Does burpee exercise really help you burn calories quickly?

To burn extra calories and make your body slim and fit, you should master the technique of doing burpees. This is a complex exercise that uses almost all muscle groups. Today it is often used in crossfit and cardio training. One of the main advantages of burpees is that it does not require special equipment. It is also not necessary to visit the gym, because you can exercise at home.

Burpee: what is this exercise?

Essentially, a burpee, or burpee as it's also known, is a plyometric exercise that combines a push-up, a jump, and a plank. It was developed by Royal H. Burpee in 1939. It was named after the doctor of physiological sciences.

When performing burpees, the body takes on a vertical and horizontal position in a short period of time. Your heart rate increases, so calories are burned faster. Depending on the phase of the exercise, the triceps, quadriceps, muscles of the buttocks, thighs and other parts of the body are activated.

Burpee program for a month

One burpee combines everything you need: a plank, a push-up, a squat for weight loss, and a dynamic jump. It can be done as a simple exercise for a beginner, or progressed to the most complex form of exercise in the fitness world.

Plan

The first week begins with building a base - mastering the simplest version of burpee. We start by doing just three repetitions and add one more each day. After a day of eight burpees, leave one day for rest. And remember that modifications are welcome if desired. For the second week, we no longer take the simple option, but burpees with leg raises, which helps develop mobility.

The first week helped you develop endurance, and the third week helped you develop strength. In the fourth week you will develop sharp movements.

During these four weeks, we will expand the range of exercises available to you, improving your endurance, strength, stability and mobility - all of which will make the exercise easier.

Classic burpee

In the classic version, the burpee technique looks like this:

1. Take the starting position. Stand straight, place your feet shoulder-width apart. The arms hang freely along the body.
2. Take a breath. Lean forward, then squat and place your palms on the floor. They should bear the bulk of the body weight at this moment.
3. Take a “lying position”, throwing your legs back. The body forms a straight line, it is parallel to the floor surface.
4. Do 1 push-up. Then sit down again, leaning on your hands and knees.
5. Exhale, jump strongly. Your arms should go up while jumping.

Without stopping, you need to do a few more repetitions. Then, after a short interval, repeat the exercise.

On a note! Before you start doing burpees, you need to soberly assess your own capabilities. For beginners, this exercise may be overwhelming. In this case, it can be made easier or performed after certain physical training.

Burpee technique for beginners

The exercise can be made easier by removing one of the elements from it. For example, eliminate push-ups.

Burpee technique for beginners:

1. Take the starting position. Stand up straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. The arms hang along the body.
2. Breathe. Lean forward, squat and, as in the classic version, place your hands on the floor.
3. Throw your legs back, resting your toes and palms on the floor. The body is parallel to the floor.
4. Without doing push-ups, squat down, rest your knees and hands on the floor.
5. Exhale, jump strongly. Raise your arms up in a jump.

On a note! When performing burpees for beginners, you can exclude from it not only push-ups, but also jumping. This will make the exercise easier, but less effective.

Burpee technique for girls

In fact, the burpee technique for girls is no different from the classic version. However, to increase the effectiveness of the exercise, you can complicate it a little:

• jumping onto a step platform or other suitable height;
• jumping over an object - left or right over an obstacle.

Such changes will allow the calf and gluteal muscles to work more actively.

Burpee exercise for women can be done as follows:

1. Stand up straight, place your feet shoulder-width apart. Hands are along the body.
2. As you inhale, bend forward, then squat down and place your hands on the floor.
3. Take a “lying position” and do push-ups, keeping your body in one straight line.
4. Squat down again, placing your hands and knees on the floor.
5. As you exhale, jump over the obstacle.

Squats

Squats are considered one of the most effective exercises for losing weight, since they are the basic movements of the human body. William Lorman, a professor at Stanford University, in his Compendium of Guides to Observing Physical Activity, provides some very interesting data. For example, a person weighing 62 kg loses about 43 kcal while performing just 100 squats.

jump squat technique

The squat can be divided into two stages. While squatting down, all the muscles of the body are tensed to maintain balance. The power phase begins when the body rises upward. There are several types of squats, which differ in type of complexity, load and method of execution. The effectiveness of different types of squats is almost the same, so you can use any exercise you like to lose weight. However, one of the most intense and effective types of squats is the jump squat!

The squat is a full-body exercise that also requires no additional equipment and perfectly works the muscles of the legs and core through alternating contraction and stretching of the muscles. A classic plyometric exercise that involves a powerful upward jump from a squat. A so-called explosive load is created, that is, a quick effort is made in a short period of time, which develops muscle strength and increases their volume. This exercise uses the quadriceps, large and soleus muscles of the buttocks, as well as the adductor muscles of the thighs, calf muscles, additional load is placed on the muscles that hold the spine, the posterior thigh muscles, the lower back muscles, and the abs.

Execution technique

• Place your feet shoulder-width apart and straighten your back. You can cross your arms in front of you at chest level.
• The squat is done while inhaling. Lower yourself until parallel with the floor. You can go a little lower, the main thing is to watch your feelings.
• As you exhale, tense your core muscles and suddenly, using the movement of your hips, jump up as high as possible. You need to make a powerful jump up, pushing off with your full feet. Try to jump as high as possible, your hips should “spring” as much as possible.
• Once your feet have fully touched the floor, go back into a squat. Repeat squat jumps as many times as necessary.

It is especially important to control the landing: try to stand on the floor with both feet at the same time. You should land on slightly bent legs (as softly as possible) and immediately go back into another squat. It is advisable to use soft and comfortable sports shoes designed for such training, ideally with shock-absorbing soles that can effectively absorb shock. It is also better to choose a surface for practicing, focusing on a softer surface (accordingly, concrete or asphalt surfaces are not the best options).

jump squat

For those involved in strength sports, the squat is the main exercise for developing strength and muscle mass in the body. Correctly performed squats help strengthen the back and form correct posture. Squats stimulate normal blood circulation in the pelvic area, which speeds up metabolism. Exercise strengthens the leg muscles, and this makes a person more active and mobile.

With the help of squats, you can get rid of the “breeches” on your hips and generally improve the shape of your buttocks. Squats speed up metabolism, train breathing, and increase the rate of breakdown of fat cells. As a result, calories are burned, the figure becomes slimmer and more toned, and the gait becomes lighter, softer and more attractive. For maximum effect, the jump squat can be performed in the form of a Tabata protocol* (read more in the article Tabata: 4 minutes that will work wonders on your body). This 4-minute magic set burns the most calories both during and after your workout. Participants in one experiment who did 8 rounds of full jump squats—20 seconds of hard work alternating with 10 seconds of rest—burned 13.4 calories per minute and doubled their metabolic rate after the workout for at least 30 minutes.

Beginners should practice stationary squats. Once you have mastered the squat technique, you can add small jumps, concentrating on the landing mechanism (see above). Later, the exercise can be complicated using additional equipment. For example, jumping onto a step or box.

Basic recommendations

At first glance, burpees may seem like a difficult exercise. However, just a few regular workouts will prove that there is nothing difficult about it. The main thing is to master the technique to do burpees correctly.

Experts give beginners the following recommendations:

• you need to start the exercise slowly, because at the first stage it is very difficult to understand and master the coordination of legs and arms;
• if physical endurance is not enough, you can do push-ups from your knees, and skip jumping altogether;
• As you gain experience, the speed of the exercise must be increased;
• The overall effectiveness of burpee depends on proper breathing;
• It is preferable to train in the morning on an empty stomach, which will allow the body to recover faster and also enhance metabolic processes for the whole day.

Burpee exercise for weight loss: how it works

Muscles worked

This complex is a fairly simple way to lose weight, which is easy to master. But still, it has a main disadvantage - it is intense and requires great endurance. When you decide to lose weight with the help of this complex, the main thing to understand is that there is nothing complicated or supernatural in it.

The muscles and ligaments receive the greatest load during this gymnastics. This will be felt almost immediately, so in the first stages the main thing is not to overdo it. A feeling of complete exhaustion may appear after just a few approaches.

The popularity of burpees is based on the fact that after it a large number of calories and unnecessary fat are burned. As you get used to it and increase the number of approaches, endurance develops and the body becomes toned.

During exercise, it is important to choose the right interval so that cardio training is as effective as possible. For optimal results, take a two-minute break after each approach.

Be sure to read: The benefits of callanetics for weight loss and rules for beginners

By performing the entire burpee routine correctly, the body literally becomes a fat-burning machine. Some scientific studies claim that high-intensity exercise burns twice as much fat as lower-intensity exercise. Against this background, metabolism always noticeably accelerates.

The most important condition for losing weight is the intensity of the exercise and maximum muscle use. The more energy expended, the more weight will be lost. The main thing to remember is that only your own weight is always used as a burden.

When performing burpees, maximum attention should be paid to the muscles of the shoulder girdle, triceps, deltoid and trapezius muscles, as for the upper body. Also, a separate intense load is given to the buttocks, calf muscles, and abdominal muscles. When performing the complex, the whole body is always involved and the result is cardio training, which provides a weight loss effect.

If you follow proper nutrition, the body will begin to consume its calories. But adding burpees will significantly increase your metabolism, and with the right approach, you can easily lose up to 8 kg in a month of such an intensive program. One completed set of burpees is an alternative to a half-hour jog.

Another important advantage is that specially equipped gyms are needed to perform regular strength training. Visiting such complexes requires time and additional financial costs, which for many can become a limitation on the path to a beautiful and fit body.

Preparation for training

Before you start doing burpees, you need to warm up your muscles. To do this, you will need to warm up before each workout. This may include the following:

• easy jogging (5 minutes) – you can use a treadmill, run in place;
• rotations with arms, wrists (up to 30 times);
• body tilts in different directions (7 times);
• tilt your head in different directions (7 times).

In addition, squats, jumping jacks, push-ups and other exercises will not hurt. They should be light and in no case overload the muscles, otherwise by the beginning of the workout you will feel fatigue and loss of strength. The load received by the human body during warm-up depends on the physical fitness of the person.

How to do it correctly?

For the exercise to be effective, it is important to follow the technique. Only if done correctly can you achieve good results and benefits for your figure.

Here are the main points to pay attention to during training:

• Gymnastics begins with a warm-up. To do this, you must first perform several squats with your arms extended forward. Then do a plank, remaining in this position for about half a minute. Next, the warm-up program involves push-ups and then jumping rope.
• After this, you can proceed to the main training point. During this gymnastics, it is important to include all muscles in the work: abdomen, legs, buttocks.

It is also necessary to monitor correct breathing, combining it with movements. If this is difficult to do at first, you can simplify your training program.

How many burpees should you do?

The exact number of repetitions and approaches when performing burpees depends on the physical fitness of the athlete.

On a note! There was a belief in the US Army that a soldier who did 40 simple burpees in 1 minute was in good shape.

Of course, for the civilian population the time frame is somewhat compressed. They can be expanded to 90 seconds, leaving the same 40 simplified exercise cycles as a reference. The number of approaches should be selected for yourself.

The following examples will help answer the question of how many times you need to do burpees to achieve results:

• Tabata method – 20 seconds of continuous exercise with an interval of 10 seconds, 8 approaches;
• classic program - 10-20 times, up to 4 approaches;
• The standard for people involved in sports is 12-15 repetitions in half a minute.

On a note! The record for the most repetitions of burpees, listed in the Guinness Book of Records, was 47 times in a minute. It was directed by an Italian in 2021.

Who is it contraindicated for?

Burpees are an excellent solution for those who want to lose weight, as well as become strong and resilient. Studies have proven that a five-minute exercise is equivalent to a half-hour run in terms of calorie burning intensity. This state of affairs is impressive. But not always and not everyone can do burpees.

There are diseases and conditions for which these exercises are not recommended. Here are the main ones:

• Cardiovascular diseases.

People suffering from these diseases are better off choosing a less intense training option. Because otherwise there is a high risk of increased blood pressure, which can lead to a stroke. This is due to the fact that during exercise there is a rapid change in body positions, as a result of which untrained blood vessels can malfunction.

• Pregnancy and breastfeeding.

During pregnancy and after birth, women are advised not to do burpees. This is due to the fact that the body in such conditions can malfunction, which is fraught with problems and problems associated with women’s health.

• Post-traumatic and postoperative periods.

Due to the stress on the body that occurs during exercise, there is a high risk of exacerbation of previously treated diseases and injuries. To prevent this from happening, a long period of rehabilitation and more gentle gymnastics are required.

• Diseases of musculoskeletal tissues.

During burpees, muscles and joints are actively involved in the work. If there are problems in their activities, then there is a high risk of the condition worsening due to intense stress.

Burpees are a great way to strengthen muscles, burn calories, and gain weight. But when performing exercises, it is important to consider a number of factors that allow you to maintain health and avoid all kinds of injuries.

Several reasons why you should do burpees

Since burpees burn a huge amount of calories, this exercise is ideal for weight loss. Almost all muscle groups take part in its implementation. In addition, the following facts testify in its favor:

• the cardiovascular system is strengthened;
• physical endurance increases;
• respiratory organs develop;
• You can train at home, without using special equipment or going to the gym;
• it is possible to adjust the difficulty level of the exercise by removing or adding elements;
• for athletes who actively practice strength training, burpees will help build muscle mass;
• This exercise restores coordination.

On a note! If you want to pump up the muscles of the lower body, it is recommended to include two jumps in the complex exercise. To give more attention to your chest and arms, it's worth adding a couple of push-ups. If you need to strengthen your abs, it is enough to pull your knees to your chest in a plank position.

The benefits and harms of burpees

Like any exercise, burpees have their own objective advantages and disadvantages. Let's take a closer look at them.

Benefit

The benefits of the burpee exercise are difficult to overestimate, because along with basic strength exercises, it has long become the main one in almost any CrossFit program. So, in order - what are the benefits of burpees?

• During the burpee exercise, almost all the muscles of your body work. Namely, hamstrings, glutes, calves, pectorals, shoulders, triceps. It is difficult to imagine another exercise that could boast such a result.
• Burpees are great for strengthening your core muscles.
• Great for burning calories. We'll talk about this in a little more detail later.
• The body's metabolic processes are accelerated for a long time to come.
• Develops speed, coordination and flexibility.
• The cardiovascular and respiratory systems of the body are excellently trained.
• Does not require sports equipment or control of technique from a coach. The exercise is as simple as possible and absolutely everyone can do it.
• Simplicity and functionality make burpees an ideal exercise for beginner athletes.

Of course, burpee also has negative sides - there are few of them, but they still exist. So, the harm from burpees:

• Serious stress on almost all joints of the body. Mainly knees. But also, if you unconsciously “plop” on your hands in a prone position, then there is a possibility of injuring your wrists. Ideally, the exercise is best performed on a rubberized surface.
• Many people are in a bad mood when they learn that burpee is included in the WOD.

How many calories do burpees burn?

Since burpees are one of the most effective exercises for weight loss, it's easy to imagine that doing them burns a lot of calories. Experts gave approximate calculations and found that for 7 repetitions performed in 1 minute, you can get rid of 15-20 kcal. According to experts, the speed of metabolic processes increases, as with a bicycle printer for 30 seconds. Thus, to burn 100 kcal, you need to perform approximately 35 burpees in 5 minutes. In turn, for 100 burpees done in 14-15 minutes, including several rest intervals with a total duration of 2 minutes, you can lose approximately 225-250 kcal.

However, the above are only average indicators. The exact number of calories burned depends on the athlete's weight. The higher your body weight, the more calories you can burn. On average, you can burn up to 1,200 kcal in an hour.

Thus, burpee is an ideal exercise for people who play sports to lose weight and also want to pump up the muscles of the chest, abs, and arms. Of course, you will have to put in a lot of effort to complete it, and for a beginner it may even seem impossible. However, burpees help you get rid of the same amount of calories in just 15 minutes as you can lose during an hour-long workout on the treadmill.

Burpee: calorie consumption and program features

Calorie consumption

Three types of energy systems support human activity. During exercise, a kind of shake-up occurs in our body and certain processes are launched. The effectiveness will depend on the adequate use of these metabolic mechanisms.

During aerobic training, energy is obtained through intense oxidation, that is, the presence of oxygen is mandatory. When playing sports, this is an activity that takes place at medium to low intensity for at least 1.5 minutes.

Aerobic exercise optimizes cardiovascular function and helps reduce body fat. Such loads allow you to engage in physical activity with varying degrees of intensity at low power. With this type of training, athletes lose speed and muscle mass during long-term programs.

Anaerobic training does not require the presence of oxygen. This type of activity includes physical activity lasting more than two minutes, performed with a high degree of intensity. Anaerobic activity, on the other hand, is a unique trigger that results in increased response, strength and endurance.

The main value of all gymnastic exercises is that the body itself is an alternative source of weighting instead of the usual exercise equipment. This is the basis for the unique advantage of such sports loads and their main difference from strength training. Mastering this skill will allow you to get a wonderful physique without going to the gym.

People who want to lose weight almost always pay special attention to proper nutrition. This is the basis of a healthy lifestyle, but you should not forget about the importance of training and different types of stress.