Burpees: A Complete Guide From First Rep to Advanced Conditioning
Also called Squat Thrusts, Burpee, Squat Thrust and Jump
Quick Intro
Burpees are a full-body, high-intensity bodyweight exercise performed as one continuous sequence: dropping into a squat, planting the hands, kicking the feet back into a plank, lowering into a push-up, returning to the squat and finishing with an explosive jump.
Equipment Needed
Burpees only need enough open floor space to move through a plank position and land a jump safely.
Why Burpees Matter
Burpees move through several movement patterns in a single rep, each working a different part of the body. The chest, front shoulders and triceps (pectoralis major, anterior deltoid and triceps brachii) drive the push-up phase. The abs (rectus abdominis) and the deep core stabilizer that wraps the midsection (transverse abdominis) brace the trunk through the plank and the jump. The front of the thigh (quadriceps, specifically the rectus femoris), the glutes (gluteus maximus), the back of the thigh (hamstrings, specifically the biceps femoris) and the calves (gastrocnemius) drive both the squat and the explosive jump at the end of each rep.
A single rep works as a full-body strength movement, an explosive power movement and a cardio conditioning tool all at once, depending on how it’s programmed. It’s also a high-impact activity, largely from the repeated jump landings, worth knowing going in.
The exercise is strongest for cardiovascular endurance and body composition, since stringing repeated full-body reps together raises the heart rate quickly and keeps it there. Power and muscular endurance both see strong engagement too, from the jump and from repeating the whole sequence under fatigue.
When to Do It
Burpees fit well as a standalone conditioning session, a finisher at the end of a strength workout or a component of a broader HIIT circuit, since the exercise already blends strength and cardio demands on its own. Two to three sessions a week is a reasonable frequency for most people, since the combination of high impact and full-body fatigue needs recovery time between sessions.
- Existing wrist, shoulder or lower back issues. The push-up and plank phases load the wrists and shoulders directly, and a lower back that rounds under fatigue is a common source of strain. Half Burpee removes the push-up and the jump, keeping the conditioning benefit while cutting the load on these joints.
- Existing knee or ankle issues. The repeated jump landings add impact stress. Half Burpee, performed by stepping instead of jumping, is a lower-impact way to train the same pattern.
- Pregnancy, particularly the second and third trimester. The prone plank and push-up positions and the jumping component both become impractical as pregnancy progresses. A non-prone cardio option such as Brisk Walking keeps cardiovascular training going, with a full return to burpees waiting for postpartum clearance.
The load and the impact are the two variables driving all three, so scaling one or both down with Half Burpee usually keeps conditioning training going without waiting out the underlying issue entirely.
Getting Ready
A few minutes of light movement, such as marching in place or a slow jog, brings the heart rate up gradually before asking it to spike repeatedly. A handful of wrist circles and arm circles prepare the wrists and shoulders for the push-up phase, and a few bodyweight squats warm up the legs for the jump.
Get the hips fully open at the top of the jump and land with soft knees before dropping into the next rep. Rushing the drop from the squat straight into the plank is where a rounded lower back tends to creep in under fatigue.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Starting position. Stand with the feet roughly shoulder-width apart.
2. The squat and hand plant. Bend the knees and hips to drop into a squat, placing both hands on the floor just outside the feet.
3. The kick-back to plank. Jump or step both feet back at once, landing in a plank with the body forming a straight line from head to heels.
4. The push-up. Lower the chest toward the floor and press back up, keeping the core braced so the hips don’t sag or peak upward.
5. The return to squat. Jump or step both feet back up toward the hands, returning to the squat position.
6. The jump. Drive through the legs and extend the hips fully to jump upward, reaching the arms overhead. Land with soft, bent knees, absorbing the impact before starting the next rep.
How Many, How Often
Burpees are counted in reps like other bodyweight exercises, but they’re also commonly programmed by time, since sustaining the movement itself is where much of the conditioning value comes from.
| Level | Where you’re at | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | New to the full movement | 3 sets of 5 reps, resting 60 to 90 seconds between sets. Substitute Half Burpee for any rep where form starts to break down. |
| Intermediate | 10 clean reps in a row come easily | 4 sets of 10 to 12 reps (resting 45 to 60 seconds between sets) or a timed set counting clean reps completed in 60 seconds. |
| Advanced | 20 clean reps in a row come easily | Straight sets stop adding much new conditioning value at this point. Move toward a longer timed set (3 to 5 minutes of continuous reps at a sustainable pace) or a harder variation such as Burpee Pull-up or Burpee Box Jump. |
Chasing rep count at the expense of full hip extension and a controlled landing quietly reduces how much power and coordination a set builds even as the numbers climb, so movement quality matters more here than the total reached.
Modifications and Variations
Burpees connect to one easier step and two different harder branches, not a single ladder.
For an easier entry point, Half Burpee removes the push-up and the jump, keeping the squat-to-plank pattern while cutting both the impact and the upper-body demand, making it accessible for a true beginner.
For more difficulty, two branches push the exercise in different directions. Burpee Pull-up adds a strict pull-up at the top of the jump, using a pull-up bar to build upper-body pulling strength on top of the existing pattern. Burpee Box Jump replaces the vertical jump with a jump onto a raised box or platform, trading some speed for a bigger power demand.
Progression path: Half Burpee → Burpees → Burpee Pull-up / Burpee Box Jump
Move to a harder branch once the current version feels controlled for the full target volume.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Rounding the lower back during the plank-to-push-up transition. This happens most under fatigue, when rushing the drop into plank lets the hips sag before the core has braced. Setting the hands and bracing the abs before kicking back into the plank fixes it.
Not fully extending the hips at the top of the jump. A half-hearted jump gives away most of the power benefit this exercise is meant to build. Driving the hips all the way open on every jump, even as fatigue builds, keeps the rep honest.
Letting the push-up range shrink. As a set goes on, the chest often stops short of the floor. Treating every push-up as a full-range rep protects against this.
Landing stiff-legged from the jump. Straight knees on landing send the impact directly into the joints rather than letting the muscles absorb it. Landing with soft, bent knees on every rep keeps the joints protected.
After Your Set
A set of burpees spikes the heart rate quickly, so a few minutes of easy walking or marching in place brings it back down gradually. Reaching both arms overhead and leaning gently to one side then the other stretches the sides of the body and the shoulders that just finished a set of push-ups. A standing hamstring reach, hinging forward from the hips with a soft bend in the knees, addresses the hamstrings and glutes that drove every jump.
Going Deeper
Burpees are commonly placed as a finisher at the end of a strength or skill session or as the central movement in a HIIT circuit, since they need very little space or equipment to deliver a conditioning stimulus. Pairing them with a lower-intensity mobility movement afterward helps offset the full-body fatigue they leave behind.
Progress on burpees tends to stall for a specific reason: technique breaking down under fatigue. A shortened push-up, an incomplete hip extension at the jump or a rushed transition into the plank all let someone finish a set of reps without training the full movement on every one. Slowing down and treating each rep as its own clean repetition, even if that means fewer total reps, tends to build capacity faster than grinding through more sloppy ones.
Someone new to the full movement can expect 10 unbroken, full-range reps within three to five weeks of consistent practice, and a continuous minute of steady reps somewhere in the six to ten week range depending on starting fitness.
Burpees turn up often inside interval formats. The HIIT article explains how work and rest are structured, and the Tabata article covers the 20-seconds-on, 10-seconds-off format that movements like this commonly fill.
How to Know You’re Improving
Burpees show their progress in how much of the full pattern survives fatigue rather than in raw rep count alone:
- 10 unbroken reps with full hip extension and a controlled landing
- A continuous minute of reps at a steady, sustainable pace
- 20 unbroken reps without the push-up range shrinking
- A comfortable first attempt at a harder branch such as Burpee Pull-up or Burpee Box Jump
Whether the last rep of a set still shows the same hip extension and the same push-up range as the first says more about progress than the total number reached.
Muscles Worked
- Pectoralis Major (the chest muscle, pressing the body up off the floor in the push-up)
- Triceps Brachii (the back of the upper arm, extending the elbows to finish the push-up)
- Anterior Deltoid (the front of the shoulder, taking the impact each time the hands meet the floor)
- Rectus Abdominis (the front abdominal muscles, pulling the knees back in under the chest)
- Transverse Abdominis (a deep core muscle that wraps around the torso like a corset, holding the plank firm the instant the feet land)
- Rectus Femoris (the front of the thigh, extending the knees to jump at the top of every rep)
- Gluteus Maximus (the largest glute muscle, driving the hips open for the jump)
- Biceps Femoris (the outer hamstring at the back of the thigh, assisting the hip extension on the way up)
- Gastrocnemius (a calf muscle, pushing off the floor to leave the ground)
FAQ
Are burpees bad for the knees or lower back? Not inherently, for someone without an existing joint issue. The repeated jump landings are a high-impact demand, and a rounded lower back under fatigue is the most common fault seen in this movement. Both come down to technique and pacing more than the exercise itself being unsafe.
What’s the difference between a burpee and a half burpee? Half Burpee removes the push-up and the jump, keeping the squat-to-plank pattern while cutting the impact and the upper-body demand. It’s the natural entry point for someone new to the full movement.
Do I need to be good at push-ups first? A comfortable, full-range push-up helps, since the push-up phase happens on every single rep, but Half Burpee exists specifically for someone whose push-up isn’t there yet.
Why do burpees feel so much harder than other cardio exercises? A single rep works several different muscle groups and movement patterns back to back. That combination raises the heart rate faster than a single-pattern cardio exercise like running or cycling, where the same motion just repeats.
Next in this series: Half Burpee, the accessible entry point into the full movement.