The humble Burpee. Some say they are the best all round bodyweight exercise you can do. Some just start with the expletives at the mere mention of them. Whatever your opinion of them, they are a fantastic exercise. But what is a Burpee? Where did they come from? And how many do you have to do to burn off your favourite bad food? After a conversation with one of my clients who asked me these questions during a circuit training class, it made me realise many people don’t realise the true benefits of Burpees. So I’m here to put that right! But first, a bit of history.
Royal Huddleston Burpee, a World War 1 veteran was studying for a PhD in Applied Physiology at Columbia University in the 1930’s where he developed the Burpee test as part of his PhD thesis as a quick and simple way to assess fitness for the US military. The New York Times published an article in 1959 stating that the Burpee became a popular exercise and fitness test by the US Navy and the US Army as a way to assess and improve the fitness levels of recruits when the US entered World War 2. So, Burpees came from a scientist and the military, not from Hell as many have stated.
The Burpee exercise itself is relatively simple. From standing, you crouch and put your hands on the floor. Then, squat thrust your legs straight out behind you so you are now in a press up position. Do a press up. Then bring your legs back to your chest, and explode up into a star jump. That’s one rep. Easy right?
The benefits of a Burpee are far reaching. As I said earlier, they are widely acknowledged as one of the best all round exercises you can do. They target the five different areas of fitness:
Endurance
Agility
Flexibility
Speed
Strength
They work your entire body. Not many exercises can boast that. Plus, you can do them pretty much anywhere as there is no equipment involved. I’m not suggesting you attempt them while queueing in the supermarket, but you get the idea. Try it now. Time yourself for a minute and see how many you can do. You should be nicely out of breath now. And it should have also given you an appreciation of why some people hate this exercise! But there is good reason to do them.
This time of year we tend to gravitate towards warm, filling foods. The cold weather makes us want to consume food and drink that will make us feel happy. Takeaways, ready meals and convenience foods are eaten more during the winter as people aren’t as willing to cook healthy meals. Certain coffee shop chains bring out their seasonal or festive varieties of coffee, which tend to have a lot of calories in them. Not to mention the over indulgence of Christmas Day. I don’t want to stop people enjoying food. I love food myself. But it comes at a cost. And for the sake of this blog, the cost is Burpees. Below is a table showing how many Burpees you would need to do to burn off certain foods.
Shocking isn’t it? So next time you’re thinking of treating yourself to that ‘cheeky Latte’ while Christmas shopping, think of how many Burpees you’ll need to do to burn that one drink off.
Enjoy 🙂
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