Burpees: Benefits, Drawbacks, And An Alternative
I didn’t get into burpees consistently till about my sophomore year of college. My intent in using them was to improve my stamina and conditioning. I approached them by doing what I now realize are, “Down” workouts or reverse pyramids. You start at a high number, perform all the reps, and then go down to the next until you are done. I would usually do 20 down burpee workouts. Simple workouts are often the best and performing the burpee, as long as you’re not a newbie, is pretty simple. There are plenty of channels on youtube that specialize in burpees and these folks can do burpees for days without exhaustion which is very impressive. I remember times in my life when I was getting into fitness and 20 was a difficult number to achieve.
How to perform( skip this section if you already know, I’m just trying to reach 1000 words lol): Burpees are where from standing you descend to the ground extending your arms while moving your feet back till you’re in a push-up position. Perform a push-up then bring your feet back in close to your hands and then pop up using the force of your legs. Then repeat.
But what are the benefits of burpees, the drawbacks, and do I still incorporate them in my training?
Benefits
Whole body
Other than grappling with other human beings and swimming, there are very few physical endeavors that will target the majority of the muscles in your body. With the standard burpee, you will get the legs, core, and upper body pressing muscles. If you’re in front of a pull-up bar then you can do pull-up burpees. In terms of conditioning, incorporating the entire body within one movement will provide you the best chance of stimulating a signal for improved performance. In addition to this, you will be training your body as a unit. No isolation exercises. The better you train your body as a unit the more equilibrium(length-tension relationship) you will have between all your muscles. With this equilibrium, you will have less pain and less likelihood of injury.
Variety/Scalable
There are a plethora of ways in which you can approach a burpee workout. When I was working at a gym and conducted some conditioning classes I would include in my workouts, burpee movements that would accentuate the core or add a few lunges to them. I believe in making one’s workouts interesting, not fun, but interesting. As long as you have an imagination the sky’s the limit with what burpees variations you can complete. There are also folks like Iron Wolf who add multiple reps to the various stages of the burpee for added effect.
Like all bodyweight movements, a burpee can be modified to be made easier. Instead of doing full push-ups perform the push while on your knees.
You can also add burpees to sprints or hill sprints as well. Just throwing out ideas.
Zero Equipment
My favorite. The less equipment and things you need to stay fit and get a workout in the more consistent you will be. Granted you have a decent degree of discipline. Now you can still add equipment to a burpee. I think a weight vest will go great with such an exercise.
Unless you spend some extra cash on the right amount of food and in order to avoid the processed stuff I believe one’s journey toward health should not be expensive or time-consuming. There are too many entities out that seek to siphon money from you. There are great organizations out there and people(me hopefully) but it will take some discernment to figure out who is genuine or not.
May Improve Short-Term Memory
Burns Fat/Calories
Given that your average burpee will incorporate the whole body there will be a great deal of calories being burnt. I’m not too focused on the whole calories in/calories out kind paradigm but if I can put it simply, the higher the burpees you do the more cut you’ll be.
Burpees put the power and control back in your hands. If it matches your goals, take that opportunity.
Drawbacks
Strength
Burpees can be modified in a myriad of ways and contribute significantly to strength endurance if you do it right. But don’t expect it to get you to pistol squats or one-arm pull-ups any time soon.
Time
Depending on which path you travel down with body weight you could eventually end up in a repetition black hole. The only way you get better is to perform more. But if you perform more you run the risk of sloppy technique and possibly an injury. If you’re someone who has been doing burpees for years then this will not apply to you.
All this time, the higher repetitions, and the sweat are performed to what ends? Mainly conditioning/stamina. But I believe and have experienced improving my performance without intense workouts.
Their Place In Nerve & Muscle
A few years ago I found that through a diet of strength-focused overcoming isometrics, not only did I feel lighter but I could outperform all my previous agility/HITT-based physical fitness tests. You can get better at performing burpees by doing burpees, or you could fine-tune your nervous system to operate with high power and efficiency. This is the route I choose to take. It saves time and gives back more than you put into among other things.
Strength can be achieved without dependence on heavy weights. Endurance can be achieved without a high volume of repetitions.
Filter through the noise and find the signal.
Dig through the ground and find the root.
This is the way.
Wrap Up
Burpees are a wonderful exercise that provides a lot of bang for its buck. Dedication and a good imagination will enable you to yield the most results from this kind of workout. Although there are other ways, it's a great path to go down.
Thank you for making it to the end and comments are below.
Until next time…