I love burpees!  I hate burpees. . .

To anyone who has spent time with this go-anywhere, no-equipment-needed, ass-kicker of the burpee exercise the sentiments above are not contradictory.

Burpees are a great exercise when training for fat loss or general conditioning.  They can also make your heart feel like it will explode from your chest in less than five minutes.  The burpee exercise, more than any other, resulted in the honor of clients getting “chalk lined” at my old gym.

But working to the point of seeing stars and feeling light-headed is not smart training (although fun, challenging, and useful for mental toughness occasionally for those who have been training for a while).  Instead it is better to follow a progression of difficulty, starting with the movement that is appropriate for your current fitness capacity and increasing the challenge gradually over time.  And with that, I present four levels of the burpee exercise that will take you from beginner to advanced burpeedom.

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