Its been said that there is nothing truly new under the sun in strength & conditioning, only different ways of re-packaging it. What sounds new to you or I, has most likely been around for YEARS. And if it ever sounds too good to be true, then it is. You see, you don’t need fancy equipment or expensive machines to get in phenomenal shape, and anyone that tells you otherwise probably sells that equipment. As I’ve addressed in other articles, people just don’t like to work hard to get results. They want to take the easy way out, try a million different fad diets, and then complain why they are exactly the same year after year. But, these are “regular” people, not warriors like you guys. You guys want something different, a challenge. You’re sick of treadmills, ellipticals, and any other nonsense you see other people (even athletes!) waste their time on.
One of the best total body conditioning movements EVER, are burpees. These literally will transform your physique and get you in top notch condition faster than any other fads you see out there. They are tough, they are rugged, and better yet they are FREE and don’t require ANY equipment. That probably explains why they are a favorite of prison inmates, and why some of the most jacked dudes would do 100’s per day because they were not allowed to use weights. While I certainly would never recommend being incarcerated, there is definitely something to be learned from the simple training methods used in prison cells around the country. I didn’t invent this workout and have seen it in various articles around the net, but I did want to share it with my readers, so here ya go.
The workout is very simple, but brutally productive. There is no hiding, no running away. No cushy machines or gym bunny jogging in front of you. Just yourself and a stop watch.
A burpee, by the way, starts from a standing position where you will kick your feet back and drop to a push up position, perform one push up, then JUMP as high as you can – repeating as quickly as possible.
You will start with 20 repetitions, walk to the other side of the room that you’re in, then do 19 repetitions and so until you get down to 1. 238 reps later, you will know exactly while burpees are the undisputed KING of body weight conditioning. Record your time and try to beat it the next time around. This workout is no joke and will leave you in a pool of your own sweat and heaving up whatever you had for lunch!