Today we are sharing the perfect way to perform a burpee so that you quite possibly could start loving the exercise more than hate it… but who are we kidding!? The importance of performing exercises correctly is obviously great so that you don’t get hurt, but the better you can move in exercises, in general, the better you can execute the exercise, get better at them, and get more fit. After we share some tips on how to perfect the burpee, we will also throw in a fun workout that helps break down the burpee into individual movements.
The burpee is actually four movements thrown into one exercise. It involves jumping, planking, push-ups, and squats.
When talking about the perfect burpee, this does mean you have to do the burpee exactly as prescribed. You can still perfect the burpee by adding modification as well. Ideally, we are just trying to keep you from injury and from just throwing your body to the ground and then back up again.
Tips on Performing the Perfect Burpee
- You want to land in a soft but strong squat. What we mean by this is when you land back to the ground after your jump, you want to keep in mind that your body is going to essentially move into a squat before you jump back into a plank… so think about what you would do when you squat. You want to make sure your feet are at least shoulder-width apart, your chest lifted, and your knees out.
- A lot of people tend to do the worm during their plank and push-up transition. It is important here to keep a strong core so that your body is in a nice strong plank as you lower down into your push-up and back up. Check out our article on how to Perform the Perfect Plank if you think your plank could use a bit tweaking.
- Too many people try to jump into or out of their plank with their feet to narrow. You need to jump your knees on the outside of your elbows so that the knees track over your toes. If you jump with your feet too narrow then your knees go over your toes which add unnecessary pressure on the knees which is never a good idea. By keeping them wide you can also come right back up into the jump. And do it all over again.
Breaking down the burpee into its four movements, we can really perfect each exercise before stringing them all together. If you think your burpee could use a bit more precision, then try out this workout that will leave you both sweaty and giving you more practice in nailing down your perfect burpee.
The 4 Part Burpee Workout
10 Squats
10 Squat Jumps
10 Up Downs
10 Push-Ups
Try completing all four exercises all at once without stopping. Rest and then repeat until you complete 4 rounds.
