Burpee Ladder Exercise

The burpee is a strength and conditioning exercise that works the whole body. No machines or equipment is needed of any kind, and when performed in succession, it can be quite brutal. The only thing needed is your body and, as such, this has become a popular prison workout. It's perfect for those who are looking to improve their physique but don't have the time or money for a gym membership. Mike Rowe of Discovery Channel's "Dirty Jobs" uses the burpee to stay in shape while traveling on the road.

  1. Burpee

    • To perform a single burpee, stand straight with your legs shoulder width apart. Squat down, kick your legs back behind you and perform a single push up. Quickly pull your feet and legs back in, resuming the squat position and then jump high into the air with your hands above your head (you can even clap if you want).

    Ladder

    • A single burpee isn't so hard and all by it's lonesome isn't so effective. The ladder is what makes this exercise so effective and brutal, chipping away fat and chiseling out the lean muscle of your body. Begin with 10 burpees in rapid succession. The quickness to which these are performed is an important part of this routine. Don't go so quick that you lose form and become sloppy, but don't allow any breaks during your first set of 10.

      Once completed, rest for 60 seconds. If this is your first time performing this exercise you may need to rest a little longer, but no more than a couple of minutes. Perform another set of burpees, this time do nine. Again, remember form and quickness. Rest for 60 seconds and perform another set of eight. Repeat this until you get down to one, and you've completed a burpee ladder.

    Gradual Transition

    • Ease yourself into the burpee ladder. If you haven't been very active in a while, a burpee ladder starting at 10 repetitions can become quite challenging very quickly. Start with five repetitions leading to one and perform the ladder three days a week. As your body becomes familiar with it, increase the amount of repetitions and the number of days per week. Eventually you'll be performing a ladder of 10 every other day.

    Variation

    • The great thing about the burpee exercise is the scalability. If 10 becomes easy, increase to 11 and so on. There are many different variations and moves that one can incorporate to the standard burpee ladder. One such variation is the Ultimate Burpee Ladder which incorporates eight 100-yard sprints.