Burpees Sync High-Five
Quick Intro
Burpees Sync High-Five starts from the burpee, a full-body movement combining a squat, a plank, a push-up and a jump into one continuous rep. Both partners work side by side facing the same direction, meeting with a high-five at the top of the jump in each rep before dropping into the next one.
For the full technique behind the movement itself, see Burpees.
What You’ll Need
No equipment, beyond enough space for both partners to drop into a burpee without colliding.
How to Do It Together
- Line up side by side. Both partners stand facing the same direction, with enough room to drop into a burpee without bumping into each other.
- Work the rep. Drop into a squat, kick back into a plank, and perform a push-up.
- Jump and meet. Jump the feet back in and explode upward into a jump, sharing a high-five with your partner at the top.
- Land and repeat. Land and move straight into the next rep.
Exhale on the jump, inhale as you drop back into the next rep.
Why This One Stays Light on Purpose
Many paired exercises use a touch that asks for a fair amount of closeness: a hand that stays in contact through a whole set, a kiss at a peak moment, a hold shared face to face. This one is built differently. The high-five lands fast, happens side by side facing the same direction, and carries barely any weight behind it beyond a shared burst of energy at the top of a hard rep. That’s a deliberate choice, built intentionally light rather than left incomplete.
A burpee is already a demanding movement, enough that just getting through a set is the main event. Keeping the touch itself simple and quick means it doesn’t compete with the actual physical effort the exercise is asking for. A couple trying to land a slower, more deliberate gesture mid-burpee set could end up fighting their own pace instead of connecting through it.
Pace still matters even for something this brief. Burpees run fast enough that a rushed, scrambled attempt at a high-five can end up feeling more like a near-miss than a shared moment. Keeping the pace conversational enough that the high-five actually lands cleanly, something you’re both reaching for calmly rather than grabbing at mid-jump, is worth treating as a real part of the exercise.
If You’re at Different Fitness Levels
A couple with a lower baseline overall can step back into the plank without kicking, skip the push-up and use a controlled step-up in place of the jump, keeping the same high-five cue at the top. Where one partner is noticeably stronger, that partner performs the full burpee while the other uses the stepped-down version, paced so both of you reach the top together for the high-five.
Safety and Consent
Land softly with bent knees. Step back into the plank in place of jumping back if there’s any wrist or lower back sensitivity.
Every connection moment in these exercises is something either partner can skip or scale back at any point, including this one, no explanation needed. Burpees done side by side with no high-five are a complete session of their own.
FAQ
Why is the touch so much smaller here than in most paired exercises? Burpees are already demanding enough on their own. A quick, simple high-five keeps the touch from competing with the physical effort the movement already requires.
What if the high-five keeps missing because the jump timing is off? Slow the pace down slightly so both of you reach the top together. A high-five that’s rushed into every rep tends to miss more than one that’s given a beat of room to actually land.
Does one partner have to do the full burpee while the other scales it down? Not necessarily. Either both of you can use the stepped-down version, or one can do the full movement while the other scales back, paced to meet at the top either way.
Is a step-back-and-step-up version really the same exercise? Yes. It keeps the same structure and the same high-five cue, just with gentler entry and exit movements swapped in for the kick-back and jump.
What if wrist or lower back sensitivity makes the full version uncomfortable? Step back into the plank in place of jumping back, and treat that as the standard version for that session.
How should we breathe through each rep? Exhale on the jump and inhale as you drop into the next rep. The high-five lands at the top of the jump, so keep the breath loose and don’t hold it while you wait for the contact.
Can we just do burpees without the high-five? Yes. Burpees on its own works fine with no high-five attached.
Built on Burpees. Burpee Count Wager turns the same movement into a counted wager instead of a shared high-five.