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If you’re even slightly into fitness and workouts, then there’s no chance that you haven’t heard of burpees, the compound exercise that’s usually a part of High-Intensity Interval Training workouts. Burpees are exercises that use your body weight to engage multiple groups of muscles to strengthen them and burn calories. The ability of burpees to burn so many calories is the primary reason they’re also included in any weight loss workout routine.
In this blog, let’s go into some detail as to what a burpee is, how you can practise it, and why this full-body exercise burns so many calories.
What is a Burpee?
A burpee is a high-intensity workout that essentially combines four different movements: a jump, squat, plank and push-up. When these movements are done in quick succession, leading one to the next, then the whole movement is termed a burpee.
Burpees are most commonly practised as a form of cardio exercise to burn calories and are especially included in HIIT workouts. They’re taxing workouts and can be too intense for some because they involve multiple muscle groups throughout the body and are done at pace.
How To Do A Burpee Correctly
Burpees exercise involves multiple movements and hence it is important to follow the correct form and technique for the most effectiveness. Here are the steps to perform burpees:
- Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms by your sides.
- Lower your body into a squat position by bending at the knees and hips, with your hands on the ground in front of you.
- Quickly jump your feet back into a plank position, with your hands directly underneath your shoulders.
- Lower your body down towards the ground by performing a push-up.
- Quickly push your body back up into a plank position.
- Jump your feet forward towards your hands and return to the squat position.
- Finally, explosively jump up, reaching your arms overhead.
- Land softly and immediately go into the next repetition.
- Continue the same steps for 30-60 seconds, followed by rest.
Burpee Modification
Sometimes, doing all the movements in a burpee can prove to be too difficult. In that case, one can skip any one movement to make it slightly easier. For example, you can skip the push-up part and follow the rest of the steps. Instead of leaning into the push-up during your plank, just hold the plank position for a few seconds and directly go into a squat.
The Science Behind The Burpee: Why it Burns So Many Calories
Burpees are among the exercises that burn the most calories and that’s the reason they’re used in weight-loss routines. So why does the burpee burn so many calories?
There are several reasons. Burpee exercises engage multiple muscle groups at once, including your legs, core, chest, shoulders, and arms. This means that you're working more muscles with each repetition, resulting in more calories being burnt. Burpees have the potential to burn 10 calories a minute or 600-700 calories per hour for a person of average weight.
Another factor that contributes to the calorie burn of the burpee is the fact that it's a high-intensity exercise. When you perform a burpee, your heart rate increases rapidly, leading to a higher calorie burn. This effect is even more when you perform the exercise in a HIIT format, where you alternate periods of high-intensity exercise with periods of rest.
Finally, the burpee is a full-body exercise that requires a lot of energy to perform. Not only do you need strength to execute the movements properly, but you also need cardiovascular endurance. This means that the burpee can be an effective way to improve both your strength and your cardiovascular fitness, leading to a greater overall calorie burn.
If you’re looking to get onto the burpee bandwagon and start practising these intense exercises, then download FITPASS and find a great gym near you in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and other metro cities to begin your burpee routine. Along with the ability to locate the best gym near you, FITPASS also offers comprehensive fitness support so that you can reach your fitness goals.
