Burpees are known as the hardest cardiovascular exercises to perform in consecutive repetition. The term 'burpee', according to various online sources, is coined after an American psychologist Royal H. Burpee who in the late 1930's developed the Burpee test,consisting of a series of exercises performed in rapid succession, meant to measure agility and coordination. Further reading did not provide what the actual test movements were, so that leaves current definitions as a benchmark.
To begin with, lets all agree that the foundation of a burpee is the squat thrust. This is done by dropping from a standing position into a frog like stance, kicking or thrusting both legs backwards entering a push up position, then bringing the legs back under the body and standing upright. Whether this is the entire definition of the exercise, or not, is debatable. I'll begin the debate with two unimpeachable sources.
1.
Oxford Dictionary definition: a physical exercise consisting of a squat thrust made from and ending in a standing position.
2. The current Guinness Book of World Record holder for burpees is Mr. Patty Doyle from the United Kingdom. In 1994 he did 1,850 in one hour. According to Guinness, Mr. Doyle did not perform a push up or jump, therefore reverting to the Oxford definition.
So two of the most widely accepted sources of definition and execution define a burpee as synonymous with the squat thrust. But wait a minute. Those are a bunch of Brits defining how to do a burpee. I'm an American. What do the pointy headed, 4-eyed, know-it-all's on this side of the pond say about how to do it right?
Most people learn of the exercise for the first time in military basic training. Depending on branch of service, it may have been called a Burpee, or 8 count push up, 8 count squat thrust or some other permutation of titling. Current US Army doctrine from manual TC 3-22.20 describes a burpee as the
8 Count Push Up; A squat thrust with two push ups in the middle. As an army veteran and a former Drill Instructor who taught PT, I certainly recall 'burpees' as called the 8 count squat thrust, which added a push up and jump (standing upright was position 1) to a squat thrust.
In my opinion the real confusion on what does or does not constitute a burpee comes from a company called Crossfit, or more specifically its affiliate gyms and individual advocates. Between local clubs having autonomy in workout protocols and individual acolytes interpreting the centralized online Workout Of the Day (WOD) and everyone videotaping how they do things, any yeah-hoo with a video camera can upload a clip with 'Burpees' in the title, diluting the subject by presenting hundreds of conflicting videos on the matter.
My irritation is that this isn't really found in other affiliation groups or schools of thought. If someone practices yoga, a downward dog, warrior one pose or sun salutation is the same if its in a studio or someones living room. It is the same with martial arts. If you follow an certain art, a follower can enter any dojo of that philosophy and with very little prompting from the Master, fall right into place based on a practiced consistency.
The standard burpee, endorsed by Crossfit for years, mirrored the Army 8 Count Push Up. Thanks to internet videos, or perhaps a general lack of leadership, doctrine or care from the parent organization to not enforce a standard methodology, people started filming how they do the burpee and some variations have made it into common practice, all the while not denoting the change in their version of the exercise. Most notably is the change from a push up, into a more fluid body drop into a prone position where the chest and thighs touch the ground. Another variation includes hand clapping at the apex of the jump, (which by the way is taken directly from the US Army jumping jack).
Since Crossfit type WOD programs are often subjected to a posted time request as a method of competition, my secondary issue of a push up and jump being considered burpee SOP, is followed by my disdain of change based on ego. Specifically I believe people who endorse substituting a prone body drop over the push up are muddying the waters of what historically is a considered a burpee in an effort to shave time, therefore they are creating short cuts and I consider the change unworthy. On the other hand, adding a hand clap to the jump should be prescribed as an additional movement in the description of burpee and not assumed a part of what is a classic technique. I won't deny hand clapping is a progression to a burpee, but I don't consider the body drop to prone a regression or progression, I consider it a mutation.
I'm calling out Crossfit specifically because their model represents the standard of publishing WOD but I make this charge against all WOD programs that utilize burpees. This annotation style is nothing new as many WOD will describe if the burpee of the day includes using dumbbells, a weighted vest, pull ups or olympic rings, so why not 'drop into prone', or 'clap at top'? In comparison, I will say that Crossfit and most WOD publishers do an excellent job describing differences in doing pull ups in a circuit, using terms as kipping, straight arm or hanging to mention a few methods. I am just asking for either leadership from them or for anyone to step up and say, "Hey, for the burpee, this is what the standard is, and anything else needs to be considered a stated change." Is that too hard to ask?
Why should there be clear definitions? Is it really necessary? Well, depending on some of the WOD I receive from multiple sources, it makes a big difference on what the standard is. If the workout is to run 5 miles and perform 50 burpees per mile, the difference of those burpees including push ups, or not, really affects the time and outcome of that training day. If that WOD instructs the performer to do five sets of a six exercise circuit and the first exercise is 50 push ups and the last is 50 burpees, is the person doing 50 push up movements or 100 per circuit? 300 total or 600 total for the workout?
At least the Brits, endorsed by Guinness have an definitive position, a burpee is a squat thrust. Maybe these should be called English burpees. The American burpee would follow the standard 8 count squat thrust the military and Crossfit (originally) endorsed. I'll make the concession that regardless of doing an English or American burpee the ability to include a push up and/or a jump is based on the progression or regression of the person doing the exercise. Any technique that allows someone to complete of a WOD and feel they didn't cheat themselves did it right that day. And if someone calls you out for not doing a push up, or body drop or jump or jump with a hand clap, you can confidently state you did them according to Guinness standards. Now, is that a good thing or bad thing?
It's not enough to exist, I am going to live.
