Issue 044
December 2008
In this instalment of the series I will examine the ultimate bodyweight exercise: the burpee! One of the hardest exercises there is, but one that requires no equipment, the burpee should be a staple in everyone’s arsenal of exercises.
Introducing the burpee
To perform a burpee begin from a standing position. From here, touch the ground slightly in front of your feet and then kick the feet back into a push-up position. Snap the legs back under you as rapidly as possible and jump up to finish. Repeat until the desired number of repetitions has been achieved or you lose consciousness, whichever is first!
The burpee in fighting
The obvious similarity of movement in the burpee is to that of a sprawl in MMA. The only difference is that in a burpee you touch the ground with the hands first, and try to keep straight through the spine when you kick the legs. Nevertheless, the burpee will strengthen the muscles used to shift the centre of gravity away from an opponent, as well as improving body control and co-ordination. Depending on the style of burpee, and the parameters used, it can also tax the energy systems used in a fight in a similar manner, enabling you to increase fitness in a more specific way than doing sprints. The fact that all of the movements should be explosive should increase your ability to move rapidly when fatigued.
Burpee variations
There are many basic burpee variations – in fact it is hard to find a definitive agreement on what a burpee actually is! The definition I have mentioned above is the most popular, but one variation is to not perform the jump, instead only finishing in a standing position. I would call this variation a ‘squat thrust’. Some people require a push-up to be performed in the extended position in order for the rep to count. I call this a ‘super-burpee’. A third, particularly evil, variation I enjoy putting people through is to perform a burpee under a chin-up bar, and to make them do a jumping chin-up at the top of each repetition. I call these ‘super-burpee-chins’!
Other options to vary the burpee include:
- One-legged burpee
- Burpee with weighted vest
- Burpee holding medicine ball
- Burpee with resistance bands
- Burpee with kettlebell
- Burpee with barbell
- Burpee with sandbag
- Burpee with snatch at top
- Burpee with power clean and press
ASK ALEX
Our resident strength and conditioning expert, Alex, answers your training-related queries.
Q. I was wondering if you can help me out with some nutritional tips because that’s the area I lack in during my preparation for a fight. Do you have any tips on weight loss for fights?
Cheers, Dan
A. The usual weight-loss tips will be helpful here – eat plenty of lean meats and green vegetables, and minimise sugar and white carbohydrates. Cutting weight for a fight may also involve water manipulation, which would require at least an article-length reply, but the above advice should help you on your way.
Q. I have a subscription to the mag and love the training section, but I’m really struggling to find a good solo training programme that will improve my shoulder stamina. I’m training and sparring and finding this is my weakness. They get heavy and my guard drops, and from there my punches start getting slower and I’m getting caught a lot more.
Many thanks, Keith
A. There are some things you can do in the weight room to improve your performance. One suggestion is that you could try partial range overhead presses, from the collarbone to the hairline. This will concentrate the stress on the shoulders compared to a normal overhead press. Another exercise I have been experimenting with is holding a light dumb-bell at arms’ length in front of you, dropping and catching it repeatedly. This will quickly get the shoulders burning in a similar way to repeatedly throwing a jab, and should bring the shoulder endurance up quickly.
Alex Gold is a strength and conditioning specialist working with fighters to achieve peak performance.
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