20 Minute Fun and Fit Burpee Workout

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A few weeks ago, I taught a burpee themed Stroller Strides class and we had such a great workout, I thought I would bring it to the blog. Burpees are a great exercise because they challenge you cardiovascularly, and are a great full body resistance exercise as well. The key is to master each part of the burpee before putting it all together and before adding variations – that’s how you can maximize your results and not get injured.


Anatomy of a burpee:

  1. The squat –As low as you can, hands to floor, head and neck neutral.
  2. Jump or step to plank – Try to jump out and land softly (so you can barely hear your feet land), into a plank. Or, for a no jump option, step 1 foot out at a time instead of jumping.
  3. Push up (optional) Aim for lowering in a plank with your whole body lowering then lifting as a unit. After repeated burpees, if you start to lose form on this, you may want to leave out the push up. It’s great to challenge yourself, but overdoing it can cause injury on your shoulders and low back.
  4. Jump or step back to squat– Jump or step back all the way in.
  5. Stand up and (optional) jumpKey partRead this if you’ve ever hurt your back doing burpees. As you are standing, keep your chest up so you are looking forward and get your weight in your thighs and glutes/not tiptoes.  That way you use your legs and glutes to stand and jump and keep the pressure OFF your lower back.fullburpeebigger

featuredburpeegraphicwide400x600.jpgFor pictures and videos, see below. Also see important notes regarding pregnancy and other modifications at the bottom.

For a longer workout, repeat the sequence twice. You’ll feel it!


Warm – up -Squats, marching knees to chest, shoulder rolls, full arm circles (add any additional warm up you choose and thanks to ‘L’ for her great job in this video!)

1. Half burpees (squat, plank, squat with chest facing forward = 1)

2. Squat jumps – Prefer not to jump? Do a squat then toe raise.  Keep your chest facing forward, not toward the ground as you lower.

3. Push ups- One minute is a long time for continuous push ups.  Do as many as you can with good form and then take breaks as needed or do the push ups on your knees (still with your body lowering and lifting as one unit)

4. Full burpees (with or without push up)

 

5. Prone Y’s – Lower and lift slowly keeping your head and neck neutral.  Feet stay on the ground.  Pregnant, try an arm-only bird dog.

Prone.y6. Supermans – Lower and lift slowly keeping your head and neck neutral. Pregnant, try a full bird dog.

BE17. Single Leg Burpees Right (see video) –  with or without pushup.  Slow and steady. Focus on your balance and on using your glutes on the way down and up.

8. Single Leg Burpees Left – with or without pushup

9. Broad Jump Burpees (see video) –  with or without pushup

10. Half Turn Burpees (see video) – with or without pushup.  Be sure to alternate jump directions to avoid getting dizzy.

11. Back Extension (press up to a comfortable position, hold for 5-15 seconds and slowly lower all the way down and repeat)

Back extension12. Rolling Burpees – These are tough so just give it a try. Try practicing just the roll first like in the Pilates Rolling like a Ball exercise. When you roll, keep your back rounded and just roll to your midback. When you roll to stand, keep your legs wide and work to get your weight forward to bring your weight to your thighs as you come to stand in your low squat. It takes practice!  Not happening for you? No worries!  Do regular burpees instead.

Stretch Cat Cow, runners lunge, standing hamstring, side stretch. Add any additional cool down and stretch you choose.

A few important notes:

Note 1This is a general fitness workout and it is intense. Talk to your health care provider about what workout and modifications are right for you.  Pregnant? See the ACOG guidelines and talk to your physician.

Note 2This workout includes fun burpee modifications and, because there is so much forward type movement, we are balancing out the workout with some back extension exercises. They also give a nice breather between the more intense exercises. Enjoy!

Note 3More is not necessarily better. This is a great workout to do once or twice a week, but don’t do the routine multiple days in a row. Your muscles need to recover in order to get stronger and be rested for the next time. Too much repetitive movement (i.e. if you did lots of burpees every day for 30 days) is not a good way to get a balanced workout.

Did you try it? Let me know what you think! 

*Special thanks to my friends Nikki Miller and Jen Murphy (both are moms very dedicated to fitness), and Jen’s daughter, for their great job in the videos for this post!  

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Elysa Cruse
Elysa Cruse is a Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist, Certified Personal Trainer and is the Manager of the Corporate Wellness Program for Pitney Bowes (www.pbprojectliving.com). She moved to Fairfield County after college and has been enjoying great ways to be active and eat well in the area ever since, including teaching exercise classes such as Stroller Strides, Pilates and Boot Camp. She is mom to an adorable 3 year old boy and loves getting outdoors whether hiking, biking, or running (really anything as long as it's not weeding). Elysa is still working on the ultimate in work life balance and she's okay if she never quite finds it. Connect with Elysa on Twitter @ElysaCruseRD

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