Beat the Burpees!

If you have a new-found vengeance against Burpees from completing your AMRAP 7 minutes (as I know you all have done), then here is an easy little circuit based routine that can be done 3 times a week to help your numbers take you to the top of the leaderboard!

First I am breaking the Burpee down into the following moves to improve on:

1. Squat
2. Squat Thrust
3. Vertical jump

How simple does that look! To improve your score you need to improve these basic movements and also your core stability. Oh and the small matter of endurance, which is why this circuit based workout requires you to move from one workout to the next with no/very little rest.

The Workout:

AMRAP for 60 Seconds – Air Squats (Bodyweight squats, BUT no Not-Squats allowed, full depth ladies and gentlemen). At the bottom of the movement you are going to pause and bend forwards from your hips. At the same time reach your hands towards the floor to touch the ground. This replicates the ideal position you should be in before you enter the squat thrust stage of the Burpee.

AMRAP for 90 seconds – Squat Thrusts. Really focus on keeping your core tight. To replicate the bottom stage of the Burpee, as you bring your legs towards your chest aim to have your feet close together and knees pushed out to the sides of your body. As you jump backwards with your legs in the second stage of the exercise or the “thrust” (to extend your legs and flatten your torso), widen your feet for the landing as this helps to take your bodyweight. Also your chest and thighs must touch the ground on your “thrust” before you can jump your knees back towards your chest.

AMRAP for 30 seconds – Vertical Jump. A no-brainer here, Squat down with your bodyweight raised up onto your toes so that your chest is touching your knees and your shoulders are over your toes. Explode upwards jumping as high as you can making sure you bend your knees on landing to cushion your body back onto the ground.

Remember when I said about core stability? After you have completed your time for the first three exercises, work on your core stability by holding the plank to failure. Then you can rest for 60 seconds and repeat the circuit. Aim for 5 rounds.

This is hard and I have done it myself this morning which probably wasn’t the best idea after I did the Open WOD last night! Just because you don’t have a target number of REPS to hit doesn’t mean that you will go easy, aim to beat the clock and your last number each set to see the quickest results.If you find it easy then extend the amount of time that you are doing each exercise for but you shouldn’t need to do this, just complete more exercises in the allotted time.

You can thank me when you are all budding Crossthaletes (copyright Coach Calvert 2012).

 

CC