Burpees are a staple for us when it comes to conditioning. They’re a good test of your fitness level and one of the most challenging exercises. We love burpees. They work out your chest, shoulders, triceps, abs, quads, hamstrings, and glutes. They’re a great cardio workout, and as is our nature, we’ve found different ways to make this exercise even more challenging.
Let’s start with some basic reminders about form:
Make sure you keep your core tight and strong throughout the exercise, especially when you kick your feet out from under you.
Don’t arch your lower back when in the push-up position.
Keep legs wide outside of your hands as you return to a squat.
Tuck Jump Burpee
Let’s start with a simple one. This is a regular burpee, but on the jump up, do a tuck jump, bringing your knees high and close to your chest. The jump up should be explosive. Remember to land as softly on your feet as possible.
Lunge Jump Burpee
The variation here is that instead of the jump straight up, do jumping lunges. Make sure to do both legs, so it should be 2 jumping lunges and then back into push-up position.
Star Jump Burpee
On your jump up, spread your legs and arms wide like a starfish. Be explosive on your jump! Again, remember to land as lightly on your feet as possible.
One-Handed Burpee–and One-Legged Burpees, Too
It’s as simple as it sounds. For one-handed burpees, have the arm you’re not using behind your back. Do your reps and then switch to the other hand. Same goes for the one-legged burpees. Coordination and balance will be tested by switching up the arms and legs.
Traveling Burpee
If you’ve got the space…instead of jumping straight up, jump forward. As you land, in one fluid motion, go back into a squat and then push your feet out behind you again, continuing your burpee. You’ll really feel this in your legs. It’s exhausting.
If you’ve got the equipment…
Box Jump Burpee
Do a normal burpee but jump onto a box after.
Ball Slam Burpee
Do a normal burpee, but as you come up for the jump, bring the medicine ball up with you and as you go back down, slam the medicine ball down (same motion as a normal ball slam). This will give your upper body an extra push.
BOSU Burpee
Again, a normal burpee but with some extra credit. Hold the BOSU out with bubble side away from you. When you go down to do the push-up, bubble should be on the floor as you try keep the core tight and do the push-up. As you jump up, bring the BOSU with you, jumping up with it above your head. Maintaining balance is key.
There are an infinite number of variations you can add to your burpees. You can add additional knee tucks to it, mountain climbers, clapping push-ups, pull-ups if you’ve got a pull-up bar…the world is your oyster.
We’ve listed some basic burpee variations that you can try out above. Even if you ever get tired of doing the same thing, want to work out some different muscles, or just want something to make your routine more interesting, try these variations out and let us know which ones you like the most!