100 Day Burpee Challenge

My training group has taken on a 100 day Burpee challenge. What IS this "burpee"? If you don't know here is a nice video that shows beginner and modified versions of this whole body exercise.

The 100-day challenge started August 1, and that day started with 1 burpee, 2 the next day, and so forth. So today we are doing 13 of them (that I still need to do). At the end of this challenge we will each donate 1 cent per burpee to a charity that we decide as a group. Right now it is pretty easy...though you should see some of the burpee variations our trainer thinks of :eek: :cool: I will let the reader calculate how many burpees we will have done by the time this challenge is over, I don't like to think about it... It is just one extra burpee a day, that's all, just one extra each day.

I love these kinds of challenges! I think I might try to join you starting today but I'll have to do 13 straight off the bat.

BTW - It doesn't look like you got your link to imbed in the above post.

Sorry about that Wahine, here it is :) She starts out showing a regular burpee then moves to show three modified versions.

My knees and hip just exploded watching that. :rolleyes: :p

13 Done!

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Originally Posted by snapdragen

My knees and hip just exploded watching that. :rolleyes: :p

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:) they actually feel pretty good, I must admit that I learned them with the Bosu. When you stand up you pick up the Bosu ball and press it over the head (no jump)...its amazing how heavy that can seem after a few reps! The more...creative versions of these are fun and brutal at the same time. Just the regular version really hits the whole body, let alone the advanced variations. A few days ago we tried a "sideways" burpee variation that I just couldn't do. Yet ;)

Got my 14 in this morning first thing, before breakfast and caffeine, it certainly gets the heart pumping!

A burpee workout variation I like: you do a set of exercises (say, 20 squats, 100 mountainclimbers, 20 crunches, etc...) but for every minute it takes you to complete the workout, you have to do 4 burpees. So you set a timer to 1 minute, start your workout, at the 1 minute ping you stop where you are and do 4 burpees. Then you continute with your reps.
It hurts so much after a while ;) but stopping and whining will just earn you another set of burpees ;)

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Originally Posted by Susan

A burpee workout variation I like: you do a set of exercises (say, 20 squats, 100 mountainclimbers, 20 crunches, etc...) but for every minute it takes you to complete the workout, you have to do 4 burpees. So you set a timer to 1 minute, start your workout, at the 1 minute ping you stop where you are and do 4 burpees. Then you continute with your reps.
It hurts so much after a while ;) but stopping and whining will just earn you another set of burpees ;)

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oooooooh, you must be related to our trainer ;)

The sideways burpee is pretty wild, and my legs/hips couldn't get it yesterday but I am determined to change that:

Squat down. kick your legs back 45 degrees - top leg in front. (If straight back is 90 degrees and straight to the side is 0 degrees, then it's in the middle.) Do a push-up. Back to squatting position. Jump up. Yell "I love burpees." (the last bit is optional!)

So your legs or you lower body are turned to the side but you upper body is turned to the front to do the pushup, right?

I get most of my ideas from Zuzanas Zwows on youtube. She obviously really loves burpees ;)

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Originally Posted by Susan

So your legs or you lower body are turned to the side but you upper body is turned to the front to do the pushup, right?

I get most of my ideas from Zuzanas Zwows on youtube. She obviously really loves burpees ;)

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Yes, all of the movement is at the hip, upper body stays turned to the front. My body couldn't quite figure this one out , yet. I got so confused trying to figure this one out that I forgot the jumping up part! Thankfully no one laughed but it would have been fine if they had :)

I REALLY like this style of training, and it certainly keeps my body confused as to what is coming next. I believe that is part of the point of functional training ;)

Reverse Burpee...I think I have to try this tomorrow for my 15 ;)

We will see how well it actually works :o I KNOW I can do this going back on the Bosu, just unsure if I can do this from the floor.

Funny - I never heard them called reverse burpees. :D

These are hard. I do them on the floor like in the video. It's important to bring the weight forward to help you get up.

Veronica

Bosu Burpees
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eEdku4nHJM

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Originally Posted by Irulan

Bosu Burpees
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eEdku4nHJM

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Yep, this was the very first form of the burpee I learned :)

I don't know if the video of the "Reverse Burpee" is actually the one we are going to do in my 6am training group tomorrow, I've learned there are burpee variations with the same name. There is no doubt our trainer will come up with some Burpee variation to get our 15 in during the session in the morning.

The Bosu exercise I thought of when I saw the video of the Reverse Burpee is what our bosu instructor calls the Get Up Get Down. I've done this with small dumbbells, just don't know if I can do it from the floor.

496? :eek:

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Originally Posted by Melalvai

496? :eek:

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496?

"Only" 100 burpees on the last day, but between now and then we will have done just over 5,000 of them - for which each participant will donate 1 penny per burpee to our group-selected charity. I really like that part. It is just a straight linear progression, 1 extra burpee each day. I focus on THAT, not the total number over the 100 days.

One thing is sure, I will be a LOT better at burpees by the time this is over!

I just did the "reverse burpee" you posted a video of. That sure got my heart rate up in a hurry!

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Originally Posted by indysteel

I just did the "reverse burpee" you posted a video of. That sure got my heart rate up in a hurry!

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Oh lordie yes, even the "regular" unmodified burpee will do that - it really is a whole body exercise!

This morning was a strength session so no burpees, I will need to do those on my own this evening.

I'm liking the look of Burpee's, Catrin. I thought this was about garden seeds, though. I'm going to start with one today and add one a day. The video on the modifications is great.

what a great challenge! Burpees are known to make me want to throw up whatever meal I ate last (even if it was hours and hours before). :p

There was a time early in the summer when I was doing 20 regular burpees a day. That has since ceased (although I'm mad I stopped). The reverse burpee wasn't nearly as hard as the regular one for me. I might do those every other day to change it up.
I'm totally in for the challenge. Just did 10 reverse burpees and 5 regular ones. Thanks for sharing!!

Did 16 regular burpees today after my workout. Amazing how even the "regular" version feels!

Even my fitness instructor's eyes bugged out when I told her about this challenge! You're a badazz, Girlfriend.

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Originally Posted by Artista

Even my fitness instructor's eyes bugged out when I told her about this challenge! You're a badazz, Girlfriend.

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Perhaps glutton for punishment is a better description :) Seriously, as far as I've come, I am a weak sister compared to many of my group training teammates, especially where upper body strength is concerned but they are very encouraging to me.

Is it +1 a day through the month of August or +1 a day for 100 days? I thought it was just for August which would be a total of 496. If it's for 100 days it's 5050 total.

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Originally Posted by Melalvai

Is it +1 a day through the month of August or +1 a day for 100 days? I thought it was just for August which would be a total of 496. If it's for 100 days it's 5050 total.

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100 days :) it just started August 1.

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Originally Posted by Catrin

100 days :) it just started August 1.

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It is also starting to get more....difficult. Before this is over I should be VERY good at burpees. Our group trainer is also fitting more of them in the workout of the week he assigns us - this week there are 90 of them! Not 90 in a row, but the goal is 90.... I better have a really good breakfast Friday morning ;)

This is the workout (after an appropriate warmup - and I think mine will be extensive)

It is pretty short. On the minute for 15 minutes do the following:

3x burpees
3x thrusters (65/95 lbs) - modify weight as needed
3x burpees

In order for the burpee to count, the chest must touch the ground on the pushup and then must jump to a 25lb plate.

We record metrics from each of these WOW sessions on a whiteboard, and for this one we record the number of the times we complete the above series in under a minute. Goal is 15 - I am pretty darn sure I won't reach that number but I will try it :)

Day 28, so 28 burpees today. They are starting to get a bit more difficult. I did, however, finally figure out how to go into a full body pushup and get my chest to the ground :) This isn't a regular pushup, if I can find a video I will post it. Not saying that I am graceful at it...

Great job, Catrin! I can't do the full push up (girl-style, yes, but not he man kind). I tried to do this, but starting mid-month was hard having to start at 15 right away. I decided to start on Saturday with 1 and go from there. I can count to 30 in September and then to 31 in October and then another 30 in November and then another 9 days in December will make it 100. That's much easier for my brain to chunk than starting mid-month. ;)

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Originally Posted by Tri Girl

Great job, Catrin! I can't do the full push up (girl-style, yes, but not he man kind). I tried to do this, but starting mid-month was hard having to start at 15 right away. I decided to start on Saturday with 1 and go from there. I can count to 30 in September and then to 31 in October and then another 30 in November and then another 9 days in December will make it 100. That's much easier for my brain to chunk than starting mid-month. ;)

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Whatever works for you is great :)

I finally figured out how to do the Plank Jump Pushup Burpee. It's taken my body quite some time to figure it out - probably because I was afraid to commit to it for some reason, but my body figured it out today. Not gracefully, but it figured it out. I've been forced to stop thinking so much about the new things I am doing in the group training and just allow my body to figure it out for itself. It is less painful that way - and quicker ;)

YMMV, I do love planks and find most of them pretty easy compared with other exercises. While I am slow at this move, it isn't near as tiring as using a regular pushup - and I can't get my chest to the ground with a regular one anyway. This guy goes through it pretty quickly but I can't seem to find another video that shows this exact version this slowly.

I also find myself stronger every time I get on the bike - so I am certainly seeing a payoff for the group training with all of this intense wild stuff :) I may not be riding 5 days a week any more, now just 2-3 days a week - but I've more endurance and speed, and feel much better afterwards. I hated backing off riding even a little in the height of the season but it seems to have been the best choice. Now my old overuse injuries from 2 years ago rarely trouble me - while before starting this group/team training a month ago it was almost constant.

We did the reverse burpee at boot camp a while back....it was hard...and awesome! Thanks for the reminder of that one.

Cathrin, I hate to break it to you but that video is terrible! So many of them are there awful home jobs! They crack me up they are so bad! He couldn't even get the lawn chairs out of the background. Nothing against you: I know how many you have to look at to find the exercise you are to illustrate.

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Originally Posted by Irulan

Cathrin, I hate to break it to you but that video is terrible! So many of them are there awful home jobs! They crack me up they are so bad! He couldn't even get the lawn chairs out of the background. Nothing against you: I know how many you have to look at to find the exercise you are to illustrate.

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I know it is, but it was the only one I could find that shows that movement from the side...

We could always start a TE Best of the Worst Award for the worst exercise video ;)

We have officially changed the "100 day Burpee challenge" to a "50 day Burpee challenge" and ended it. On top of everything else most of us had fallen too far in the hole to catch up.

Certainly there's no shame in the reduction. One hundred sounded really ambitious to me, especially when you consider that the people accepting the challenge are already working out on an almost daily basis anyway.

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Originally Posted by indysteel

Certainly there's no shame in the reduction. One hundred sounded really ambitious to me, especially when you consider that the people accepting the challenge are already working out on an almost daily basis anyway.

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We knew we were pushing the package when we took it on :) Our trainer has us do burpees all the time anyway, so we are far from being "burpeeless". I just really hope he doesn't think about having us do a burpee tabata - that would be truly evil. Fun, but evil. A tabata = any whole body/high intensity exercise at full speed for 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off. Repeat that cycle for 8 rounds which = 4 minutes. Those 4 minutes can get very, very long...but is a fantastic way to finish off a good workout. Actually, that would be an interesting challenge to do, hmmm.

Ugh. My trainder has me do stuff like that every couple of weeks. They kill me. I never knew they were called "tabatas" though. I've learned a lot in this thread!

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Originally Posted by indysteel

Ugh. My trainder has me do stuff like that every couple of weeks. They kill me. I never knew they were called "tabatas" though. I've learned a lot in this thread!

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I didn't either until a short time ago, they are great for metabolic conditioning. Yesterday morning we "got" to drag a tire about 50 meters or so just using two 12-pound hammers. Multiple times - this wasn't the really BIG tire that weighs over 300 pounds, but I am pretty sure it weighs well over 100. Pretty much focuses on quad strength and really gets that heart rate up there - it was fun though! I must be a sick, sick woman to consider such things fun ;)