The burpee is perhaps the most ubiquitous exercise of the current fitness world. Not so long ago, it was relegated to the depths of our collective memory as a relic of gym class and military service. It has found a new life in garage gyms and fitness bootcamps, reclaiming its former glory in torturing fitness devotees with its brutal simplicity. It has existed in many forms and variations, and is well deserving of its reputation as the king of bodyweight movements.

While researching this article, I discovered that the burpee was not named for the lovely feeling of vomitus rising in ones throat and the subsequent burp that comes with its re-swallow, but in fact for the exercise's creator, Royal H. Burpee. So thank ol' Royal next time you're swallowing a mouthful, because it's his creation that's making you retch.

This exercise has since gone by several names: the burpee, squat thrust, bodybuilder and a few I can't mention here, but the basics of the movement remain the same: begin standing, squat, hands to the ground, jump the legs back, push-up, jump the legs back, stand and jump. In even simpler words: squat, push-up, jump. A burpee can be any variation on this theme, and there are truly endless variations - I know, I've tried and created more than I might like to admit. I consider myself a burpee connoisseur, and it is my mission to improve the quality of burpees in this world, one burpee at a time.

I've noticed degradation in the quality of burpees with their increase in popularity, and most of this has to do with the desire to do more burpees faster. Unfortunately, the art of movement is lost in pursuit of quantity. I am a strong supporter of doing less better, and as such, I recommend limiting reps in favor of maintaining high quality. I have nothing against high rep workouts, but they're hard! They're especially hard when you are not highly proficient in a movement - a point that is too often forgotten by both coaches and trainees. If you have not mastered a movement, you should not be doing more than ten consecutive reps of it, especially if it is biomechanically complex. CNS fatigue quickly compromises form, and repeated execution of a movement with compromised form builds bad habits. To quote Tommy Kono, "Practice makes permanent."

Let's break the burpee down into its component parts and analyze them. We'll begin with the initial squat. Let's assume you're all squat pros and know how to squat safely and effectively (heels on the ground, hips back throughout the movement, knees pointing out, strong spine - all that good stuff). The trick in the burpee is to maintain a quality squat while placing your hands on the ground. Main faults here are: prematurely rounding the back and reaching for the ground; losing hip/spine integrity at the bottom of the squat (in an effort to squat lower); and heels rising (weight shifting). What's the fix? Slow down and squat better. You stand to gain very little by flexing the spine and bending over to reach the ground. I know I have colleagues who would disagree and state that there is skill transfer in this "bend-over burpee" (as I'll call it), but only advanced trainees with excellent spine/hip control should be executing the burpee in this fashion, if ever. I see the burpee as an opportunity to improve the squat and hip mobility. Drop into your best low squat, put your hands to the ground, and jump back.

Next up is the push-up portion of the movement. The main fault I find here is the initial transition to the push-up - a drop from standing requires a lot of deceleration, and the trainee must have enough strength and stability in the elbows and shoulder complex to absorb the force created by such a drop. Deceleration is a high level athletic skill, and must be developed over time. If a trainee does not have the proper level of physical readiness, there is an unnecessary amount of stress placed on the body. Effective training is all about managing load in its different forms. Why jump ahead to advanced movements when our body is unprepared? Instead, transition smoothly from the bottom of the quality squat we mentioned above into a strong plank position before descending into the push-up. Learn to manage and stabilize your body before placing the demands of deceleration on it. Lock the scapula in position, slightly tuck the hips, squeeze the glutes, brace the belly (or engage the core, or however you want to say it), bend the elbows and perform a controlled push-up. Controlled movements can be performed at a high velocity, but need to be learned slowly before they're sped up. Did I say that already? Well, I'm saying it again, because it's important.

Perhaps the most heinous of faults in the burpee is the return to the squat after the push-up. This position is especially compromised during high rep burpee workouts. The hips fly up, the chest stays low and the trainee almost always ends up on the toes. All semblance of a good squat flies out of the window. Again, look at the burpee as an opportunity to add grace, mobility, coordination and flow to your workout. Jump your feet up outside your hands, dropping your hips and lifting the chest to transition into a squat. Finish with a good jump with full hip extension and absorb the landing back down into another good squat to begin the next rep. You'll quickly discover a whole new level of challenge in the burpee and increase mobility that has a high level of transference to other activities.



The burpee, while being an excellent component of a GPP program, has further applications than a simple metcon movement. Our goal as trainers/trainees should always be the increase of the quality of our movement. If we repeatedly execute movements at a high velocity with low attention to execution and bodily control, we will reinforce faulty movement patterns that will end in injury. Be proactive in your movement programming - learn exercises at a slow and controlled rate; then add speed. Value your opportunities to learn and improve yourself and your body. Become a master of movement.