CrossFit Burpee’s 101 – CrossFit Downtown Heights Tampa, FL

Welcome Tampa CrossFit athletes to CrossFit Burpee’s 101. In this article we will cover every form of burpee used in CrossFit programming, how to attack them, and how to actually get good at them! You might end up actually liking burpees, Imagine that! Let’s go Tampa!

There are a couple movements that invoke the look of disgust in a Tampa CrossFitter than burpee’s…in the same way, just mentioning burpees gives hope to those CrossFitters that struggle to put on weights and strength but have an incredible engine. Which camp are you in?

Burpees in the CrossFit world is basically getting down to the ground so that the chest touches and then getting up and clapping above your head with both hands…well, at least that was the latest CrossFit Open standard…let’s work on the assumption that it won’t be any different this year. 

1. Get Better at Burpees

I know this sounds stupidly simple but watching people do burpees, especially if lifting heavy is your preferred CrossFit movement, the form usually breaks down very quickly. The following tips are what I see (and what I do) when you get exhausted doing my up downs!

• The “Stomach Flop”
  • This is where you bend over and bring one leg out at a time and fall or make an effort to pop out and then fall down to the floor
• The “Get any way possible burpee”
  • Once you have gotten your chest up, you move your knees and then eventually stand up on two feet. I see this one every day.

If you always perform good, exact form for as long as possible, you will create the strength and stamina you need to stay as efficient as you can for as long as possible.

2. Create an efficient strategy to go along with your level of fitness.

For those of us who envy our buddies who seem to burpee so easy its like cardio is second nature, every once in a while a small modification can help keep you close in your next metcon.

1. Reach over, placing your hands down while moving your feet out and placing yourself on the ground with everything ready to pop back up.
2. Popping up from the ground into a quarter squat and getting ready to spring into the jump – sometimes this is multiple movements.
3. The most efficient burpee guys/gals will slowly land and will transition into step one as they are coming down from springing up.

4. Divide your burpee’s up into manageable sets.

Alot of folks believe you should go out as hard as you can and don’t look back or stop. That strategy has never worked for me. I think a more thought-out workout plan that is based around my own fitness level works great. Tampa CrossFit athletes must know their fitness level.

Look for a target # and plan your rest period. For example, for a workout like seven minutes of burpees, I would shoot for sixty burpees in first five minutes. Most likely I could do more at the beginning but if I go out too hard and fast, I will have to rest more often. That being said, I attempt to crack it down to sets of twelve and try to have all my stops as short as I can. Now, in the last two minutes, like in most CrossFit workouts in Tampa Florida, there is no holding back. You have to just let loose and go all out. Remember, you can never fail a burpee, so just keep moving.

The reason of dividing up your burpees is to manage your heart rate. If you heart rate remains where you can keep moving, your breaths and tiredness will be more manageable and you will be more efficient in your movement and get more reps by the end of your metcon.

Thank you Tampa for reading this CrossFit Downtown Heights article on how to be more efficient at CrossFit style burpee’s. For examples and videos of our athletes doing these movements we talk about here click on the link below.