Burpees: We love to hate 'em, but if you stick to this 30-day challenge, you'll feel stronger, tighter, and more toned by the end of the month
Ah, the burpee. You either love them or you love to hate them, and most people fall into that latter camp. Not only are they polarizing amongst exercisers—if you've ever been in a class setting when the instructor calls out a burpee AMRAP finisher, you know ~exactly~ what we're talking about—but they are also the topic of consistent debate amongst trainers and coaches. (This isn't the only fitness controversy that's alive and well as evidence of Jillian Michaels "take down" of CrossFit's kipping pull-ups and Fittest Man In History Rich Froning's pro-CrossFit rebuttal.)
For instance, celebrity trainer Ben Bruno is definitely anti-burpee. He's ranted about his strong feeling about the move on social media again and again, saying the burpee is an advanced move that should never be attempted by beginners (looking at you, group fitness!) as most people don't have the necessary strength and mobility to perform it correctly in order to avoid injury. While the risk of injury is one of Bruno's biggest gripes about the exercise, he mostly takes offense to, in his opinion, it's lack of functional requirement. He questions whether there's any movement pattern in everyday life that burpees can help strengthen.
But before you go writing off burpees altogether and pointing to Bruno every time your trainer tells you to bust some out on the gym floor, know that not all fitness experts believe what he does about the burpee. Jen Widerstrom, Shape's consulting fitness director and former-coach on The Biggest Loser is definitely pro-burpee. Widerstrom is so pro-burpee, in fact, that she created an entire 30-day challenge around them!
"The burpee is one of my favorite full-body movements there is when it comes to kinesthetic awareness, basic strength, and cardiovascular output." Nodding to its benefits to functional training, she adds: "When done correctly it also develops your ability for level change and range of motion, both being critical for tons of other activities." Plus, unlike Bruno's gripe about burpee's not being beginner-friendly, Widerstrom says shes successfully used burpees as a building block for other movements and as a way to cultivate confidence within her clients, too. "With so many options of regressions and progressions, I see burpees keeping us all more mobile and more capable."
Do a burpee right, and you’ll strengthen your shoulders, your arms, your core, your glutes—basically, your whole body—in just one move. To make sure you actually do it correctly and to help you nail your technique, we asked Widerstrom to demo a basic, foundational burpee. From there, you can take things to the next level with her seven burpee variations—one of which you’ll do each day of the week. The added challenge: Each week of this challenge, you’ll have to bump up your reps by 10.
Ready? It’s time to earn your burpee bragging rights.