Burpees – Hate’em and Do Them Like you Love’em

If I could only do one excercise to condition myself for boxing, outside of boxing training itself, I think I would choose burpees. Burpees simulate the explosiveness of pushing off with the legs, they develop lower body endurance and stability from the constant repetition, and they simulate the upper body resistance of a punch each time you touch down and jump back, not to mention the core work at play every time you extend out and jump back in.

My standard burpee has a modest jump of about 8″-12″ up, I’m not trying to explode straight up as high as I can, I’m trying to keep a consistent pace and keep moving, everybody will end up with their own style. I also don’t believe you have to add the push-up to your burpee because I think it drains your upper body before your legs reach their maximum exertion threshold, boxing is a lot more about legs than upper body as any experienced boxer knows. However, that’s just my claim, anybody who is doing burpees regularly deserves respect for tackling such a raw and character building exercise, and if they choose to add a push-up or another variation then be my guest. Just make sure you don’t cheat by doing short little jumps on the way up.

I was working on burpees in the gym one day as a young boxer when my coach came up to me and said, “I used to know a guy who did those by the round”. That comment lit a fire inside me and suddenly I wanted to be that guy, the guy in the gym who was doing something different and exceptional. In some gyms burpees might be a mainstay, but nobody was killing them in my gym the way I eventually would.

I started by seeing how many burpees I could do in one round, and within a month I could do about 60 pretty steadily. I then switched to doing them for 3-4 rounds, 60 per round with a minute break, this is not fun. For my standard burpee workout I ended up settling on something that was a bit more intense in the short term and less time consuming. I would do as many burpees as I could in 5 minutes. This was a good guage for me to assess my level of conditioning, if I was hitting below 100 in 5 mins then I was out of shape. If I was hitting 100 and a couple more in 5 mins then I was in good shape, not necessarily fight shape but good enough to spar with most guys in the gym. The best I ever did was 127 in 5 mins, which I think anybody who works at it can achieve, it’s not that spectacular. I think 150 in 5 mins is a strong possibility and it’s still one of my goals to hit before 2012 is up. Maybe I’ll start working on that goal tonight, it’s LONG overdue and I need a boost.

My recommendation, make burpees a regular part of your workout, aim for 100 in 5 mins about 3 times a week and watch your boxing move to a new level. If you get strong and motivated then break my record of 127 in 5 mins, and if you get to 150 in 5 mins then big yourself up and go knock somebody out, you’ve earned it.