Tag: burpee
How The Burpee Pull-Up Boosts Heart Rate & Strength
See how the burpee pull-up is an all-around amazing exercise.
When it comes to seeing huge gains, exercises like the burpee pull-up can work both those strength goals and endurance ones to give you a well-rounded and seriously effective exercise. Building strength while also working to boost endurance can be challenging but it is absolutely possible.
We all know the burpee and we all know the pull-up but put these two together and the result is something else. With the right guidance and ability to grind in the gym, having a workout like this in your routine will only skyrocket your gains.
The burpee is one of those exercises some try and avoid like the plague. Maybe the same goes for the pull-up. But at the end of the day, to neglect these two exercises is only a disservice to us and our gains, for what they can really do is allow for serious muscle building with the right approach to cardio work. Too often do we neglect cardio work and chalk it up to just lifting. We need both and this exercise is able to provide us with both.
Let’s dive right into this and see what makes this exercise so great. From what it is, to muscle worked, the many benefits of it, and how best to perform it, you will have a complete guide into this exercise to place in your routine for any occasion. Plus, the gains you will see to strength and endurance are hard to match with other exercises.
What Is The Burpee Pull-Up?
This exercise combines the movement of a burpee with that of a pull-up to provide for an effective worthwhile exercise in any routine. What you will find is that this total body workout can fire up your muscles so they grow and so you build that valuable aerobic capacity.
It is important to perform this workout safely and to follow strict technique to avoid injury, but once you get going, there will be no turning back. The nice part is all you need is a pull up bar.
Muscles Worked
When it comes to muscles worked, the burpee will work a host of muscles. Those lower body muscles include your quads, hamstrings, and glutes and will require those muscles for power and explosivity. Your upper body muscles worked include erector spinae, triceps, pecs, shoulders, and core, as you need a solid core to stay as engaged as possible.
For the pull-up portion of this lift, you will see work done in your triceps, biceps, shoulders, and core, but primarily in your lats. Pull-ups are a great lat builder and can really give you the best when it comes to all things gains.
Benefits Of The Burpee Pull-Up
The benefits of combining the burpee with the pull-up are hard to ignore and can greatly affect all areas of your gains. The power and explosiveness of the burpee in tandem with the strength and development builder of the pull-up will only enhance all your gains for the better so you see the best results possible. Benefits of this exercise include:
Great strength builder: As an exercise to work many muscles, and till failure, you get a nice strength builder to see great gains to all your muscle building goals (1).
Increase in endurance: Building endurance and aerobic capacity is something to consider for this will enhance those strength building goals while also taking your endurance to the next level.
Calorie burner: Shed calories as a result of the high-intensity movement to aid in weight loss and those fat loss goals (2).
Enhance power and explosiveness: The movement requires you to be explosive and to use real power to get off the ground. By enhancing this part of the exercise, you work for more power when it comes to certain sport specific movements (3).
Total body workout: Give yourself a great total body exercise to feel good about your workout.
Plenty of variations for each portion: Both the burpee and pull-up portions have great alternatives to mix up your workout and add to your workout plan.
Promotes posture: Building strength and keeping your body aligned will promote better posture for athletic movements and everyday life.
Builds grip strength: Building grip strength is important and this will work to do so with the pull-up portion of the exercise (4).
How To Perform It With A Pull Up Bar & Push-Up Position
Here are the steps for performing the burpee pull-up:
Your starting position is in a squat position with feet shoulder width apart and feet forwards. Explode off the ground and as you land, go into a push up position.
Once here, perform a push-up so your chest touches the ground and explode back onto your feet.
Jump up and grab the pull-up bar with an overhand grip, engage your core, and perform a pull-up movement, with your feet hanging.
With a controlled motion, bring yourself back to the ground and set yourself back up in a push-up position, before performing a push-up, then coming back to the squat position with feet shoulder width apart.
Repeat for your desired number of sets and reps aiming for perfect form before rest.
Alternatives To Burpees & Pull-Ups
When it comes to alternative exercises and mixing in variations, finding exercise to replace this can be challenging. However, there are exercises that will separately replace the burpee and the pull-up. We wanted to share a few with you so you can better tackle those workout goals to only see the best gains possible.
Alternatives of the burpee will still give you the ability to get your heart rate going to get some cardio work while also boosting strength. These exercises include:
Alternatives of the pull-up will build strength and overall lat development while also working other muscles in your upper body. These exercises include:
Wrap Up
This is a great exercise to see effective gains and will really enhance all areas of your strength and endurance needs. With the right approach, you can increase your gains for the better and provide for only the best out of two effective exercises put into one. The benefits are hard to ignore so place this into your routine today and watch your gains take off.
Let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
*Images courtesy of Envato
References
Ronai, P.; et al. (2014). “The Pull-up”. (source)
Roy, M.; et al. (2018). “High-Intensity Interval Training in the Real World: Outcomes from a 12-Month Intervention in Overweight Adults”. (source)
Haff, G.; et al. (2012). “Training Principles for Power”. (source)
Lee, J.; et al. (2016). “The Effect of Wrist Position on Grip Endurance and Grip Strength”. (source)
How To Perform The Burpee
What Are Burpees?
Not to be mistaken for burpees seeds, burpees are one of the most challenging bodyweight exercises that can be performed and have been found to be an effective bodyweight cardio conditioning exercise (1). One of the best things about the burpee is that equipment is not necessary – all that is required is space. In addition to this, it is a full body exercise which recruits muscles the length and breadth of the body. The muscles of the legs are required to powerfully shoot the legs back in the plank position and also explosively contract in the vertical jump. The upper body and core must support the body weight in the plank and also engage during the press up.
This article will look at 4 key components of the burpee and also provide a number of variations that can be performed for a burpees workout!
How To Perform A Burpee
Burpees come in a number of variations and coaches may teach the movements differently – some require a push-up during the plank phase while others do not. Others do not require a jump at the end of the movement, while others do not. The following coaching points will teach how to perform the conventional burpee from start to finish.
Squat down and place the hands flat on the floor at approximately shoulder width apart
From this position, jump the legs back into a full plank
Hinge at the elbows and drop into a full push up ensuring the chest makes contact with the floor before returning to the plank position (if required, drop to the knees for the push-up)
Jump the feet back to the start position ensuring that the feet are placed wider than the hips
From the deep squat position, powerfully drive upwards into a vertical jump and bring the arms up and overhead
Land safely keeping the knees out and repeat for the prescribed number of reps
Performing Perfect Burpees
Burpees are a very common exercise that often appears in HIIT or Tabata style workouts (2). Typically, the goal of these workouts is to complete as many reps as possible in a set time period which can often cause the exercise to be performed incorrectly or with the absence of good technique. The following points highlight 4 key areas that are crucial when it comes to mastering the burpee.
1) Jump Effectively
Firstly, during the burpees exercise, focus on moving effectively – specifically in the jump. Be aware that this does not necessarily mean moving as fast as possible and completing each rep in as quick a time as possible.By failing to move effectively, it is likely that energy will be wasted and therefore the movement will become more challenging, energy stores will become depleted at a faster rate and fatigue will quickly become a major factor (3). Efficient movement helps to preserve energy, which will make it possible to exercise for a longer period of time, all while maintaining form.
The jump is often an area where energy will be wasted – either through rushing or an out of control jump. Although it’s important to gain height with each jump, it must be controlled to maximise movement efficiency.
2) A Solid Ground Position
Probably one of the most common mistakes is performed during the grounded phase. At this point, the body should be held long and straight in a plank position. Often in this position, the body either begin to sag by the dropping of the hips or the hips are lifted too high. Both of these positions are incorrect and fail to engage the core properly.
The best way to ensure that the correct position is assumed is to place the hands directly underneath the shoulders and maximally shoot the legs out behind the body. Meanwhile, the core should be braced as hard as possible – focus on squeezing the abs tightly. This will increase what is known as intra-abdominal pressure which will help to facilitate a strong plank position and additionally protect the spine and prevent lower back injury (4).
3) Maintaining A Wide Base
When jumping up to the feet from the grounded position, look to keep the feet slightly wider than the hips. Doing so will keep the body more stable and the movements controlled. A wide base of support has been found to facilitate stability (5) thus enhancing movement and preserving energy. If a narrow stance is assumed, stability decreases.
Additionally, by keeping a wide stance, the jump will become straightforward. When jumping, a wide stance is required as a narrow stance will make the movement more challenging and harder to gain height in the jump.
4) Be Powerful In The Jump
With the jump, it’s important to be as explosive as possible. It should involve a powerful drive using the big leg muscles that propels the body upwards. However, for many the jump is nothing more than a small hop which does very little and fails to recruit these muscles to their full potential.
The maximal jump in the burpee trains something known as triple extension which is simply a rapid extension of 3 joints – the hips, knees and ankles (6). Practicing triple extension regularly can help to build full body power, burn many calories and improve overall movement. Therefore, do not sacrifice the jump with the purpose of completing more reps in a short time period, instead, focus on springing up powerfully with each rep.
Burpee Progressions
There are number of progressions that can be performed in order to increase the intensity and challenge of the burpee exercise. Only once proficient form for the standard burpee has been established, should these variations be attempted.
Tuck Jump Burpee
Complete a full burpee and during the jump, drive the knees up powerfully and tuck the knees into the chest in mid-air.
Hand Release Burpee
For this variation, when dropping into the push up, touch the chest to the floor and release the hands from the floor so that the body is fully in contact. Complete the rest of the movement as normal.
Burpee to Jump Lunge
Once again, complete a full burpee however, look to swap out the vertical jump for a jumping lunge. Alternate sides with each rep completed.
Single-Leg Burpee
As the name suggests, complete the full movement on one leg ensuring that the other foot does not touch the floor at any point. Alternate leg with each rep.
Burpee Switch
Complete the first phases of the burpee as normal. In the jump, look to rotate 180 degrees and land safely keeping the knees pushed out.
Lateral Jump Burpee
Perform a standard burpee but look to jump laterally (to the side) rather than vertically. Still focus on being explosive with every jump.
Final Word
When it comes to cardio conditioning, the burpee is one of the best callisthenic exercises that can be performed, providing it is executed with good form. It is also an exercise which is easy to manipulate to increase the demand placed on the body, as highlighted by the vast number of burpee variations.
References:
1-Haddock, Christopher K.; Poston, Walker S.C.; Heinrich, Katie M.; Jahnke, Sara A.; Jitnarin, Nattinee (2016-11). “The Benefits of High Intensity Functional Training (HIFT) Fitness Programs for Military Personnel”. Military medicine. 181 (11): e1508–e1514. doi:10.7205/MILMED-D-15-00503. ISSN 0026-4075. PMC 5119748. PMID 27849484.
2-“Physiology of Fat Loss”. www.unm.edu.
3-Ament, Wim; Verkerke, Gijsbertus J. (2009). “Exercise and fatigue”. Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.Z.). 39 (5): 389–422. doi:10.2165/00007256-200939050-00005. ISSN 0112-1642. PMID 19402743.
4-Hodges, Paul W.; Eriksson, A. E. Martin; Shirley, Debra; Gandevia, Simon C. (2005-9). “Intra-abdominal pressure increases stiffness of the lumbar spine”. Journal of Biomechanics. 38 (9): 1873–1880. doi:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2004.08.016. ISSN 0021-9290. PMID 16023475
5-Henry, S. M.; Fung, J.; Horak, F. B. (2001-2). “Effect of stance width on multidirectional postural responses”. Journal of Neurophysiology. 85 (2): 559–570. doi:10.1152/jn.2001.85.2.559. ISSN 0022-3077. PMID 11160493.
6-Suchomel, Timothy J.; Comfort, Paul; Stone, Michael H. (2015-6). “Weightlifting pulling derivatives: rationale for implementation and application”. Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.Z.). 45 (6): 823–839. doi:10.1007/s40279-015-0314-y. ISSN 1179-2035. PMID 25689955.