It turns out I’m sorta fickle…
I hate to say it, but the burpee has lost just a little of his pizazz….
Sure, he still makes me weak at the knees and outta breath, but since adding 50 burpees a day into my workout for a few weeks now, I’m getting a little bored. You know what they say about familiarity…
Aaand, I’m actually enamored again.
I won’t call it ‘love’ cuz I know you’re gonna think I’m just some crazy love sick fool. So let’s just say I’m ‘very fond’ of this guy.
I found the burpee’s younger good looking brother…
The one-legged burpee.
Yes, call me crazy, but this burpee is even more challenging.
If you’re up for more challenge and variety, you’ve got to give this a shot.
I created a little circuit for you here:
I used a timer as you can see, with the following times and exercises:
30 work/10 seconds rest (transition)
-
One leg burpee
-
Other leg burpee (aren’t you glad we only have two legs?)
-
DB row (2 arms)
-
Jump rope
-
Plank
Repeat this circuit up to 5 times for a quick 20 minute killer workout.
*Here’s a tip to force the intensity: I kept my burpee reps to 8 in 30 seconds and 15 for the DB rows. Knowing that I could catch my breath after each 30 seconds of work (with the 10 sec rest) allowed me to push a little harder. The 10 seconds rest wasn’t very ‘restful’ but I could grab a quick drink and breathe.
Here’s the reasoning behind the exercises I chose for the circuit…
-
The burpee is very difficult and works the legs and chest muscles, so I didn’t want to add more exercises that focused on the chest or legs in the circuit.
-
I wanted to do a back exercise that allowed for a little active recovery after the burpees.
-
I wanted to spike the heart rate again with the jump rope set.
-
I needed to catch my breath and work on my core with the plank.
-
I chose 30 second sets because it revved up my heart rate: it’s a short enough time that I could really push, but long enough to make it difficult. The 10 second recovery allowed me to keep going and not give up.
Holy hamstrings, the one legged burpee should do a number on me.
Thinking about it now. I’ll always love the burpee, but it’s nice to spice up my love life with his younger brother: the one legged burpee.
UPDATE:
Looking for a return to ‘old school’ training? No gimmicks, just the fat burning power of the burpee in short do anywhere workouts. You’ll find 21 all new burpee challenge workouts with coaching previews along with a 500 and 1000 Rep Challenge Workout. Check out Challenge Burpees.