PicoBlog

Sometimes a surname can make, break or overstate a legacy. For example, Thomas Crapper, the 19th century English plumber and plumbing supply entrepreneur wasn't really that involved with toilets, but we are largely indebted to him whenever we refer to that thing we do on the porcelain throne as "going to the crapper."

Then there is Royal Huddleston Burpee, a physiologist who invented (arguably) one of the most effective exercises of all time in 1939 for his PhD thesis in Applied Physiology at Columbia Teacher’s College. The name of this exercise is the burpee. The title of the movement is simply due to its namesake, and while it sounds funny, and perhaps a bit gross if you draw associations to the digestive system, the burpee is one of the most productive total body workouts. It is also apparently one of the most hated exercises! When I search “the burpee hated” on Google, I got a whopping 1,130,000 results in 0.26 seconds!

The burpee is a full body compound exercise, meaning that it performing it requires using more than one muscle group at a time. All burpees involve two key exercises that work the entire body: the plank and the squat. A popular variation of the burpee also includes a push up and jump. The aspect I enjoy most about the burpee is that it is such a versatile move, and you can really let your imagination take hold when coming up with variations of the exercise.

I often end my warmups by doing 100 burpees in ten minutes, doing them in the style of an Every Minute on the Minute (EMOM) type of workout, which means I do ten sets of ten burpees. Depending on what exercises and areas of the body I am focusing on that day determines the type of burpees I warm up with. Most of the time I will do the burpee with a push up, but I also like to add some light resistance in the form of eight to fifteen pound dumbbells. 100 burpees is an intense workout in and of itself, and if you stop there and call it a day, I think you should feel absolutely great about it! Warming up with a burpee challenge really helps me build endurance for longer strenuous workouts, whether it is a weight training or cardio day (or both, as I sometimes like to combine the two, which will be a future topic I write about).

In the event that this is your first rodeo, here is the general form for a burpee, in the manner that Royal H. Burpee intended:

So there you have it! Give it a try by starting with three sets of ten burpees for a total of thirty. Rest for about thirty seconds after each set of ten. When that gets too easy, increase the reps, number of sets and shorten the amount time you rest for. With the original burpee, you are getting a really good core workout by constituting a squat and a plank. It is an explosive movement because you have to kick back to get into the plank, and then tuck back into a squat from the plank. It is also a very controlled movement because you need to hold several different positions in succession.

Now, the burpee by itself will tone your body, help make you more mobile and burn a significant amount of calories, but it is not a true muscle building workout in its traditional form (see: de Lacey, 2021). If you are looking to build some lean muscle, you will have to add a bodyweight strength component to the burpee. The most common addition is the push up. In this maneuver you will basically perform the Royal Burpee, but add in a push up and squat jump for that extra shot of adrenaline and explosiveness. So the routine is as follows:

Other variations of the burpee can include added resistance such as the dumbbell burpee, which is essentially can be done as either the Royal Burpee or the push up variation. In this instance, you are just including a pair of dumbbells for some strength training. Start out using light weights, the goal is not pumping iron, but rather adding extra resistance to the explosive movements such as the squat thrust and jump. I alternate between eight and twenty pound dumbbells for weighted burpees. Beginners should go with two to five pounds. Remember, getting the proper form of the exercise down pat is the key focus.

When you have gotten a strong grasp of the burpee, you can start to explore other variations by altering the motions of the traditional burpee and/or adding in other cardio or strength training movements to the burpee. Some examples are:

Curtsy Lunge Burpee With Scorpion Push up:

The curtsy lunge scorpion push up burpee combination is a really great full body movement. Adding a lunge to the burpee works the quads and glutes, while the scorpion push up engages the chest, core, hips and thoracic spine. In my opinion, this movement looks and feels a bit like dancing, and in fact, the curtsy lunge is a popular ballet warmup exercise.

To do a curtsy lunge burpee, step your left foot behind and outside your right foot, and lower your hips until your right thigh is parallel with the floor. Your left knee should hover an inch or two above the floor. Reverse the movement to return to the starting position, which is a squat. Do the same thing for the opposite leg.

When you return to the squat after two curtsy lunges, you then drop down into a plank and perform a scorpion push up by bending your left knee at a ninety degree angle, and cross your bent leg over your right leg as you can (try and touch the floor with your toes) while you perform your push up. Do the same thing for the opposite leg.

I will likely write a post on lunges and squats specifically, as they are actually good alternatives to burpees (in the event that burpees just aren’t your thing!).

One Hand Burpees:

In my opinion, the one hand burpee is harder than it looks. However, because it is very demanding on your core and arms to hold yourself in position, you will need to really work on your planks before attempting this exercise. The movement is simple, you start from a squat and go into a one handed plank. Then you return to the squat and jump up in the air. You can perform a set number of reps solely with your left hand first and then move on to the right hand, or alternate between them in one go.

The Reverse Burpee:

The reverse burpee takes me back to the days of gymboree, where we would do partial backwards rolls on large squishy mats. In this instance, I am basically inverting the traditional burpee by performing a backwards roll into a plank. Then I do a push up and finish off with a jumping jack. I often like to add a little bit of resistance by using two eight pound dumbbells. This is a great movement to build mobility (i.e. balance and stability) as well as core strength.

Devil’s Press:

If you want add some real resistance to your burpee routine, the Devil’s Press is a challenging burpee variation that will give you one hell of a work out, pun intended. I do not know the origin behind the name, but from what I have read and heard among the fitness community, it seems that the name is a literal response to how grueling this exercise movement is. Some people actually have declared their hatred for the Devil’s Press, damning it back to Hell for eternity! I personally love the Devil’s Press because it is so effective as an aerobic and anaerobic exercise. You have all the cardio and strength training you need for a day in one move that is actually, despite its name, simple to master.

To perform the Devil’s Press follow the steps below (you can see an example of me doing one in the video above). Unlike the dumbbell burpee which requires a jump at the end, I like to use heavier weights for the Devil’s Press.

Tuck Jump Burpee:

A real cardio killer, the tuck jump burpee will literally take your breath away! Performing this burpee is exactly how it sounds. You can do any burpee variation as long as you finish with a tuck jump. For some reason when I am doing a burpee circuit, this variation is the last exercise I do. I guess I put it off until the end because it is a real burner! In the version shown in the video above, I torture myself even further by adding in a donkey kick from the plank position.

So there you have it, a basic rundown of the burpee in all its glory, and several fun and challenging variations. Let me know how you get on! Do you love burpees like I do or hate them like so many on the World Wide Web seem to? I am pretty certain that this won’t be the last you hear about them (and also Royal H. Burpee as his story/career is fascinating) from me!

References, Notes, Suggested Reading: 

de Lacey, James. “Do Burpees Build Muscle?” Lift Big Eat Big, 9 December 2021. https://liftbigeatbig.com/do-burpees-build-muscle/

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