The Burpee

By Amanda Millward

Courtesy of Sara Flemming & Zac Nicholas

The burpee is a tremendous full-body exercise that will work every muscle in your body, including your heart and lungs. This exercise is a favorite of commandos and special ops units since the burpee by itself can provide a total body workout and be performed just about anywhere without having to take a step in any direction. To begin, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Drop down onto your hands and feet, and then thrust your feet back so you are in a push-up position. Thrust your feet back in and then stand up. To make the move more challenging, add a vertical jump at the end.

The Burpee Challenge: Try completing as many burpees as possible in 5 minutes. Perform this burpee workout two or three times per week and strive to see how many additional burpees you can complete each time. Complete 100 in 5 minutes, and you’ve just earned the title of Gladiator!

Circuit Training: The burpee is also a great exercise to include as part of a circuit course. For example, set up a circuit course consisting of four exercises; example exercises could include the body-weight squat, push-up, jump rope and burpee. Perform each exercise for one minute, and move from one station to the next with very minimal rest (rest no longer than 15 seconds between exercises). After completing all four stations, rest for two minutes, and then perform the entire circuit again. Recommendation is to complete the entire circuit for a total of four to five times. Performing a circuit course such as this, which consists of both upper and lower body exercises, will provide you with a great cardio and resistance workout all in about 30 minutes. Go for it!

Difficulty: Moderate
Time Required: 5 minutes
Calories Burned: 27

Gunny Barker of Gladiator Fitness
gunnysarg@hotmail.com
www.gladiatorfitness.net

(July 2011)