I just returned from an energizing weekend teaching at the DCAC 2012 Fitness Conference in Vienna, Va. While there I got to work with hundreds of passionate Group-X Instructors and Personal trainers. And, I found that regardless of the training situation or environment, all fitness professionals use Burpess!
I also found that most personal trainers and instructors perform the burpee exercise in a way that we feel is less safe (mainly on the lower back) and less metabolic than the way we’ve chosen to perform them.
Check out this video on how to do (what we feel are) “Perfect Burpees” and discover how to do the Burpee Exercise – Performance U style!
Coaching Tips for Personal Trainers on Burpees:
– We like to use Burpees as either part of a warm-up (in the beginning of a workout) or as a part of a conditioning circuit toward the end of a comprehensive workout (before the cool down).
– If we’re using burpees in a warm up, we’ll stay under 10 total reps since we’re not going for fatigue.
– If we’re using the burpee exercise as part of a conditioning circuit, we’ll do sets of no more than 20 reps per set.
– We don’t believe in doing bupress sets 0f over 20 reps (at one shot) because we’ve found that’s where form tends to go out the window and the set(s) become more about quantity… not quality!
– We will add in push-ups at the bottom of each burpee when we feel it’s appropriate. We’ll also occasionally add a jump at the top of each burpee when we feel the individual can do so with good control.
– We only use the Burpee exercise with individuals who posses the hip mobility to display the form demonstrated in the video above. We do NOT just arbitrarily give burpees to everyone simply because we like them or because they’re a “tough” exercise.