Become a master of burpees

If you want to improve your burpees, today’s text is for you.

At Workout Brands, we love burpees for their functionality and accessibility. A burpee requires neither equipment nor much space, yet it works several key muscle groups that we use in our daily lives.

What is a burpee?

If you’ve never heard of a burpee before, we’re happy to tell you that you’ve probably done this exercise many times without knowing it. Every time you’ve gotten up from lying on your stomach on a beach towel to take a refreshing dip in the sea, you’ve essentially done a burpee.

A burpee is simply the movement of going from standing to lying on your stomach and then getting back up again. Incredibly simple and at the same time, one of the most important movements to master.

How to perform a burpee correctly?

When talking about burpees, it’s hard not to mention CrossFit. CrossFit is probably the workout that has embraced this fundamental human movement the most. That’s why we choose to follow the CrossFit world’s standard for a correctly performed burpee. The standard looks like this:

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
Bend at the hips and slightly at the knees to place your hands on the floor.
Walk or jump your feet away from your hands so that you can lower your chest to the floor. Your chest and thighs should touch the floor.
Step or jump your feet back up to your hands.
Stand up.
Finish with a jump where your feet leave the ground and your hips fully extend. During the jump, clap your hands above your head or behind your neck.

Don’ts with burpees

Again, we are following the CrossFit world’s standard. You can do it however you like, of course.

Don’t do a push-up. It’s not necessary to perform a push-up when you lower your chest to the floor. When you’re in the plank position, feel free to lower your thighs to the floor first. This will make the descent easier for your triceps and lats. Doing a push-up at this stage isn’t wrong, but it’s not what the CrossFit world considers part of a burpee.

Don’t jump too high. Once you’ve gotten back on your feet and are ready to finish your burpee, don’t jump as high as you can. It won’t make your burpee any better. The important thing at the end is to make a small explosive movement, just enough to leave the ground and fully extend your hips.

Don’t clap your hands high above your head. Some people think that clapping your hands high above your head makes for a better burpee. This is, of course, not true. It just makes it a bit harder, and you’ll probably like burpees less if you do this. Clap your hands easily behind your neck with your elbows pointing up. Easy does it!

Five tips for better burpees

Below are our five best tips for mastering burpees:

Keep it simple.
Stand wide when you get up.
Use straight arms.
Get up on your feet quickly.
Rest while standing.

Keep it simple. Burpees are a simple exercise – it’s all about getting down to the floor and then getting back up again. Try to avoid unnecessary extra movements.

Stand wide when you get up. By placing your feet wide apart, you shorten the distance between the floor and standing, which saves energy.

Use straight arms. When you push yourself up from the floor, make sure your arms are straight before jumping your feet forward. This helps you save more energy for the next movement.

Get up on your feet quickly. Using a wide foot stance and straight arms makes it easier to get up on your feet quickly from the floor. Try to jump your feet forward toward your hands and keep your legs almost straight to minimize energy loss while standing up.

Rest while standing. When you get tired, avoid staying on the floor. It’s easier to keep your pace if you only rest when you’re standing.

There you go! Now you have all the theoretical knowledge needed to perform a proper burpee. All that’s left is to get started. Perhaps the toughest thing about burpees is that there are no excuses for not doing them!
To help you on your way, we recommend some comfortable workout clothes, which you can find HERE – Women and HERE – Men.

Good luck! We believe in you and are cheering you on!