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Burpees and Burpee Workouts: Part 2
In part 1 you read of the burpee being the ultimate conditioning exercise, and that if you had to choose only one exercise for the rest of your days, the burpee should be it.
In part 2, I’m going to give you a few more variations of the burpee which are even more challenging, as well as provide additional workout ideas of how you can incorporate the burpee into your workouts.
Burpee variations:
There hundreds of
different types of burpees out there. I will describe my top 5 variations
(if you haven’t read part 1, detailing the correct burpee technique
along with the push-up and pull-up variations, go and read it before
proceeding).
Try to perform these with the push-up, and where possible the pull-up included in the movement.
Long-jump burpee:
Instead of jumping upwards at the end of the burpee, jump as far forward as you can (you will need a lot of space for this).
Tuck-jump burpee:
At the top of the burpee, perform a tuck-jump (where you jump as high as possible, bringing your knees to your chest), instead of the normal jump.
One-armed burpee:
Use only one arm when performing the burpee, including the push-up. Alternate arms with each burpee. This one is for very advanced athletes only!
Dumbell burpee:
Do your burpees as usual, but hold a pair of dumbbells throughout the movement.
Muscle-up burpee:
Combine a muscle-up* with the jump at the top of the burpee. Again, this one will be possible for advanced athletes only.
*A muscle-up is basically a pull-up followed by a dip. It is used to take yourself from below a pull-up bar to above it, with your arms fully-extended as if in the top of the dip position. It requires great deal of strength and co-ordination. Check out the video for the technique.
Long-jump burpee:
Instead of jumping upwards at the end of the burpee, jump as far forward as you can (you will need a lot of space for this).
Tuck-jump burpee:
At the top of the burpee, perform a tuck-jump (where you jump as high as possible, bringing your knees to your chest), instead of the normal jump.
One-armed burpee:
Use only one arm when performing the burpee, including the push-up. Alternate arms with each burpee. This one is for very advanced athletes only!
Dumbell burpee:
Do your burpees as usual, but hold a pair of dumbbells throughout the movement.
Muscle-up burpee:
Combine a muscle-up* with the jump at the top of the burpee. Again, this one will be possible for advanced athletes only.
*A muscle-up is basically a pull-up followed by a dip. It is used to take yourself from below a pull-up bar to above it, with your arms fully-extended as if in the top of the dip position. It requires great deal of strength and co-ordination. Check out the video for the technique.
To create a workout using these burpee variants you could easily substitute them into the workouts mentioned in part 1.
Here are some additional workout ideas, for most of them you can use any variation of the burpee, depending on your level of fitness. They are not meant to be workouts on their own, rather try to incorporate them into your existing routine.
MMA burpee workout:
- Burpees x 30 seconds
- Intense bag work x 30 seconds
- Skipping X 30 seconds
- Burpees x 30 seconds
- Intense bag work x 30 seconds
- Skipping X 30 seconds
- Rest 1 minute
Complete 4 rounds
For the intense bag work, try to keep your hands, elbows and knees moving as quickly as possible throughout the 30 seconds.
Burpee, Kettlebell swings and box-jump workout:
- Burpees x 10 reps
- Kettle Bell Swings x 20 reps (use a challenging weight ? 35-52 lbs)
- 15 Box jumps (24-inch box)
- rest 30-60 seconds
Complete 5 total rounds
– If you don’t have a kettlebell you can substitute with dumbbell swings.
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Other Articles about muscle building, fat-loss and health:
The Burpee – One exercise to rule them all (Part 1).
‘Greasing the Groove’ – an unconventional way to increase strength.
The best dumbbell exercises and workouts for fat-loss and conditioning.