Burpee HIIT!

I'm sure some of you take on HIIT sessions; whether that is cycling, running, swimming, etc.

I recently done some research on BURPEES and I was shocked/surprised/impressed/excited to hear people's feedback from different websites. Apparently 10 minutes of intense Burpees is more demanding than 20 minutes of cycling/running, etc. Of course it is probably be an exaggeration...

Still, I'm convinced and therefore planning to undergo Burpee HIIT 3 times a week (alternatively with cycling HIIT also 3 times a week) and hoping that it'll really work!! I'm honestly SUPER excited and I can't wait!

I'd like to hear some feedback. What do you think?

I love burpee HIIT, almost as much as mountain-climber HIIT.  In my (completely amateur) opinion, to get the full benefit of burpees you just need to make sure you are following proper form - otherwise you can risk hurting your lower back and not really getting the best "bang for your buck".  I have found mountain-climber HIIT to give me a better workout, since I find it easier to perform "all out" with good form.   Don't know if that makes sense. 

Good luck on your workout!  :) 

You can use HIIT with pretty much anything. The burpees will eventually get easier.

I can maintain a fast pace running or cycling for a good bit. Swimming, I'm fatigued after two laps. Your body will adjust eventually, after introducing something new.

this sounds great! but...what exactly are burpees?

Burpees are these suckers. A quick, but incredibly tough and effective bodyweight exercise.

And to the OP, good luck! I do Burpee HIIT 3 times a week and I love it. =)

Burpees are freaking awesome. I just started doing them and I am hooked on them. I have done HIIT with sprinting ouside, the stationary bike, jumping rope, etc.. Nothing has kicked my ass more than burpees. My current routine is going to be switching between 30 second rounds where I do as many as I can in that time frame with 30 second breaks. I will keep doing 30 on and 30 off until I get to 100 total. That is when I stop. When I can start doing 100 burpees in 15 minutes or less, I will be happy. Once I can start doing that consistently, I am going to attempt the G.I. Jane challenge again where you do burpee-pull-ups.

Yay!! That really lifts my mood. =)

I've been doing Burpees this week, but I'll be honest and upfront; I SUCK. Obviously it's probably because I only just started, but it's pretty upsetting as to HOW SLOW I am.  It's frustrating!

What I basically did was aim at doing Burpees for 20 minutes; but that's obviously not working, because I'm not exactly aiming at a specific number of Burpees, but just the TIME FRAME...

I presume that it's best if I have a goal in terms of how many I'd like to do - and then work on shortening the time it takes me to do that number... What do you think?

So; a couple more questions; For those who do Burpee HIIT - what do you do after you do a set? Say you do Burpees for 30 seconds... what do you do for the next 30 seconds before going back to do Burpees for another 30? (I settled down with jogging around a bit, but doesn't feel like I'm doing much...)

Also; when I do Burpees I hurt my toes a lot. I tried wearing sneakers but I just slip and slide all over the place. And then when I go barefoot... well... I'm sure you can imagine the rest. =P How do you do it to prevent any foot injury?

Oh, and what is the G.I. Jane challange that you talk about, vyperman7?

themassivetribulation(interesting name lol), I think working a number of reps vs a time frame is great, especially starting out.

I've done Burpee sessions like this: Burpees for 30sec, shadow box for 30sec, then 30sec break and repeat. If you don't know much about boxing technique this may not work for you though.

Sorry, I don't understand your predicament with the toe problem. No help there.

GI Jane Challenge was vyperman's excellent idea for us to try. 100 Burpee pull-ups in under 20mins....

themassivetribulation; I think it's a good idea to set out a number of burpees and aim for a specific time frame to do them in..so you're on the right track!

Ohh don't worry about being slow, they're still working! =) Also, as time goes on you'll definitely improve the speed.

As for what I do after doing a set, it varies. Sometimes I'll do a quick shuttle run, sometimes I'll crank out some sit ups or push ups, other times I'll do some jumping jacks..anything to keep the heart rate up.

I generally do butt kicks or shadow boxing in between sets.  Something a little "lighter" but that keeps in an active state. 

I will be attempting this today. Wish me luck!

Thank you very much for your replies, everyone!

I'll be honest; I don't know much about boxing but I have read that many people do shadow boxing inbetween each Burpee set. It doesn't really help me, though, so I was thinking of taking some of the advice that you've posted and probably stick with things such as jumping jacks or butt kicks, etc. Anything to keep my heart rate up, basically.

Oh, and as for the toes; I guess I'll have to deal with it. =P And one more thing, I've done this Burpee HIIT for the second time this week (again tomorrow!) and although I'm still pretty new at it... I can't help but complain and say that my abs hurt horribly. Don't get me wrong, I practice situps and other exercises that target my abs (and I can proudly say that I have a subtle six pack! =D), but it hurts to the point of frustration. I'm guessing it's normal?

And before I forget; those who do Burpee HIITs... do you strap a digital watch to your wrist to time yourself or something? What's the best way?

Oh, and good luck cardioqueen!! ^^

Thanks again for all of your feedback! Really really appreciate it. =D

I use a Gymboss Interval Timer. It can time intervals and act as a stop watch too. It is an invaluable tool IMO.

Now remember, you want to stick to doing Burpee HIIT every other day. You never want to do it two days in a row. I only mention this because you say that you just did it for the second time, and plan on doing it again tomorrow. If you did it today, wait until Friday.

Original Post by themassivetribulation:

I'm sure some of you take on HIIT sessions; whether that is cycling, running, swimming, etc.

I recently done some research on BURPEES and I was shocked/surprised/impressed/excited to hear people's feedback from different websites. Apparently 10 minutes of intense Burpees is more demanding than 20 minutes of cycling/running, etc. Of course it is probably be an exaggeration...

Still, I'm convinced and therefore planning to undergo Burpee HIIT 3 times a week (alternatively with cycling HIIT also 3 times a week) and hoping that it'll really work!! I'm honestly SUPER excited and I can't wait!

I'd like to hear some feedback. What do you think?

HIIT claims are often a little on the fantasy side -- read the initial Laval University study and you will be amazed at how such small weight loss by both groups came to be interpreted as a huge "fat loss" advantage for HIIT, when actually the standard cardio group lost more weight but both groups actually lost almost nothing at all!

However, HIIT is fantastic, for what it's worth, and it definitely should be included in most people's holistic health plan. I use both HIIT and runs of 5-10K regularly and find them to be complementary in many ways. I personally like skipping, cycling, kettlebells or running HIIT because I've always hated burpees!

I believe I'm in serious need of purchasing myself a decent watch/timer to help with my workout. Right now I've taken to actually removing the clock from my wall and placing it within my vision so that I can 'estimate' my times. Which, is no good, of course. =P

Oh, and vyperman7, sorry for having made it sound like I was going to do this Burpee HIIT two days in a row. I should have informed you of the time differences. I've done Burpees on Monday and Wednesday, and seeing as I'm halfway through Thursday already, I'm taking on Burpees again tomorrow (Friday).

And talking about not doing HIIT for two days in a row... I do Burpees 3x and Cycling 3x a week (consecutively, of course) [all HIIT] with one 'rest' day (Sunday). Is this ok? Or would I still be overtraining?

dabrok, I understand that you say HIIT doesn't actually lead to a major weight loss, but considering that many people are comfortable with doing it, I would say that as long as you DO exercise... then why not? What do you think? Honestly, any amount/type of exercise will help lose weight in comparison to doing NO exercise. And besides - we're always the healthier bunch when you compare those who exercise with those who plonk their behinds on the couch all day long, every day of the year, all their lives. =P

You are absolutely right that any exercise beats nothing and all studies show that even a modest amount will have great results for those who are not trained. My post was more along the ideas that both HIIT and standard cardio are great and you should use both whenever possible and for different reasons since they hit different energy systems.

Have fun with your works outs and make sure that they work for you and that is always the best plan!

Original Post by themassivetribulation:

Oh, and vyperman7, sorry for having made it sound like I was going to do this Burpee HIIT two days in a row. I should have informed you of the time differences. I've done Burpees on Monday and Wednesday, and seeing as I'm halfway through Thursday already, I'm taking on Burpees again tomorrow (Friday).

And talking about not doing HIIT for two days in a row... I do Burpees 3x and Cycling 3x a week (consecutively, of course) [all HIIT] with one 'rest' day (Sunday). Is this ok? Or would I still be overtraining?

Yeah doing HIIT 6 days a week is definitely overtraining. Personally I would recommend 5 days of cardio a week at the most and have it be 3 HIIT and 2 regular SS sessions. So do burpee HIIT M/W/F and then on Tues/Thurs just do regular cycling but not HIIT style. This allows you to take the weekends off. With how much you work out, it would be better to take 2 days off a week instead of just one.  Also, I was curious, do you do any type of resistance training with either free weights or body-weight exercises? Resistance training and eating right are most important in body transformation. Cardio is secondary.

Original Post by vyperman7:

Yeah doing HIIT 6 days a week is definitely overtraining. Personally I would recommend 5 days of cardio a week at the most and have it be 3 HIIT and 2 regular SS sessions. So do burpee HIIT M/W/F and then on Tues/Thurs just do regular cycling but not HIIT style. This allows you to take the weekends off. With how much you work out, it would be better to take 2 days off a week instead of just one.  Also, I was curious, do you do any type of resistance training with either free weights or body-weight exercises? Resistance training and eating right are most important in body transformation. Cardio is secondary.

 Now I can't help but be curious; what exactly happens if you overtrain? Because, honestly, the way I've been going makes me expect that I should at least be more toned. Not to say that I'm not, but I feel that I could in fact have less fat and more muscle. For instance; I find that my thighs are the most difficult part of my body to target. Hence, I've posted topics before where I asked whether low-medium intesity cardio wouldn't be better to burn fat, but I'm now consinved that a mixture is most definitely the best way.

It's not to say that I don't do cardio exercise. At least once a week I go walking/jogging with my parents (and it's constantly uphill - rough terraine (sp?)). Thing is, I'm already considerably well trained with my cycling HIIT, so I wouldn't want to lose the intensity with which I cycle by replacing it with simply cardio cycling. I just generally feel that I put more effort into HIIT routines. Why? Because when I do cardio exercise, it's easy to slack off...

As for resistance training; I don't exactly know what it is, but I do lift weights with my arms. I sometimes manage to go to the gym and lift weights with my legs (but do to a slightly torn muscle that gives me a lot of trouble, I often try to avoid it). Don't get me wrong; when I exercise my HIIT session is just the beginning. I then put in a DVD of "Kathy Smith" and some other stuff; however, I can't really tell what category those sort of exercises come under. I would presume aerobics, but I can't be too sure seeing as I don't even know exactly what it is. I've heard of pilates before, yet again, I can't put any pictures to the word. I'm clueless. =/

The biggest reason why I probably don't do resistance training is because I don't have access to the machinery and the equipment. I did say that I sometimes go to the gym, but that's just once a week (if not, once a month) at school. And most of the time there is nobody there to help or watch over me.

As for eating right - I do eat healthy, but sometimes I feel that I could and should do better. Do you by any chance have any advice on how to eat healthier? Better? I'd really appreciate your help... as I have so far. ^^

Original Post by dabrock:

You are absolutely right that any exercise beats nothing and all studies show that even a modest amount will have great results for those who are not trained. My post was more along the ideas that both HIIT and standard cardio are great and you should use both whenever possible and for different reasons since they hit different energy systems.

Have fun with your works outs and make sure that they work for you and that is always the best plan!

 Thank you very much, dabrock! I really appreciate all of your advice. I wish you all the best of luck with your own plans and I hope that you'll achieve what you're aiming for! =)

Original Post by themassivetribulation:

As for resistance training; I don't exactly know what it is, but I do lift weights with my arms. I sometimes manage to go to the gym and lift weights with my legs (but do to a slightly torn muscle that gives me a lot of trouble, I often try to avoid it). Don't get me wrong; when I exercise my HIIT session is just the beginning. I then put in a DVD of "Kathy Smith" and some other stuff; however, I can't really tell what category those sort of exercises come under. I would presume aerobics, but I can't be too sure seeing as I don't even know exactly what it is. I've heard of pilates before, yet again, I can't put any pictures to the word. I'm clueless. =/

The biggest reason why I probably don't do resistance training is because I don't have access to the machinery and the equipment. I did say that I sometimes go to the gym, but that's just once a week (if not, once a month) at school. And most of the time there is nobody there to help or watch over me.

As for eating right - I do eat healthy, but sometimes I feel that I could and should do better. Do you by any chance have any advice on how to eat healthier? Better? I'd really appreciate your help... as I have so far. ^^

Resistance training is just another term used for weight-lifting or body-weight exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, etc.. Any exercise that applies resistance. What I would look into if I were you, is getting in at a gym. There are gym's nowadays that have cheap deals. Gold's was offering a 49 dollars down 15 dollars a month deal. I think they still are. This way you can lift on a full body routine with free weights. Exercises like bench press, squat, deadlift, military press, barbel row, etc that will help to work your whole body. However, if you don't want to join a gym, you can also do body-weight exercises. Various types of push-ups, pull-ups/chin-ups, lunges, squats, etc..  To tell you the truth. I am taking a break from weights for awhile. I have really started to like body-weight exercises. Don't get me wrong. I have gotten really good strength gains from weights (got my bench press up to 350 pounds and my deadlift to almost 500 pounds). However, I want to burn more bodyfat now and go for a leaner look which I feel body-weight exercises helps me do.

Now one thing I have noticed in your post is that you said you not only do HIIT 6x a week, but you also do aerobics after your HIIT session. This makes me think that you may not be doing actual HIIT. When you perform an HIIT session correctly, you are dead tired afterward. You wouldn't have the energy needed to perform aerobics. Also, when you perform HIIT correctly, your body will feel tired and a bit worn out. You will want that day of rest in between from doing HIIT.When you try to do intense exercise like HIIT that much, your body begins to burn out and work against you which is what happens when you overtrain. Just out of curiousity, what is your HIIT routine? What are your intervals? When you do your sprint part of the interval, are you going 100% every time?

Eating healthier just takes practice. At first it is a pain in the butt. Especially with the shopping and cooking of all the food. Eating unhealthier is easier..LOL However, once you get used to it, and get on a system, it isn't bad at all. It is just a matter of keeping track of what you eat, breaking things down into meals, etc.. For example, at the beginning of everyday I take an empty 1 gallon Arrowhead bottle and fill it up with water. This is my water for the whole day. Then what I will do is try to prepare at least four of my meals for the day in the first few hours I am up before work. This helps to speed things up. Then I choose one day a week where I do a lot of my cooking. I usually choose Sun. That is the day I will make my extremely low sodium marinara sauce, all my Jenny-O turkey burgers on the Foreman for the week, etc.. It is all about just getting into a routine.

A sample meal day for me :

Meal 1 - A natural smoothie ( 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1 cup non-fat yogurt, and 2 cups 1% milk). 1/2 cup of oatmeal.

Meal 2 - 1 Cup of Broccoli, 1/2 Cup Marinara, 4 OZ turkey, 2oz Whole Wheat pasta, 1 TBSP Olive Oil all mixed together.

Meal 3 - Tuna Sandwich (whole wheat bread), 1 Apple, 1 Ounce Almonds

Meal 4 - See meal 2

Meal 5 - Turkey Sandwich (whole wheat bread, 4 OZ meat), Carrots, 2 dark chocolate squares, and 1TBSP Fish Oil

Meal 6 - 1/2 cup oatmeal, 4 OZ Turkey, 1/2 ounce almonds

Eating a lot of small meals over the course of the day helps to keep your metabolism elevated and gives you less chance for binging. As you can see I get 2 servings of fruit, 3 servings of vegetables, a lot of protein, complex carbs, and a good portion of healthy fats. I eat like this 6 days a week and take 1 day where I have a few cheat meals of what I want.