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How I Learned to Love Burpees (Seriously)

burpees-jenn

Is there a single exercise more dreaded that the burpee? I think not. Any time it shows up in a workout at my gym, you’ll hear a collective GROAN. And a: “Ah, man. Burpees? I hate burpees!” (Which is part of the reason why this shirt really cracks me up.) And, I used to be in that groaning crowd. But I’m here to tell you that I’ve broken through the burpee barrier. I now love burpees.

Seriously.

Okay, so I don’t want to, like, marry them or anything and I don’t do them for “fun,” but I now respect them. And I’m actually grateful for them. Yes, grateful. See, after eight weeks of letting the stress fracture in my foot heal by doing no high-impact moves or exercises that require a lot of toe flexion, I’m just now back in the gym at 100 percent. I can run again. Row again. Box jump again. BURPEE AGAIN!

And it has been amazing.

Yes, they still leave me feeling like this (aka “wanting to die.”):

tired-jenn

But after the break, being able to suffer through them feels good. In my eight-week break, I’d missed them. And I found a new appreciation for all of the amazing stuff my body can do.

So if you hate burpees, consider getting a stress fracture! Just kidding, change your thinking. Instead of focusing on what you don’t like and groaning and cursing your way through them, just be amazed at the wonderfulness that is a healthy body. One that can move. One that can jump and lift things and push through. One that can burpee! No matter your fitness level, just be grateful that you’re out there moving. Drop the negative talk and just see what you can do. You just might surprise yourself.

So, burpees? I love ya. Thanks for waiting for me.

Do you love burpees? Hate burpees? Love to hate ’em? How can you improve your relationship with them? —Jenn 

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Comments

14 Comments
  1. Sarah says:

    As a trainer, I LOVE burpees! Well, I love to make other people do them. 😉 But I’ve never met anyone who actually likes them! One of my clients commented one time that doing burpees is actually a privilege: you have to be at a certain level of fitness to be able to do them. This is my new favorite point of view! Burpees deserve a healthy respect, but even more important, you have to respect your body and acknowledge how awesome it is, if it’s capable of doing, say, 10 burpees. Those suckers are hard!

  2. Rose says:

    I think I may be one of the few people who likes Burpees. I will be at the gym with my trainer and I will be the one to decide to do them just for the challenge. I love to see the progress I make from one time to the next. 🙂

  3. Dawn says:

    Burpees make me very uncomfortable. I feel like I will break my back and it’s not stable enough for me.

  4. AyanaSanch says:

    I secretly love burpees, but it may be because I forced myself to love them. I hated them so much at one point, I decided enough was enough and did a burpee challenge. Day 1 was 5 burpees, day 2 10 burpees.. one rest day per week.. until by day 30 you’re doing 100. Some days sucked more than others, but it helped get over my strong dislike for them.

  5. Nicole says:

    Love your bit on burpees, I am a personal trainer and my client s do find them rather intimidating at first but when they find that they can do 3 then next time keep doing more and more the elusiveness or intimidation factor disappears. 🙂

    Keep up the good work!

  6. I like burpees but when I do it while exercise I just hate it because I think burpees are very tough job in exercise but very important for your fitness.

  7. FitFadFan says:

    I have grown to LOVE burpees! As a fellow fittie, I have to say I just love reading your blog and following you on Twitter 🙂 Thanks for all of the great content! Check my blog out at http://www.fitfadfan.com for fitness and nutrition tips.

  8. Jen says:

    ILOVE burpees. like everyone, I used to hate them, but I think it is safe to call them my favorite workout move. There are such good full body workout!

  9. Cherie says:

    I share your point of view on this topic- not only for burpee! I’m recovering from abdominal surgery and just can’t wait to get myself back into training mode! Good attitude though, we must appreciate the amazing things our bodies can do! We are so lucky!

  10. Mick Dallard says:

    I have been converted and love burpees, one pt at the gym suggested as a challenge to do timed 100 burpees with fullbbody press and a tuck jump every ten, I can safely say that this challenge was the most hardest thing I have ever done. By the end my whole body was shaking, the first time was 9 min 40 seconds and the second was over 10 minbbut after a 45 min Bootcamp. The pt did the same in 9 min 7 seconds first time and second sub 8 min. If you want a challenge have a go it takesssheer determination to get through the last 50

  11. Kristina says:

    The perfect cure for burpee fear. Do the 100 burpee challenge! Start at 1 and add 1 to it every day for 100 days. After completing that, doing 40 or 50 in one workout will seem like nothing! I did the challenge a year ago and it helped me immensly! They are really no big deal now. Oh, I still get burpee knees from time to time, but I can get through them so much easier now and remember the sense of accomplishment I had after completing 100 in a row! Maybe one of these days I’ll do the challenge again…. nah! lol

  12. Diana says:

    I have MS…used to ski, synchronize swim, jog, now nothing but walk…have balance problems & my left leg doesn’t want to perform…a good exercise for me?…what do you all think?

  13. Agathe says:

    Burpees always are a love/hate relationship…a bit like Marmite!

  14. Dina says:

    At first few months ago, yes, i hate burpees. But recently my friend convinced me that burpees can be the only exercise if i lazy enough to do other type exercise. So i push my self to do burpees ten reps two sets at first. after two days i start feeling happy to see my shoulder looks n my abs too. Now i love burpees. its a must in my everyday workout routine.

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