subject: How To Do The 'ultimate' Burpee [print this page] Ah - the BurpeeAh - the Burpee. We've all done them at some point or another in our lives. It might have been in the military. It might have been in PE class when you were young. Or maybe one of your sports coaches made you do Burpees.
But, if you're like most people - you likely HATED Burpees. I used to.
Why?
Because they were HARD! Are you kidding me? Man, they were tough. After just a few reps, you're breathing hard, your legs hurt, your shoulders and arms want to give you, and you're sweating like a hog in virtually no time. Who like that kind of thing?
But, just like eating your vegetables and going to bed early when you were young, Burpees are like a lot of things you didn't like doing as a kid - they were good for you.
I'm now fully grown and have kids of my own. And I'm still doing Burpees. Doing a few can serve as a great warm-up for your workout. Doing 5-10 after each set in your strength training workouts as "active recovery" can add a real super cardio element to your taining. In fact, you could do a Burpee-only workout to train your cardio...and it could be a real "puker"!
The crazy thing about Burpees is that they're one of the only exercises that can be changed, modified, and made easier or harder in an almost infinite amount of variations. In its most basic form, you've got the Squat Thrust. Then the normal Burpee. Then there's the 8-Count Bodybuilder. You can do them holding dumbbells, wearing a weight vest, or any number of any other variations to make them more vomit-inducing.
Enter the cardio exercise I termed the "Ultimate Burpee". Forget everything else you ever knew or remembered about Burpees, because these are going to cause you to have all new nightmares.
Here is how to perform an "Ultimate Burpee":
--Stand tall with hands at sides
--Squat down, put hands on ground just outside feet
--Keeping hands planted, thrust feet back and apart with your butt in the air, so that you land in the "up" position of a Dive Bomber Push-Up
--Perform one Dive Bomber
--Thrust feet forward so that you're back in the squatted position
--Keeping your feet planted on the ground, thrust your body forward so that you land in the "up" position of a regular Push-Up
--Perform one Push-Up
--Thrust your body back so that you're back in the squatted position
--Stand up
*The above equals one rep. Repeat until you see lights.
