Fitness Friday
I’m a big believer in identifying workout movements that you can do anywhere, that don’t require a gym, you need nothing but your body, and best of all, you can do it in your bare feet. If you can hit all of those then you have found a perfect movement. There are a couple that come to mind, but the most comprehensive of them all is the BURPEE. These are killer!
First the benefits:
1) They burn mega calories in comparison to other movements
2) They make you stronger, using your full body
3) They are great for conditioning, in that they elevate your heart rate and work your muscles
4) They’re portable and require no equipment
A BURPEE works all of the major muscle groups: arms, chest, glutes, hamstrings and abs. It’s totally killer.
Of course you have to do them correctly. While I’m not quite ready to start making workouts videos, here is a link to a video demonstrating the right way to do a BURPEE.
So how often should you do them and how many should you do?
You could do them every day. And you could do them to exhaustion. But I wouldn’t recommend that. Remember, EXCESSIVE CARDIO drives your body to burn stored muscle and liver carbs as opposed to fat burning. You can build muscle strength and mass while staying in the fat burn zone. It’s all about heart rate. Stay in the fat burn zone. And with BURPEES that means an easy pace that doesn’t get you huffing and puffing. As you get stronger your pace will increase, just give it time. Do them right and teach your body the muscle memory to do them right the first time.
So that covers pace, right. Don’t get your heart rate above fat burn.
How about quantity? Well that depends too. How often do you want to do them? Every day? Every other day? Two times a week? While all are potentially viable options, I would recommend twice a week as part of your whole body muscle routine.
If you are doing them twice a week, then go to muscle exhaustion. It will hurt. Your legs will feel like lead weights. And you might be a little sore the next day, but… It’s worth it. You will be amazed at the results in a really short amount of time.