Some of the toughest workouts I’ve ever tested are the simplest.
Fewer exercises, less complexity, just nose to the grindstone and sweat.
Yesterday’s workout involved only one exercise and a simple goal.
[If you’ve read other posts on this blog, I am rarely an advocate for extremely high volume/high intensity training. For the under-prepared person, it can increase the risk of unnecessary injury]
That being said 👆, I love to get after it and test my work capacity periodically.
Here’s the Workout
Exercise: Full Burpees
Repetitions: 200
Time: 20-minute time limit
What’s a Full Burpee?
Each repetition must be a FULL BURPEE.
👉 Modified Squat/Hinge
👉 Sprawl
👉 Push-Up (chest to floor)
👉 Jump Squat (aim for a consistent 8-12 inch of height per jump)
4 basic steps for a full burpee.
Like any exercise, burpees have many variations.
There are plenty of burpee variations for EVERYONE.
200 Repetitions
200 reps is A LOT of up and down.
Somewhere along the way form is going to break down.
Take breaks as needed, but watch the clock.
If you’re cranking out 10 burpees per minute, you will complete 200 burpees in 20 minutes.
But here’s the deal… 10 rep bursts in the early stages of the challenge will be doable.
10 rep burst in the later rounds will not.
Get the reps you can, managing fatigue and safety.
Time
20 minutes is the time limit.
Challenge yourself to finish as fast as possible, remaining mindfully of technique and movement quality.
Adjustments to the Workout
If 200 reps are out of the question, decrease the reps.
Here are other possible rep target options:
✅ 150 burpees in 15 minutes or less
✅ 100 burpees in 10 minutes or less
✅ 50 burpees in 5 minutes or less
Each alternative requires a 10 burpee per minute pace, just fewer reps overall.
Another way to organize a tough burpee workout is to select a pace and hold to it over a time-frame.
Here are a few options using this
👉 Perform 1 burpee every 6 seconds
👉 Perform a burst of 10 burpees inside of every minute
With these rep schemes, the question is, how long can you go?
Stay Safe
It’s important to stay engaged mentally despite the fatigue hitting you like a tidal wave.
In the moment, establish a balance between rejecting thoughts of quitting, yet remain aware of how your body is handling the stress.
If at any time you feel the fatigue overwhelming your ability to move safely, take rest. Simple as that.
High intensity/extended duration physical activity is well know to breed sloppy movement and cutting corners on technique, which increases the risk of injury.
Other burpee variations and workouts
👉 Workout Finisher: Kettlebell Swings and Burpees
M(eaux)tion Fitness 