BURPEES – WTF WAS GREG GLASSMAN THINKING??

Burpees get a bad rep.  Hell on earth.  Pure torture.  Etc.

As a CrossFitter you have to learn to embrace the burpee, to appreciate the burpee, and eventually to love the burpee.

Read on, you might be pleasantly surprised.

THE ORIGIN OF THE BURPEE

Named after an American Psychologist, Royal H Burpee, way back in the 1930s.  He created the Burpee Test – a series of burpees executed at high intensity to measure agility and coordination.  However the original burpee was slightly different, requiring the Athlete to

drop down into a plank position rather than touching the thighs and chest all the way down to the floor as per the CrossFit version we know and (don’t) love.

In modern day CrossFit this form of torture has many variations, a few of which we will look at here.

THE STANDARD BURPEE

Begin in a standing position, drop into a squat position with your hands on the ground, kick your feet back into a push up position dropping your chest and thighs to the floor, hop back up into the squat position, stand up, jump in the air throwing your hands upward, and clap.

BURPEE BOX JUMPS

As above, but instead of jumping up into the air, throwing your hands up and clapping, you jump up onto a box – no clapping necessary.

BURPEE OVER THE …

… box, rower, your partner, a kayak …. well anything your Coach can think of really.  As with Burpee Box Jumps, when you jump over something you don’t need to reach up and clap.

WORLD RECORD BURPEES

The record for most CrossFit-style burpees performed in a 72 hour period sits at 9,480.  Why Lloyd Weema from Portland, Oregon decided to take on that challenge in 2013 is beyond me.

THE BENEFITS OF BURPEES

As Coaches we get to read the faces of Athletes realising there are burpees programmed for the day:

Dear God, no!

I’m going to die

I knew I shouldn’t have come today

Burp … oh, ok, only 10, that’s ok, I can … wait a minute, 10 rounds?????

Reactions vary, but what many people don’t appreciate is that the burpee is a fantastic all-round exercise which works so many parts of the body – arms, chest, quads, glutes, hamstrings, abs…

Furthermore burpees turn your body into a monster fat burning machine, whilst also speeding up the metabolism – so even after your workout the burpee effect stays with you all day.  And being that the burpee is so portable – you need no equipment, minimal space and minimal time – your options are not limited to the gym: think bedroom, hotel room, park, driveway …

So next time you see burpees on the program –

Embrace them

Appreciate them

Love them

Have a look at this video if you want to see how to execute a standard burpee How to do a burpee

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