Burpees Suck!!

So I'm sore all over today...guess why ?!


Yep, because buprees suck!

Seriously though, they're awesome!

You get a full body workout...and it pretty much improves all markers of fitness.

I did 30 seconds on 30 seconds off yesterday for my first round of burpees in 5 months...OUCH!!

Only manages a meager 43 of the suckers, but damned that was good enough to have me hurting in my pecks, shoulders, back, & tri's.


If anyone here wants to get back into shape with an easy bodyweight exercise on the quick, check out the burpee!!

I have goals to increase by 5 for each successive session. Taking it easy with 3 days rest between sessions. Every other day I alternate between burpees/pullups/curls, and HIIT on the eliptical. Easy way to go from untrained to novice in a couple of months. Then I'll start real strength training with oly/power lifts.

Here's a video showing the burpee. You can do it without the pushup, but it doesn't feel the same to me. I always touch my chest to the ground, and clap my hands as I jump at the end of it...





Oh, and if you think this exercise is for wussies...get down and give me 50!! I dare you to try

I had a friend that claims to have dropped 60 pounds by simply doing burpees every mourning, no change in diet no extra work out, he just get up every mourning and do them as many as he could, progressing to more and more each day.

He looked pretty ripped after a year of doing them, i think he got to his goal of 100 a day.

and yes, they do indeed suck

reply to post by benrl


I see no reason not to believe his claim.

If done correctly, they are definitely a high intensity exercise.

High intensity training is proven to be more effective at weight loss than the same calories burned with lower intensity exercises.

There's a "100 burpee challenge" that many swear by. You start the first day with one, and add one for each successive day. On day 100, you're supposed to be able to perform 100 of them...the thing is, the previous day you do 99, 98, etc...I think it's overkill.

Since I can do way more than 1, I decided this routine was best.

30secs on 30 secs off; 6X

That's a good base to start off with. Managed 43 the first time, and I know how many I need for each round to hit 48 on Sunday. If I continue to increase by 5 (adding more rounds as necessary), should hit 100 in less that two months

There's another killer exercise that I loved doing (hated!) and showed killer results. It's called a wall ball. You squat holding a 20# medicine ball, and burst up throwing the ball ten feet high bouncing off a wall. You catch the ball as you squat back down, and repeat.

My goal is to be able to do 100 burpees, or 100 wall balls in under 7 minutes by the end of the year.

Great phys,
but end with a star jump as opposed to a normal one while shouting B*****D (nicknamed bast**ds coz they hurt like a bast**d)
Or as my troops shout "Neocrusader"

Soz someone's u2u'd me with regards to a good exercise
Bloody iOS 6 I presume is making it difficult to see my message centre
So I'll reply here
Try something like p90x but at your own pace and build up - there's even an app for that lol and it was free I believe
But really burpees are probably the best all body, minimal space exercise .....like if your living in a hole in the ground or a cave

reply to post by Neocrusader


Yea that was me. I have no clue why, but I'm turned off to the P90X fitness fad that's been going around. Bad first impression for some reason.

I did crossfit with a new trainer for the first four months this year. Went from 152lbs to 172 in about 120 days. Huge increases all around...thing is the trainer thought I was "elite" with my genes...I think...and wanted to make an example out of me for his future clients...but I burned out Definitely was overtrained, and close to injury...all my joints were screeching and aching...could tell I was just a couple additional sessions away from fracturing a bone, or tearing a muscle...so I quit.

I got an olympic bar, bumper plates, medicine ball, and a speed rope. Think I'll end up doing my own custom WOD's that work well for what I can handle. I seem to have pretty good potential, genetically, but seem to also need a little more recovery time than average. Just the way I was built, I guess.

reply to post by moniesisfun


Seems like you have a good idea of what you need to do ......I'll admit I'm not a fan of p90x but the lads rave about it
Set up your own routine of what works for you but remember REST is as important as phys
Giving the muscle chance to recover and repair is where you'll gain mass and strength
And a good supplement .....something with like maxi muscle cyclone ( has EVERYTHING you want from a supplement in it), think its a European brand ( get mine off the Brits, but I've found it's best for me......and doesn't have anything that'll make me fail a drugs test in it .....but as with all supplements....it's what works for you

Every time I get get into really great shape, I tend to go overboard and hurt myself.
Then I can't do much of anything for 6-8 months. I'm getting older now and it is becoming a real pain in the ass to get back in shape each time.

So I've been just doing low impact stuff for the last 8 months or so. The only thing I've been getting crazy with is this stupid leg workout. Once a week.

1 set
100 lunges
100 star jumpers
100 air squats
2:00 min. calf raise
100 flutter kicks
2:00 min. chairs
100 monkey humpers
100 meter jog

I usually do 5 sets, because it's time consuming.
It's really great if you have to carry around a lot of weight for long distances.

reply to post by Neocrusader


Cool. I was taking supplements with crossfit, but have decided to stick to a very clean diet only this time around. I may be having kidney/liver issues, so don't want to tax the system any more than I need to. It's probably just the alcohol I was consuming over my break, but not taking any chances. No more alcohol for a year, getting super fit, and securing a hot woman before taking another drink.




reply to post by watchitburn



I do the same. Go overboard and burn out. I seem to be getting a bit wiser with each new try.

I'd suggest getting a good 20# medicine ball. Do wallballs instead of airsquats. If you're not doing pullups, I'd really suggest that one as well. It's good to have some good pull movements for all that push.

reply to post by watchitburn


Dude don't know what you do for a living .......but if your majoritly sat down get one of those big rubber sports balls ( god knows what they are really called lol ) sit on that, and just spend your day gently keeping balance , gently bouncing and manoeuvering, great for the legs, fantastic for core muscles......that's what I get the wife to do and my desk ridden friends/colleagues

Going to start doing them.

reply to post by moniesisfun


Yeah a good diet is just as good, fresh fruit and veg ....for the obvious
Red meat/fish ( salmons right up there ) for creatine, and eggs/fish eggs other lean meats for protein

reply to post by Neocrusader

reply to post by moniesisfun


That is just my leg workout on Thursdays.

I go to the gym and pick up heavy stuff 2 or 3 days a week, I do lots of core stuff too.
I've never tried one of those big workout balls, I'll give it a shot.

But I'm not doing burpees. Too much snap, crackle, and pop in my shoulders for that nonsense.

reply to post by watchitburn


I have a little crackle in my left shoulder joint, but it's not an issue yet. 5 year from now?? who knows...hopefully not. The one supplement I'm willing to keep taking is glucosamine with chlondritin and MSM. Has some really good reviews on helping with joint issues. I'm going to drain that bottle and see if it helps. Will let ya know if it does. I heard it takes a couple of months to start seeing results.

As for hitting the weights, I've found deadlift, and push press are more than enough for me to gain strength all around.

I was up to 1.5X bodyweight with deadlift, and .8X bodyweight for push press. I want to get to 2X dead, and 1X push press.

Also isometric exercises
There's plenty of them online, the soviets spent a lot if time and effort into development for their athletes and special forces ( more hole/cave dwellers lol )
But a very effective almost no impact muscle development routine

reply to post by moniesisfun


I was taking fish oil pills (supposedly good for joints) last year right before I screwed up my shoulder playing volleyball.
I have completely stopped taking any kind of supplement.

Except coffee, cigarettes, and whiskey. So far, so good.

Originally posted by watchitburn
reply to post by moniesisfun

 

Except coffee, cigarettes, and whiskey

. So far, so good.

Like your moves
Like your style

More of a tea man myself ( except for a timmy hortons french vanilla or green bean chai spiced latte when i get chance ) but a men to that

reply to post by watchitburn


Well that works for some...I actually completely burned out after my first time drinking in four months...went out with my buddy from high school, and we partied...as if we were still in high school...



Not a good idea. He ended up black out drunk, drove his car into a tree, nearly fought a huge guy that was trying to restrain him before the cops arrived, ran off and somehow found yet ANOTHER old friend from high school who stayed up taking shots with him as he pulled the glass out of his body.



I, on the other hand, woke up crackling EVERYWHERE, tried another session, and realized I had screwed up BIGTIME...was walking a very thin line before drinking with my extreme training and hardcore specific diet...and screwed it all up with one night of heavy drinking when I should have been in recovery mode from a heavy day...

reply to post by moniesisfun


You gotta pace yourself bro.

I'll spend a week priming my liver with a 5th of something. If I'm expecting to do some heavy drinking on the weekend.
But I feel your pain man, I've taken a few trips to Blackout Island.