FITBODY Exercise Library · Full Body
What Is a Burpee?
Burpees are one of the most effective full body exercises you can do anywhere, with no equipment at all. Made popular by CrossFit and sometimes called a squat thrust, the burpee tests your strength and stamina and gets your heart rate up fast.
What Is a Burpee?
A burpee is a cardiovascular exercise that takes you through a series of movements in a rapid sequence. You go from standing, to a squat, to a full push up, then back to a squat, and finish by jumping as high as you can with your arms overhead. It is a full body movement that needs no equipment, which is a big part of why it became a CrossFit staple. Done alone, one or two burpees are no big deal. It is when you string several together that you feel this one through your whole body, and most of us end up with a bit of a love hate relationship with it.
How to Do a Burpee
The two things I watch most are the plank and the landing. With the women I coach, keeping your hips level in the plank, rather than letting them sag, protects the lower back, and landing softly through the knees on the jump protects the joints. One or two burpees feel easy. It is the volume, several in a row, that makes this a whole body challenge, so build up your reps gradually.
What Muscles Do Burpees Work?
Burpees are a true full body exercise. The squat and jump work the quads, glutes, and hamstrings, the push up works the chest, shoulders, and triceps, and the core braces throughout, all while your heart and lungs work hard. For a closer look at the glutes that power the jump, see this gluteus maximus anatomy overview. Burpees fit well alongside a broader strength training plan for women over 40.
See the full muscle breakdown
- Legs: the quads, glutes, and hamstrings drive the squat and the powerful jump.
- Chest, shoulders, and triceps: work through the push up portion.
- Core: braces to keep your torso stable through the plank and the jump.
- Heart and lungs: the fast, full body sequence spikes your heart rate to build cardiovascular fitness. Research in women found that short bursts of whole body exercises like burpees improved aerobic fitness and muscular endurance in very little training time.
Burpee Modifications
If the full burpee is too much, whether from conditioning, an injury, or flexibility limits, you can modify it and still get most of the benefit without straining your joints.
- Remove the push up. Go through the whole movement but skip lowering your chest to the floor, jumping your feet back into the squat instead. This is easier on the wrists and less intense.
- Cut out the jump. If bounding bothers your knees, stand up from the bottom squat instead of jumping, still reaching your arms overhead to keep your heart rate up.
- Step it out. Rather than jumping back to the plank and in again, step your feet back and in one at a time.
- Use padding. Since you land and press through your hands, use a yoga or gym mat for cushioning, as long as it will not slip out from under you.
For a different take on the classic, try the burpee over barbell, which adds a lateral jump over a barbell between reps.
Ready for an Extreme Challenge? The Burpee Mile
If you are feeling really strong, the burpee mile, also called the burpee broad jump mile, is one of the toughest conditioning challenges around. It is truly for advanced athletes only, and even then you will need to pause for breath along the way. You complete a full mile of burpees, but instead of a straight up jump, you bound forward in the longest broad jump you can with each rep. A track works best, since you know the distance, four laps around most tracks is 1600 meters.
The best athletes need more than 600 burpees to finish, and those of us with a shorter broad jump will be closer to 800. A strong athlete can finish in around 90 minutes, and it quickly becomes as much a test of mental grit as physical strength. It burns a serious number of calories, but treat it as a bucket list challenge rather than a regular session, and only attempt it once your conditioning is well established.
Burpee FAQs
What is a burpee?
A burpee is a full body, bodyweight exercise that combines a squat, a plank, a push up, and a jump into one continuous movement. You start standing, drop into a squat and kick your feet back to a plank, lower through a push up, jump your feet back in, and then jump up with your arms overhead. Sometimes called a squat thrust, it was made popular by CrossFit and needs no equipment at all. It is a cardiovascular exercise that works your whole body and gets your heart rate up fast. One or two feel easy, but several in a row are a real challenge.
What muscles do burpees work?
Burpees are a true full body exercise. The squat and jump work your quads, glutes, and hamstrings, the push up portion works your chest, shoulders, and triceps, and your core braces to keep you stable the whole time. On top of the muscular work, the fast pace makes your heart and lungs work hard, which builds cardiovascular fitness. Research in women has shown that short bursts of whole body moves like burpees can improve aerobic fitness and muscular endurance in very little time. That full body demand is exactly why they are so effective.
Are burpees good for weight loss?
Burpees can absolutely be part of a fat loss plan, since they are a high intensity, full body movement that burns a lot of energy and elevates your heart rate quickly. That said, no single exercise melts fat on its own. Lasting fat loss comes from a combination of strength training, cardio, and calorie controlled nutrition, with burpees as one useful tool in the mix. They are efficient and need no equipment, which makes them easy to fit in. Pair them with solid nutrition and consistent training for real results.
How do I make burpees easier?
There are several simple ways to scale a burpee. You can remove the push up, cut out the jump and stand instead, or step your feet back and in one at a time rather than jumping. Any of these keeps most of the benefit while reducing the strain on your wrists, knees, or cardiovascular system. Using a padded mat also makes the plank and push up more comfortable. Start with an easier version and build up as your strength and conditioning improve.
References
- McRae, Gill, et al. “Extremely Low Volume, Whole-Body Aerobic-Resistance Training Improves Aerobic Fitness and Muscular Endurance in Females.” Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, vol. 37, no. 6, 2012, pp. 1124-1131, doi.org/10.1139/h2012-093.
- Myers, Tyler R., et al. “Whole-Body Aerobic Resistance Training Circuit Improves Aerobic Fitness and Muscle Strength in Sedentary Young Females.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, vol. 29, no. 6, 2015, pp. 1592-1600, doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000000790.
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I’m Julie Lohre, an IFBB Fitness Pro and certified personal trainer and nutrition specialist. For more than 20 years I have helped women over 40 get stronger, leaner, and more confident through personalized online coaching built around their real lives.