10 tips to do burpees without getting tired

Pushing our body to the point where it has to work harder is the only way to improve our physical condition, both pulmonary and muscular.

So sorry, but you can't do burpees without getting tired, but you can do them more efficiently so you get tired later, and here's how we're going to help you.

If you've made it this far and all this sounds a bit like "Chinese" to you, let's start at the beginning.

What are burpees?

Yes, burpees, this word is not usually written in the singular because we always do more than one.

Burpees are an exercise that involves practically our entire body. We start standing with our feet hip-width apart, we drop down to the ground until our chest touches the ground. There, with one movement, we bring our feet back to the original position and stand up to jump and clap our hands over our head. When we land on our feet, we repeat and start again.

As a general rule, it is performed with your own body weight, although you can always put on a weighted vest and suffer more. Likewise, this one we have told you about is the Original Burpee, but there are dozens of adaptations; with a box jump, without a jump, with a pull-up, touching a target , on the bar, on the kettlebell …

Burpees are an ideal movement to warm up or to use in a WOD. Believe me, wherever you put them, they will be a turning point in your performance that day. This simple exercise to execute, which seems easy and affordable in the first repetitions, suddenly and almost without warning becomes a torture for your muscles, your lungs and your heart, and this is what we want to try to control.

How to do burpees without getting tired?

1) Make lots of them.

It sounds awful, we know, but you need to know what it feels like to get tired from them. You need to recognize when your technique is faltering so you can be more efficient.

2) Perfect the technique

You must be very scrupulous about this. The better your technique, the fewer mistakes you will make that will cause greater fatigue due to inefficiency.

3) Body on the ground

The initial descent should be with your body on the ground, as this is the easiest thing to do. If you go down in a squat, you will be doing many unnecessary squats, and if you go down with one leg and then the other, you will also tire your legs and arms more.

4) Do not rest on the floor

Finish each rep, no matter what it takes. This will allow you to rest less often and also do so in a better position, standing up.

5) Land on flat feet and make a bridge

When you go from lying down to supporting yourself on your hands and feet, make a movement as if you were being lifted vertically with a rope around your waist, so that your feet reach the height of your hips and are 100% planted on the ground. Don't land on your toes. Also, don't stay in a squat position, create a bridge with your legs and arms.

6) Jump just enough

Don't tire yourself out for no reason. If you're doing original burpees, you should jump (i.e., lift both feet off the ground at the same time), but a sheet of paper passing under them is enough. Well, you should have time to clap your hands over your head. But you don't need to jump too hard.

7) Don't run

Unless it's the end of the wod and you have 10 or fewer burpees left, never run through them. Running is the best way to tire yourself out before time. Distribute your energy wisely, when you've done a lot of burpees you'll know what the critical point is, so avoid reaching it.

8) Short breaks

As we said before, rest when you are standing, this will prevent you from resting “too much”, since you will surely end up wanting to rest standing up too. And try to keep the breaks short, take a breath, and continue.

9) Keep up the pace

You have to create your own rhythm, in this rhythm it takes the same amount of time to fall, to get up, and to jump. It's like a song, pim – pim – pim, the seconds between the pims are your rhythm. It will take time to find yours, but when you do, your life will be much easier. Stick to it, and don't underestimate it in the first few sets.

10) Rest a little more

If you reach a point where you feel that your technique is failing irremediably, stand up and take a longer break. Think about what you are failing at and focus on fixing it.

Despite all these tips, the most important are the first two, and all the others depend on them.

And remember, burpees are like that, you love them and hate them with almost the same intensity.