No one really likes burpees. Combining a squat, a press-up and a jump into one single movement – they’re sweat-inducing, heart-racing and fatigue you, quickly.
But while there’s no denying that burpees are hard, they are great for improving your aerobic capacity. Why? Well burpees are a great for improving your aerobic capacity. Why? Well burpees are a How and why to do burpees as a runner, quads, core, hamstrings and glutes all at the same time, which means they’re pretty testing, not just on your muscles, but on your lungs, too.
‘The burpee is an exercise that runners have a love-hate relationship with because of its demands and benefits it brings,’ explains Graeme Woodward, a UK Athletics Level 3 performance coach, UKSCA accredited S&C coach and We Run Published: 26 January 2023.
‘Doing the burpee well requires a full range of motion in the hips, knees and calves, sufficient explosive power to jump up from a deep, flexed position and enough control and eccentric strength to land and repeat. As a whole-body exercise involving the arms, legs and core, it is also very high in cardiovascular demand. Due to the extreme hip and knee flexion it involves, it may not be suitable for those recovering from injuries around these joints and may need to be adapted by using boxes so the runner doesn’t need to go fully onto the ground.’
How to do burpees
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Squat and place your hands on the floor, then jump your feet back into a plank position.
- Now jump your feet back to your hands, and from this crouched position return to the standing position.
- To add difficulty, jump up with your hands in the air at the top of the move, and/or add a press-up at the bottom of it.
Sets/reps: Two sets of 10 reps
