just prefer to do those things separately if I want to build strength / skill.

The problem I have with the burpee is that people's form tends to turn to crap when they get fatigue, so when done Xfit style as a metcon you're doing crappy squats, crappy push ups, and slouchy planks.
 
I am not a fan of the CrossFit style of burpee. Sprawl to the ground then jump back up as quickly as you can. Not for me.



I do like the strict style you see in this video. Specifically this movement is my favorite, the 8 count bodybuilder, as the counting out loud makes your form a lot tighter since it slows it down.

 
grouchyjarhead said:
I am not a fan of the CrossFit style of burpee. Sprawl to the ground then jump back up as quickly as you can. Not for me.



I do like the strict style you see in this video. Specifically this movement is my favorite, the 8 count bodybuilder, as the counting out loud makes your form a lot tighter since it slows it down.

Click to expand...

I prefer the strict military burpee as well. The wrestlers sprawl is not the crossfit style though. This is one example, although a lot of times when i drill them i drop one hip down more than the other to simulate smashing their head/shot down to the mat hard with my hip.
 
LarryB said:
Didn’t know we had so many Lions fans here! You’re all suckers btw, lol! Gave up on them kitties years ago. Why would anyone ever try to use the Detroit Lions as a selling point! “The worst team ever gives away training secrets!” (Hint, ignore defense and O-line forever, and only draft qbs, receivers, and other flashy things).

On a serious note I have been having my students do them through our fitness unit and was reminded of the sprawl style burpee used with wrestlers. Always thought this was much more of a natural and realistic style than down ups (burpees). Curious what peoples thoughts on that are I guess.
Click to expand...

LarryB said:
I prefer the strict military burpee as well. The wrestlers sprawl is not the crossfit style though. This is one example, although a lot of times when i drill them i drop one hip down more than the other to simulate smashing their head/shot down to the mat hard with my hip.
Click to expand...


Wrestling sprawls are phenomenal.

I would prefer to to Hindu squats, Hindu push-ups and pull-ups as a circuit instead of burpees. And then finish with a sick number of wrestling sprawls.

OMG I think I just figured out what I'm going to do on conditioning days when I don't want to use kettlebells.

When I do burpees, I try to do them with strict form, exploding the push-up like a clap push-up and then jumping into the air and pulling my knees to my shoulders on the stand-ups.

EDIT: went down stairs and tried it out, decided to turn pull-ups into high pulls with a KB. It feels like a really good circuit.
 
Last edited:
LarryB said:
Didn’t know we had so many Lions fans here! You’re all suckers btw, lol! Gave up on them kitties years ago. Why would anyone ever try to use the Detroit Lions as a selling point! “The worst team ever gives away training secrets!” (Hint, ignore defense and O-line forever, and only draft qbs, receivers, and other flashy things).

On a serious note I have been having my students do them through our fitness unit and was reminded of the sprawl style burpee used with wrestlers. Always thought this was much more of a natural and realistic style than down ups (burpees). Curious what peoples thoughts on that are I guess.
Click to expand...
FYI i mean this with love to all my Detroiters. It will always be my home town, despite the fact that i jumped ship for chicago 15 years ago.
 
oukeith1 said:
Interesting read about the Burpee. You’ll have to forgive the Detroit Lions slant.

It touches on the history, usage in the military and sports, as well as physical adaptations, both positive and negative.

I’m curious if any Strong-Firsters ever use this exercise. I have not in a number of years, but I did them fairly regularly B.K. (Before Kettlebell)

What value do you see in them, if any?

www.espn.com

How the burpee turned the Detroit Lions into contenders

From weekend warriors to elite athletes, everyone loves to hate burpees. But where did this perfect, exhausting movement come from? Here's how Dr. Royal H. Burpee's quest to strengthen an army evolved into a worldwide understanding of pain and gain.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
Click to expand...
"(In a nutshell: 10 burpees in 20 seconds meant you were in average shape. Less than 8 was poor. More than 13, excellent.)"

I think I barely made it into the average shape. Thanks for the reference. Good to know I'm a work in progress.
 
3letterslong said:
That sounds like something I've been thinking about doing. What kind of improvements have you been seeing?
Click to expand...
I’m not really tracking it to be honest. The number of 6 count burpees I can do in 20 minutes is going up. In the last month, I went from sets of 5 per minute to sets of 7 while staying in my Maffetone zone. If I ignore heart rate, I can usually do around 240 to 250 in 20 minutes (Generally get into sets of 30 or 40 with much longer rest before I go again).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom