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Full body exercise From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The burpee, a squat thrust with an additional stand between repetitions, is a full body exercise used in strength training. The movement itself is primarily an anaerobic exercise, but when done in succession over a longer period can be utilized as an aerobic exercise.[1][2]
The basic movement as described by its namesake, physiologist Royal H. Burpee, is performed in four steps from a standing position and known as a "four-count burpee":[3]
One modification is to step back into a plank instead of kicking back.
Moves 2 and 3 constitute a squat thrust. Many variants of the basic burpee exist, and they often include a push-up and a jump.[4]
The exercise was invented in 1939 by US physiologist Royal Huddleston Burpee Sr., who used it in the burpee test to assess fitness.[5][6] Burpee earned a PhD in applied physiology from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1940 and created the "burpee" exercise as part of his PhD thesis as a quick and simple fitness test,[7] which may be used as a measure of agility and coordination.[8] The original burpee was a "four-count burpee" consisting of movements through four different positions, and in the fitness test, the burpee was performed four times, with five heart rate measurements taken before and after the four successive burpees to measure the efficiency of the heart at pumping blood and how quickly the heart rate returns to normal.[6]
The exercise was popularized when the United States Armed Services made it one of the ways used to assess the fitness level of recruits when the US entered World War II.[3] Although the original test was not designed to be performed at high volume, the Army used the burpee to test how many times it can be performed by a soldier in 20 seconds[3] – 8 burpees in 20 seconds is considered poor, 10 is fair, 13 or more excellent. The Army also considered that a soldier fit enough for the rigor of war should be able to perform 40 or 50 burpees non-stop in an easy rhythm.[6]
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On April 29, 2023, in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, Philippe Jouan achieved a record 38 chest-to-ground burpees in one minute.[14]
On June 25, 2021, in Singapore, Cassiano Rodrigues Laureano achieved a record 951 chest-to-ground burpees in one hour.[15]
On July 7, 2019, in Milford, Michigan, Army ROTC Cadet Bryan Abell set the Guinness World Record for most chest-to-ground burpees performed in 12 hours by completing 4,689 burpees.[16] On December 1, 2019, this record was broken and the new record was set as 5,234 by Samuel Finn from Canada.[17]. On May 11, 2024, a new record of 8,523 burpees in 12 hours was set in Narbonne, France, by Joseph Salas.[18]
At 6 am on October 21, 2013, in Portland, Oregon, Lloyd Weema broke the burpee world record: the most chest-to-ground burpees performed in 72 hours with 9,480.[19]
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