10/06/2020
I despise burpees. No, not because they are hard. Because they are stupid and unnecessary. If you want to know fully why this is, search “Ben Bruno burpees.” Ben Bruno is a renowned trainer in LA, with clients ranging from pro athletes like former NY Giant Victor Cruz to supermodels like Kate Upton. Plus, he learned under Mike Boyle in Boston, so he’s kind of a big deal in the trainer world.
In short, burpees are an exercise that puts high impact on the joints, yet are typically programmed in HIIT classes where 90% of the participants cannot do one burpee with proper form.
On top of that, they are being asked to perform 45 seconds to a minute’s worth while already fatigued. Kinda goes against the whole idea of quality over quantity, right?
Enter the “Humane Burpee,” which breaks down the traditional burpee into its individual parts, subs out high impact squat jumps for low impact but equally intense kettlebell swings, and follows a decreasing rep scheme for the squats and pushups to allow the intensity to stay high while helping you maintain proper form throughout.
Each round, you’ll do 15 kettlebell or dumbbell swings, followed by goblet squats then pushups in a decreasing rep scheme from 5 → 1, resting only as needed. In total, that’s 75, swings, 15 squats, 15 pushups, done in 3-5 minutes.
Let’s look at what the Humane Burpee can do for you, including both what you are trying to get out of the traditional burpee plus added benefits of the humane version:
✅Increased metabolism
✅Increased heart rate
✅Torch fat
✅Use a lot of large muscle groups at once
PLUS
✅Low impact = Joint friendly
✅Adding weight = increased intensity = even better at raising heart rate, metabolism, and fat burn
✅Movements are done one at a time, leading to better form
✅Improve hinge, squat, and push movement patterns
✅Decreasing rep scheme on squats and pushups leads to less chance of form breakdown due to fatigue (translation: low chance of injury)
✅Complete the entire circuit in 3-5 minutes (rest only as needed)
