Looking for an all-in-one exercise? You may have done this exercise in high, middle, or even grammar school. It’s the Burpee. The Burpee provides outstanding fitness benefits including:
- Strengthens and tones upper body muscles
- Tones and builds lower body muscles
- Develops cardio
- Burns calories
Here is how you do a Burpee:
- Stand with feet at shoulders width and contract abs.
- Crouch down and place the palms of hands on the floor.
- Kick feet out behind you.
- Perform a standard push-up
- Return to the crouch position.
- Jump up.
That is one rep. Do three sets ( i.e., 1st set- 4 reps., 2nd set- 3 reps, etc.). Between each set take a 30-60 second active rest ( i.e., any movement such as marching in place, jumping jacks, dancing, etc.). Keep abs contracted throughout exercise. Though women can do standard push-ups, doing the push-up portion of Burpee from a knee position is a great alternative.