burpee

Love them or hate them, burpees are not only a full body workout. They are also a great quad builder, they will help you develop more explosive power, better coordination and on top of that they are an excellent fat burner.

Here we will delve into the muscles worked, how to perform Burpees, benefits, common mistakes to avoid, reps and sets, how to progress this exercise, how and where to fit it into your workout plan and finally other exercises targeting the same muscle groups.

Muscles Worked When Performing Burpees

Burpees are an exceptional compound exercise, meaning they engage multiple muscle groups, making them a highly effective full-body workout. The key muscles worked during burpees include:

Legs (Quads, Hamstrings, and Calves): The explosive jump and squat movements in this exercise activate the leg muscles, particularly the quads.

Core (Abdominals): The plank position that you will find yourself in during your burpees challenges and strengthens the core muscles.

Chest (Pectorals): The push-up part of this exercise will engage your chest muscles.

Arms (Biceps and Triceps): The push-up and jump part of this exercise will engage your biceps and triceps.

Shoulders (Deltoids): The shoulder muscles are engaged during the plank position and the upward jump.

Back (Erector Spinae): The back muscles help to stabilise your entire body during the exercise.

Cardiovascular System: Burpees provide an intense cardiovascular workout, contributing towards your overall endurance.

You can use the muscle highlighted image at the top of this page for a visual guide of the muscles worked.

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How to Perform Burpees

1. Start Position: Begin in a standing position with your feet shoulder-width apart and arms by your sides.

2. Squat Down: Lower your body into a quarter squat position and reach your hands out onto the floor in front of you.

3. Extend Legs: Shift your weight onto your hands and kick your feet back, extending your legs behind you into a plank position. Keep your core engaged to maintain a straight line from head to heels.

4. Push-Up: Perform a push-up, ensuring that your core remains tight and engaged. Your chest should briefly touch the ground or come as close as possible.

5. Jump to Squat: Spring back to your feet by explosively jumping forward, bringing your knees toward your chest.

6. Final Jump: Finish the burpee by leaping into the air with an extended body, reaching overhead.

7. Repeat: After landing, immediately drop back into the squat position to start the next rep.

Benefits of Burpees

Full-Body Workout: Burpees effectively engage multiple muscle groups in the body, providing a full body workout.

Cardiovascular Conditioning: This high-intensity exercise elevates heart rate and boosts your cardiovascular fitness.

Fat Burning: Burpees are an excellent calorie-burning exercise, aiding in fat loss.

Improved Endurance: Performing regular Burpees will enhance your endurance, making it easier to tackle other physical activities both in the gym and in your everyday life.

Burpees: Common Mistakes to Avoid

Sloppy Form: Burpees move fast, so you should make sure that you are performing every single stage of this exercise with good form and intention to avoid injuries.

Overtraining: Burpees can be physically demanding. Avoid overtraining by incorporating them into your workout routine gradually.

Thinking You Have to Do Them: Burpees are an excellent exercise, but they are not necessary, there are other ways to build explosive power and burn fat. If you enjoy them and love a challenge, do them. If you don’t enjoy them and would rather not do them, do something else. There are hundreds of exercises you can do to burn fat, check out our Fat Blaster Workout Category.

Reps and Sets

This is a very physically demanding exercise, so your first task is to figure out how many of these you can perform with good form from start to finish.

The number of reps and sets you perform depends on your current strength with this exercise.

Beginners: Start with simply mastering the move. Keep in mind that if you’re just starting out, 3 reps is a valid set.

To determine how many reps/sets of Burpees you should start with, you first need to figure out how many reps you can comfortably perform. Then add 2, and perform that number of reps for 3 sets.

For example; let’s say you can perform 4 reps comfortably. Add 2 to make 6 reps. Perform those 6 reps 3 times over, allowing yourself sufficient rest inbetween.

Experienced lifters: You know your body and its abilities better than anyone, use your own judgment.

We recommend that you avoid performing more than 12 reps per set. If you’re comfortably performing 12 reps for up to 6 sets, it’s time to make the exercise more challenging.

How to Make the Burpees More Challenging

Said nobody, ever.

Truly, not many people are trying to make this exercise more challenging, it’s challenging enough as it is. If you happen to be an anomaly here and you just can’t get enough, you can add a weight vest to your Burpees so that you are performing them with more resistance.

How to Incorporate Burpees into Your Workouts

Burpees can be incorporated into high-intensity interval training (HIIT) routines, warm-ups, or as a standalone exercise to boost cardiovascular fitness and strength. They provide an excellent addition to any full-body workout plan.

Exercises That Work Similar Muscles to Burpees

To complement your Burpees, consider exercises such as Squat Jumps, Mountain Climbers, and Press Ups. These exercises engage similar muscle groups and can help you achieve a well-rounded full-body workout as well as boost your overall Burpee performance.

There are more Leg Exercises at the bottom of this page. Or you can check out our entire exercise database broken down by muscle group here.

Get Complete Workouts

Our exercise database is here to teach you the fundamentals of some key exercises in weightlifting. It is by no means an exhaustive list of exercises and each category is certainly not a workout plan in itself. In order to turn these exercises into a workout plan, you need to know how to combine the right exercises to achieve the best possible results.

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