Burpees - a full-body exercise

Whole body: large muscle groups such as chest, abdomen, back and thigh muscles and small muscle groups such as shoulder and arm muscles

Do you want to learn how to integrate burpees into your training and how to make your training more effective? Then take a look at our pages about chest training, back training, abdominal training and leg training.

A burpee is a combination of a squat, a push-up and a jump. Start in a hip-width stance then crouch low and support yourself on the floor with your hands in front of your feet (your hands should be shoulder-width apart). Now jump backwards into a push-up position and start your first push-up. Then jump forward again with your feet so that you are squatting again. Last but not least, do a stretching jump upwards.

You only need your own body weight.

No equipment is necessary.

This is the same as a normal burpee, but without the push-up.

Here you repeat every step twice: 2x squats, 2x backward jumps, 2x push-ups, 2x forward jumps, 2x stretching jumps.

For this you will need a box or a bench at a suitable height for you. Instead of the upward jump at the end, you jump on the box. Afterwards, you jump off the box/bench and repeat the exercise again.

Here you perform each part of the burpee with one leg. This works the leg muscles even harder and is an effective leg training.

Increase the level of difficulty by clapping your hands as you are coming up from your pushup. In this variation, your arms, back and chest muscles are particularly stimulated by pushing your body away from the floor to clap. You can build this variation into your back training or chest training.

If the push-ups are too challenging for you, you can exchange them for a forearm support. You do this by going onto your hands briefly and then your elbows.

• Dropping down: don’t just drop into the pushups and squats. Keep your muscle tension and go down in a controlled manner.
• Crooked back: avoid a crooked back in the squatting position. This is a sign of a lack of tension in your torso muscles.
• Sagging hips: many athletes let their hips sag, especially when doing push-ups. This should be avoided – your body should form a straight line.
• Forgetting to breathe: exhale during the jumps and the concentric phase of the pushups and inhale in between. Find your own rhythm. It is important not to hold your breath before exertion.

You can build burpees into any training. They are also perfect as a warm-up exercise. If you want to learn more about training different parts of your body, take a look at our pages about back training, chest training, abdominal training or leg training and get the most out of your workout.