Burpee Set Embrace
Quick Intro
Burpee Set Embrace takes the burpee, a full-body exercise that drops you into a squat, kicks the feet back to a plank, adds a push-up and ends with a jump. You each complete a set of burpees in your own space and then come together for a short embrace before the rest timer starts. Burpees tend to leave people breathless and sweaty, so the embrace is a way of marking the end of a hard set and the start of recovery.
Foot placement, the jump and ways to pace a set are laid out at Burpees.
What You’ll Need
A clear floor with room for each of you to drop into a plank and jump without touching the other, plenty of width apiece. A mat under each of you is optional but spares the hands and knees. A timer for the rest period and a towel within reach, because this is a sweaty exercise.
How to Do It Together
- Agree the set. Choose a rep count that suits both of you, such as eight or ten, and decide whether you are each doing a full burpee or a lighter version.
- Take your own space. Stand well apart, each with room to kick back into a plank.
- Work the set. Complete your burpees at your own pace, landing softly after each jump.
- Finish and stand. After the last rep, come upright and breathe for a moment.
- Wait for each other. Whoever finishes first keeps walking slowly and waits until the other is done.
- Embrace. Come together for an embrace of two or three seconds, letting the breathing slow.
- Start the rest. Only then start the rest timer, and take your recovery before the next set.
Use whatever breathing carries you through the burpees, then slow it down during the embrace.
A Hug After the Hardest Set
A set of burpees is often among the hardest efforts in a session. The heart is pounding, the arms are tired and the legs feel a little unsteady. The embrace is useful because the contrast is so large. One minute you were jumping and kicking, and the next you are standing still with your arms around each other. That stillness helps the body settle, and shared slow breathing is a good way to bring the heart rate down.
Do not rush into it. Standing upright for a few breaths before you reach for each other helps with light-headedness, which burpees can cause when you come up fast from the floor. If you feel dizzy, say so, put your hands on your knees or the wall and let the embrace wait. The hug does not need to happen within a particular number of seconds. The one rule is that nobody is hugged while still bent over or off balance.
You will rarely finish together. If you are doing different versions of the exercise, or simply moving at different speeds, one of you will be done well before the other. The early finisher keeps moving. A slow walk around the space and a few deep breaths is usually kinder to the legs than sitting down straight away. The embrace comes when the second person has finished and caught their breath, and it is a nice moment for the first finisher to be waiting with open arms.
Sweat is a fact of life here. A towel changes the hug from awkward to comfortable, and a quick wipe of the face and arms before you come together is considerate. Nobody should feel embarrassed about it. Most people sweat during burpees, and an embrace that happens in the middle of a hard workout is understood to be a sweaty one.
The hug itself should be loose and brief. A full-body squeeze can feel too much when the lungs are working hard, so a lighter hold with the arms around the shoulders is usually better. Two or three seconds is plenty. You can lengthen it later if the rest period allows, but the point is the shift from effort to recovery and it does not need to be elaborate.
It also helps to think about what the embrace is replacing. It is easy to spend the rest period looking at a timer or checking a phone. Putting a hug in that gap makes the rest feel like part of the exercise and not a break from it. For other burpee exercises, Burpees Sync High-Five adds a high-five at the top of the jump, and Burpee Count Wager turns a timed set into a friendly contest. This one ends the set more quietly.
If You’re at Different Fitness Levels
Each of you does the burpee that fits your own body, and the embrace happens once both of you have finished. A step-back version with no push-up is a good choice for a couple who are both newer to the exercise, with the same hug at the end. Where one of you is much fitter, they can do the full burpee with the jump while the other steps back and skips the push-up, and neither version changes what happens afterwards. The set length can also differ. If one of you finishes ten reps and the other finishes six, the hug still marks the end of both.
Safety and Consent
Land softly with bent knees and step the feet back instead of jumping if the wrists or lower back are sensitive. Come to full standing before hugging and let any dizziness pass first. Stop the set if you feel sharp pain.
Every connection moment in these exercises is something either partner can skip or scale back at any point, including this one, no explanation needed. A set of burpees followed by a plain rest is the same workout with a quieter ending.
FAQ
When does the embrace happen? After both of you have finished your set and caught your breath, before the rest timer starts.
What if we finish at different times? The early finisher walks slowly and waits for the second to finish.
Can we do different versions of the burpee? Yes. Each of you picks the version that fits, and the embrace follows the last rep of the slower one.
How long should the hug last? Two or three seconds is enough to mark the change.
What if I feel dizzy at the end of a set? Stand still, breathe and let it pass. The hug can wait.
Can I do burpees on my own? Yes. Burpees covers the solo exercise.
Built on Burpees. Burpees Sync High-Five and Burpee Count Wager are two other ways to share a burpee set.