Excuses are awesome, aren’t they? Let’s go some of the most common excuses we all find to ignore even the smallest of physical exercise, which can turn into massive benefits over time:
1. No time
2. No gym
3. No knowledge
4. No money
5. No need
That last one is kind of scary, but that’s basically what people are saying, right? “I don’t need to take care of my body.” And that’s totally okay, if you want to make that choice. That’s a choice that is going to come with some consequences, you know. But if you are interested in making a better choice, and discover the best full-body exercise that destroys every one of those excuses, read on.
Meet the burpee+, Your new best friend
Most people are familiar with the burpee from high school gym class. We should never have stopped doing it. We were onto something! The burpee is fantastic example of the “train movements over muscles” principle. Jumping, dropping, extending, pushing, contracting, standing. Doesn’t sound so hard until you do like… one of them.
Examples of a regular burpee
1. Jump as high as you can while standing straight up.
2. Squat down and pause in a compressed position.
3. Launch your body outward into a push-up ready position.
4. Complete a pushup slowly and effectively.
5. Compress back in and launch up into a jump to start your next rep.
With the burpee+, we’re going to start adding in even more movements to build the best full-body exercise in the game. Here are the additional changes you should start making to the burpee to hit and train even more movements:
1. Instead of simply jumping, do a alternating jumping lunge.
2. As you drop down into pushup position, hold a 15 second challenging plank (One-arm, one-leg)
3. Practice different pushup movements
4. Integrate in a set mountain climbers before returning to contracted position
5. As you return to standing, reach above to a pull-up bar and perform a rep. (Only change that needs equipment)
You don’t have to adopt any of these changes if you don’t want to, just stick with plain ole’ burpee.
Why the burpee+ blows past all your excuses
No gym, no advanced fitness knowledge, no monthly fees, no necessary equipment, and no more than a few minutes in the morning. And as far as no need? If you can’t do more than 10 of these in a row, there is absolutely a need. You need to be strong, flexible, competent, and able to control and move your body. That’s not something you should budge on.
How to start training with the burpee+ to make it stick
30 burpees a day keeps the doctor away. But don’t you dare start there, because you’ll quit! So instead, let’s Kaizen this thing.
1. One burpee today. Ten seconds of your life. Can you give that towards your health?
2. One more burpee the next day. Twenty seconds. 100% progress. Now you’re building a skill.
3. Three burpees on day three. Heart started pumping a little bit, didn’t it?
4. Just keep going until you hit 30. Stay at 30 for the rest of your life. Be happy.
Before you go, leave a comment and commit to the 30 day burpee challenge!
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I’m in. I’ll start tomorrow morning since I’m a procrastinator and it’s already noon.
Oh the burpee! Standard training for anyone preparing for a Spartan Race. Truly a full body workout that is easy to add to a workout or stand alone workout first thing in the morning.
Hey Nic! So glad to have you back and hanging out with us. Are you training for a race, or just like the torture of the burpee?
Both actually. Good to be back too.
I’m all over this one! I’ve started exercising routinely this week, so I’ve already started at 10-15 burpees 2-3 times a day, but I’m sticking with that for the next two weeks, and then I’ll start adding one more to each set I do until I can actually do 30 in one sitting (squatting?). It’s modified, but I got the inspirato to make a kaizen progression out of it from here! This feels good!
Okay, sure. I’m on it.
See you in 30 days!
Legit, I’m all over this
Good luck brotha.
Okay, you’ve convinced me. I’m in, starting today 🙂 Just hope I can keep it up during my vacay!
Erica, Ha! Got ya, sucker. Of course you can! If you tell me you don’t have less than three minutes to bust out some burpees sometime during the day, I’m going to find you and make you do them with me.
Ha, okay, deal. Day one, already down 🙂
Burpees are definitely one of those exercises that can be done in all the wrong ways. Once I learned to stop giving a **** about what others are thinking of me while I’m exercising, and realized no one really gives a **** what I’m doing anyway, I was able to concentrate very hard on each movement and making my strength training perfect. So what if the guy next to you is working with HUGE dumbbells and sweating testosterone. I may be using 20lbs but I’m doing them perfectly. Same applies to burpees. Injury prevention should be your #1 goal.
Great point, Rob. I would hate anyone to every get hurt. But the idea of actually zoning in on your body and moving slowly, trying to perfect each movement, is almost zen.
I’m down like Charlie Brown!
I found out from the doctor I have a torn shoulder labrum, so i’m going to need surgery. This will definitely hinder my ability to be a burpee+ master. However, I will use the Kaizen meaning to help me through my recovery! Kaizen is a real game changer!
Love it brotha! Maybe a burpee without push-ups then! Just jump around until you puke.
Learn to love them facepulls! I injured my labrum way back, and never really took care of it until I went to college. Once you go through surgery and PT, make sure to add additional external rotation exercises to your programming.
Depending on your recovery rate and posture, you’ll probably spend a few months with a 2:1 pull/push ratio, getting your shoulders back up to snuff. Skip the croc rows, get familiar with the cable deck, and focus on the Pendlay row over the Yates row. Don’t be afraid to extend your warmup when you’re doing vertical pushing, and make sure to practice your deadhangs before diving back into pullups.
/endgeeking
Ah, yes. I know some of those words. 😀
I’m in. small changes add up to a lifestyle change!
And you look back like, “Damn. How’d I get so far so fast?”
I’m in! I mean, I kind of have to be, huh.