Burpee Over Bar: A Complete Guide

Quick Intro

Burpee Over Bar, also called the Burpee Bar Hop or Burpee Broad Hop, is a HIIT exercise performed by facing a barbell or low bar on the floor, performing a full burpee and finishing with a lateral jump over the bar in place of a vertical jump, dropping immediately into the next burpee on the other side.

Equipment Needed

Burpee Over Bar needs no equipment for the burpee itself. A barbell is optional, used as the low obstacle to jump over, though any similarly low bar or object works the same way.

Why Burpee Over Bar Matters

Dropping into the plank and pressing back up calls on the chest (pectoralis major), the front of the shoulder (deltoid, anterior) and the back of the upper arm (triceps brachii). The lateral hop over the bar is driven by the front of the thigh (quadriceps, rectus femoris) and glutes (gluteus maximus), with the side abdominals (obliques) helping rotate and stabilize the trunk through the sideways motion, and the calf (gastrocnemius) absorbing the landing on the far side. The deep core (transverse abdominis) braces the trunk through every phase. A lateral hop over a fixed obstacle demands more precise foot placement and hip mobility than a straight vertical jump does, since landing short or catching a foot on the bar interrupts the whole rep. That change-of-direction demand, layered onto a familiar burpee base, makes this a common feature of competition-style conditioning workouts. Conditioning is the main payoff, since the full burpee plus a jump over the bar keeps heart rate and energy use both high. Endurance and coordination both come along with that.

When to Do It

Burpee Over Bar fits naturally into a conditioning circuit or a competition-style workout, often used specifically to add a change-of-direction demand on top of standard burpee conditioning. Two to three times a week is a reasonable ceiling, since every rep adds a jump over the bar to an already demanding burpee.

Anyone with a current ankle, knee or hip issue should approach this cautiously, since the lateral hop asks for precision and control that a straight vertical jump doesn’t require.

Getting Ready

Setting the bar or obstacle on the floor and standing to one side of it comes first. Rehearsing a slow, controlled hop over the bar without the burpee attached helps confirm the landing feels stable before adding the full movement.

Clearing the bar with intentional height, rather than skimming close over it, is the cue that prevents a caught foot mid-set.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. The drop. From standing beside the bar, squat down and place both hands on the floor.

2. The plank and push-up. Kick both feet back into a plank, lower the chest to the floor and press up again.

3. The jump-in. Hop the feet forward to the hands and rise to standing.

4. The bar hop. Jump laterally over the bar, landing on the other side, and immediately drop into the next burpee.

How Many, How Often

Burpee Over Bar is dosed by work-to-rest interval, not a plain rep count, since it’s typically performed as a repeated conditioning cycle.

Clearing the bar cleanly on every single hop matters more here than how many reps fit inside the work window, since a caught foot or a short landing interrupts the whole rep far more than a slower pace would cost.

Modifications and Variations

Burpee Over Bar has one alternative.

As an alternative, Burpee Box Jump replaces the lateral bar hop with a vertical jump onto an elevated box, trading the change-of-direction demand for a landing-on-top demand instead.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Skimming too close over the bar. Clearing the bar with only a small margin risks catching a foot and interrupting the rep. Jumping with intentional height over the bar leaves a safety margin.

Landing off-balance on the far side. Coming down with the feet too close together or too far apart after the hop makes the transition into the next burpee unstable. A controlled, balanced landing sets up a clean start to the next rep.

Rushing the burpee to make up time for the hop. Speeding through the plank or push-up to compensate for a slower bar hop skips upper-body work. Keeping the burpee portion full and controlled, even if the hop takes a moment longer, captures the complete benefit.

Facing the wrong direction after the hop. Losing track of which side of the bar comes next after several reps disrupts the flow of the set. Staying aware of the hop direction keeps the rhythm consistent across a full round.

After Your Set

A deep squat hold with the elbows pressing the knees outward releases the hips and thighs that carried the repeated hops. A loose standing forward fold opens the back of the legs and lower back after the repeated hinge into the plank.

Going Deeper

Progress on Burpee Over Bar often gets judged by how many rounds get finished, but the test is whether the bar clearance stays clean and controlled through the last round, not just the first. A round finished only because the hop got sloppy trades away the precision this exercise is meant to build.

Someone comfortable with a controlled standard burpee and a controlled lateral hop separately typically holds a connected burpee-to-bar-hop cycle through a full round within the first two to three weeks, and moves to a faster interval pace somewhere in the four to six week range.

How to Know You’re Improving

1. A bar clearance with clear margin, even in the last round of a set
2. A balanced, controlled landing on the far side of the bar every time
3. A push-up phase that stays full-range rather than shortened to make up time
4. A faster interval pace attempted only once the current one stays fully controlled

A clean bar clearance held through the last round, not the total rep count, is what progress looks like here.

Muscles Worked

• Rectus Femoris (the front of the thigh, extending the knees to clear the bar sideways)
• Gluteus Maximus (the largest glute muscle, driving the hips up and across on every lateral jump)
• Pectoralis Major (the chest muscle, pressing the chest off the floor at the bottom of each rep)
• Gastrocnemius (the main calf muscle, pushing off to get the feet over the bar)
• Triceps Brachii (the back of the upper arm, straightening the elbows to lift the body up)
• Anterior Deltoid (the front of the shoulder cap, loaded on each drop to the floor)
• Biceps Femoris (the outer hamstring at the back of the thigh, assisting the hips on the jump across)
• Transverse Abdominis (a deep core muscle that wraps around the torso like a corset, holding the trunk together through a fast repeated cycle)
• Obliques (the muscles along the sides of the waist, generating the sideways travel over the bar)

FAQ

What’s the difference between this and Burpee Box Jump? Burpee Box Jump finishes with a vertical jump onto an elevated box. This version finishes with a lateral hop over a low bar, asking more precise foot placement and change-of-direction control instead of landing-on-top accuracy.

Do I need a real barbell for this exercise? Any low, stable obstacle works the same way as a barbell, as long as it’s low enough to clear safely and won’t move or roll during the hop.

Why is this common in competition workouts? The lateral hop adds a change-of-direction skill on top of standard burpee conditioning, testing coordination and precision under fatigue in a way a simple vertical jump doesn’t.

Is this harder than a standard burpee? Yes, since the lateral hop over a fixed obstacle demands more foot placement precision and hip mobility than jumping straight up in place.

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Next in this series: Burpee Box Jump, a burpee that finishes with a jump onto a box.