My trainer has dubbed me the "most in-shape" person she trains. Mostly, because she can throw anything at me, and I will do it. I rarely roll my eyes or groan at her and I just do. The exception? The burpee. I HATE the burpee. I despise it's every essence. This one simple move tests both your strength and aerobic capacities and no matter how in shape you are, leaves you gasping for air. But I do them, reluctantly...
So let me break down the benefits of the burpee:
Strength: This is a full-body, strength training exercise. We are talking arms, chest, thighs, hamstrings and abs.
Fat Burning: Since it is full-body and its intense (for me at least) it is one of the best fat burners. It is one of those HIT exercises that burns more and longer.
Conditioning: This is about endurance...I remember being in a class once and seeing a giant muscley man next to me struggling to get through push-ups and burpees. I thought how can that be? Then I realized his giant muscles probably meant he wasn't pushing his conditioning and endurance. Burpees=best of both worlds.
Portable: Since I travel a lot for work and I don't always love the hotel gym, I do these in my hotel room (DO NOT TELL ANYONE).
So that's my love/hate relationship with burpees. I hate them, but I do them because they are perfect for whipping your body into shape. And there are a few different ways that you can do it, so at least they aren't stale.
