Our latest cover star Jason Fox – you can read his full interview here – wants to share the one move you can’t live without. Looking at his physique, his answer may surprise you because it’s not a bicep curl or a bench press.
No, it’s the humble and perhaps one of the most hated exercises: the burpee.
Men’s health: If you could only perform one movement for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Jason Fox: Burpees.
The fitness world seems to be divided on burpees. Many believe this move is too advanced for beginners and can cause injury, while others believe this move can be scaled back to suit any level and is perfect for ultimate fitness. claims to be a litmus test.
Whether you consider them friends or foes, we’ll break down how to do burpees and the best burpee workouts. Well, if that’s good enough for Foxy…
how to do burpees
- Start standing tall and reach into a squat position with your hands on either side of your feet.
- Jump into a high plank position, keeping your core locked and legs back.
- Perform a chest-to-floor press-up by lowering your body to the floor, then press your body back into a high plank.
- Return to a squatting position by jumping your feet between your hands.
- From here, raise your arms above your head and jump explosively.
How to regress burpees
If you find burpees a little too taxing, here are three ways to reduce the intensity.
- Delete jump. Instead of jumping, try standing between each rep.
- Regress the press up. Perform the press-up portion of the repetition with your knees lowered.
- If we trace the exercise further back, it looks like this: Forget jumping and push-ups completely by reaching to the floor, squatting down, stepping onto a high plank, then stepping back into a standing position.
best burpee training
- This 120-burpee breathing ladder works your body and mind
- Test your aerobic capacity and mental strength with this dumbbell burpee challenge
- This bench press and burpee challenge will test you. Can you finish it?
- Blast body fat and improve athletic performance with these 3 move finishers
- Get your CrossFit game on with this grueling workout
- This 180 rep barbell and burpee finisher burns calories
- Follow these 3-move, no-kit bodyweight workouts to burn calories quickly
- This 5-move barbell workout comes with a menacing catch
- Build serious fitness by reimagining the classic PE class
- Burn twice as many calories with this dumbbell workout
Kate is a fitness writer mens health uk There she provides regular workouts, training tips and nutritional guides. She has a graduate degree in performance nutrition and before joining Men’s Health, she earned over 5,000 on the gym floor as a nutritionist, fitness writer and personal trainer. I was coaching over time. Kate has a keen interest in volunteering at animal shelters, and when she’s not working out in the garden, she can often be found walking her rescue dogs.