Burpees Are The Ultimate Conditioning Workout

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Perhaps you have never heard it said before but burpees are the ultimate conditioning workout or at least close to it. Although a lot of attention is paid to cardio or strength training, it is this one exercise that has many advantages.

Burpees, as they are commonly referred, are well known from our days in middle school and high school. It is an exercise sequence that is performed in four steps.

Start by standing in upright position.
You then go down in to a squat position with your hands touching the floor.
You then throw your feet back and get in a pushup position then lower your body to complete a pushup.
Then return to the squat position and push upwards with the arms.
Jump high as possible from the squat position.

This is an excellent full body exercise as it works the chest, legs, arms and abs/ core. There are ways to make it difficult or easier depending on your fitness level. You can make it easier by not adding a pushup or jump or both. You can make it difficult by holding dumbbells throughout or adding weight to your ankles.

Although adding difficulty is interesting it is not necessary to make it effective. However, if you want to make it as effective as possible for conditioning purposes if suggest the following method.

Do burpees without weights.
Try doing it without the jump at the end but do include the pushup.
Do as many as you can as quick as possible in one minute.
Rest for two minutes and repeat for a total of 5 times.

You can add elements to it to make it difficult or add sets as it becomes easier. By following this sequence you are in essence doing interval cardio training along with strength training without the weights. By the end of the sequence you will be out of breath.

This bodyweight type exercise serves two functions. It helps burn fat with the cardio benefits and helps build muscle as it is a total body workout. Although it may not seem to be a difficult exercise you will quickly find out that it is very difficult to perform for a minute. However, the advantage is that you will be able to do it in the comfort of your own home or if you are traveling.

Incorporate this exercise once in a while and you will see the benefits and improvements in your conditioning.

About the Author:
If you are tired of not getting the results you want and you want to gain muscle and lose fat with simple exercises and workouts like a burpees exercise just go to http://www.looklikeanathlete.com



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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