Burpees question

[infonote]

Hi,

I am not a martial artist. However I recently came over an exercise which I do at a minimum every hour when I am at home near my computer.

It is Burpees (http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/burpeeclip.htm)
I currently do the following except for the jump (due to noise) when jumping.



Begin in a squat position with hands on the floor in front of you
Kick your feet back to a pushup position
Immediately return your feet to the squat position
Leap up as high as possible from the squat position (I do not do this).
Repeat, moving as fast as possible.

The question is: what muscles does the above exercise cover? And which major muscles it does not cover?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Malleus]

Burpees are great. Must get back into them myself.

They're great because they work a whole load of muscles, not least the heart.

The pressup component of the burpee hits the pectoralis major (chest muscle or 'moob' ). It also hits the deltoids (shoulders). If you're doing a full pressup you'll also get the triceps working nicely too.

The jump part does a whole load more. Calves, quads, glutes, rectus abdominus, obliques, and the lower back muscles are all used to greater or lesser extents.

I'm slightly confused as to the amount of times you do this. Every hour?

 

[Archangel M]

It's less about "muscles" and their development than it is about developing your "metabolic pathways"...how long you can keep on trucking.

 

[Blade96]

i heard of ma instructors using burpees as punishment. I'd never heard of a burpee until I read that.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

In Marine Corps Boot Camp, we called them "Bends and Thrusts." I never heard them called anything else. When a Drill Instructor was mad at us, he'd shout "Just begin, dammit! Just freaking BEGIN!" We knew what he meant. I've done bends and thrusts until there was a lake of sweat under me on the deck. Maybe 20 minutes.

 

[Hawke]

Source:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_burpees_for_cardiovascular_exercise

They're great for getting in shape fast. They work out the trapezius, lower back, triceps, pectorals, deltoids, hamstrings (when done with heels on the ground), glutes, quadriceps, calves, and abdominals. They are a compound exercise utilizing most muscles of the body, so they stress the body into higher testosterone production, which means building more lean muscle. This is good news for teaching PE, dropping excess body fat, breaking a fitness plateau, or building a disciplined army out of civilians.

However, burpees are not a panacea:
They do not adequately train pulling motions without the pullup. In general, the regular pushup burpee does a poor job of recruiting the lats, biceps, and posterior deltoids, all of which are trained by the pullup and crucial for overall strength.
They can lead to muscle imbalances and possible injury if not included with a full routine including back work.

They build exceptional muscular and cardiovascular endurance, but fail to increase absolute strength beyond a certain level.

The pushup portion only moves 60% of your bodyweight while the pullup moves 100% of your bodyweight. As a result, pulling motions will develop more strength than pushing motions of the upper body. This is not necessarily unhealthy, but does not lead to optimal athletic performance.

 

[Archangel M]

Do burpees under a chin-up bar. On the jump grab the bar and chin. It will fry you fast.

 

[J Ellis]

A few more ideas...

http://fitness-solution.blogspot.com/2008/05/just-one-exercise-burpee.html

 

[Whitebelt]

Sometimes when its someone's birthday in my club we do what are sometimes called "super special birthday burpees" including a squat thrust, sprint starts, two clapping pushups and a jump with a tuck, consiquently it's rarely anyone's birthday

 

[wushuguy]

when i was in NJROTC we called those squat thrusts.

 

[infonote]

Not really I am currently trying doing burpees whenever there are adverts on the TV or radio.

The adverts on radio are usually every 15 minutes (they do not last long), so I do as much as the adverts take.

However, I do not do them very fast, so It can be considered cheating I guess.
However, After doing this routine for about an hour (every 15 minutes) I feel that my leg muscles are improving.

I am not training for a competition but I definitely feel better.

I wish I had something to add a pullup. This along with regular running/jogging is a good exercise for general fitness.

Burpees are great. Must get back into them myself.

They're great because they work a whole load of muscles, not least the heart.

The pressup component of the burpee hits the pectoralis major (chest muscle or 'moob' ). It also hits the deltoids (shoulders). If you're doing a full pressup you'll also get the triceps working nicely too.

The jump part does a whole load more. Calves, quads, glutes, rectus abdominus, obliques, and the lower back muscles are all used to greater or lesser extents.

I'm slightly confused as to the amount of times you do this. Every hour?

 

[infonote]

I probably did not explain clearly.

Basically every 15 minutes I do Burpees for about 2 minutes, using the radio as a sort of counter.

With TV the adverts are longer so it is harder after about 3 times.

 

[tempus]

I do them as well and sometimes add a sandbag press on the squat back up.

-Gary