Movement Demo – Burpees

Rogue athlete and Arielle Loewen demonstrates proper form for a burpee, burpee over rower, and burpee broad jump in these quick and simple movement demos from Rogue HQ.

The burpee is one of the most widely known and used bodyweight movements in exercise training.The beauty of the movement, it doesn’t require any equipment and can pretty much be done anywhere. It is one of the most fundamental movements we use in life, getting yourself down to, and up from the floor.

The movement was invented by Dr. Royal H. Burpee in the 1930’s and was originally a movement used as a fitness assessment tool during the 1940’s in the US Military. Initially the movement had 4 phases;

1. Squat – lower centre of mass
2. Jump feet back into a plank position
3. Jump feet back under body to squat position
4. Stand tall

Overtime, this movement developed by adding a push up and a jump at the end, so now the burpee is recognised as the following;

1. Squat – lower centre of mass
2. Jump feet back into a plank position
3. Complete a push up
4. Jump feet back under body to squat position
5. Stand tall and Jump- clap hands overhead

Today the Burpee is used more as a conditioning exercise and not just a fitness assessment tool.

Benefits

• Full-body conditioning – Hits legs, chest, core, shoulders, and arms.
• No equipment required – Great for home workouts, travel, or warm-ups.
• Scalable for all levels – Easy to modify for beginners or tougher for athletes.
• Improves coordination and agility – Requires movement sequencing and rhythm, combined with breathing.
• Mental toughness – Burpees test grit, pacing, and work capacity.

Movement Breakdown

• Start Position – Standing tall

Execution

• Squat – lower centre of mass
• Jump feet back into a plank position
• Complete a push up
• Jump feet back under body to squat position
• Stand tall and Jump – clap hands overhead

Movement Progressions
This movement can be made increasingly difficult by jumping over or onto an object, or even completing the burpee while carrying load. Some examples of burpee variations are listed, but not limited to the following;

• Burpee for height / touch

Burpee Broad Jump

• Burpee Over Rower / Parallete – can be parallel to, or head facing the object
• Burpee Onto or Over a Box
• Burpee while wearing a weights vest
• Burpee Over a Barbell / Dumbbell(s) / Kettlebell (s) / Sandbag
• Burpee Into Pull Up / C2B / Muscle Up