Why do I love burpees so much?

On Monday, when I posted that it was burpee week, I could hear the collective moan from my members. However, you still showed up knowing full well that you would be entering burpee hell. And you complained and told me repeatedly how much you hate burpees and what did I say:

You may hate burpees, but you love the results you get from them!

What is not to love? It is by far the most effective body weight exercise that exists. Every muscle in your body is engaged. With every rep you work your arms, chest, quads, glutes, hamstrings, and abs. The burpee is a full body, strength, coordination, and agility exercise.

The exercise was named after a physiologist and YMCA executive director, Royal H. Burpee. He created the burpee test in the late 1930's as a quick and simple way to assess fitness levels. It is the ultimate example of functional fitness which is the core of AX Fitness. Functional and sustainable fitness are our meat and potatoes! Burpees make your body blast away fat and speed up your metabolism throughout the day—meaning you will burn more calories all day long, even after your burpee hell is over.

It's the quick positional shift required when going from a vertical stand, to a horizontal position, and back up to a stand that taxes the heart's ability to pump blood effectively to accommodate the working muscles. - Sheryl Dluginski, grandaughter of Royal H. Burpee

Burpees can be added to any workout and there are so many variations that it is just about fitness perfection! My current arsenal contains 31 burpee variations but, believe me, there are more. Most versions have no props at all and can be done anywhere. However, we can add a set of light hand-weights or a box jump to a burpee and BAM… burpee magic and more engaged muscles!

Have you done your burpees today?