Burpees

So, I don't recall the exact work-out that Anna is referring to.  But, I've ranted before about this movement and I think it bears repeating.

Crossfit defines for us the correct "Burpee"

This for me is one of the greatest weaknesses of that franchise they are creating "the sport of fitness".  But to do this there must be one right "burpee" so that competitions can be judged fairly.  I feel strongly that this price is too steep that we are not discovering what is possible but rather what is endurable when we follow Crossfit's philosophy.

In contrast (and because I feel so strongly about it I will re-blog it) is this from BodyTribe:




Here we see all sorts of possibilities within the parameters of a movement set. Indeed we are inspired to invent some movements of our own, perhaps like a conversation, or an improvisation, and this is what I mean by opening up what is possible. Fitness isn't about a collection of numbers, fitness for life is far more complex and is as much a thought process, an attitude and it reflects a social-ability as well.

One of my personal favorite burpee workouts includes a jump to an overhead pullup bar and a pullup. I've done it in various ascending and descending sets and reps and paired it with both hyper-extensions and good mornings. For example:

9 "burpees", 1 hyper-extension
8 "burpees", 2 hyper-extension
7 "burpees", 3 hyper-extension and so on,

At my best I could do that full cycle in just under 10 minutes and used it as a warm-up. I'm sure if a person were inclined they could read back through the postings and find the development of the cycle. My point here is that what is cool about the burpee is that it combines fundamental movements, working nearly the entire body, and in doing this offers a very efficient set of movements for training. Burpees suck -- long live Burpees.