I get asked this question ALL the time. "Who the [insert relevant expletive] invented burpees?" followed after the next set by "Seriously Hannah, who would even think of such an evil [insert expletive] exercise?" And I laugh and say that they're not really evil and that everyone secretly loves them but that I don't know who invented them. Well, guess what? I decided to find out!
In case you've been deprived of burpees in your life, here is a video of me doing a few.
There are lots of varieties of burpee and I took it upon myself to make an advent of burpees this year. Above is day 1 and there is a burpee every day of advent to follow! Check out our YouTube channel to view them all.
So it turns out, after all the jokes, there really was a Mr Burpee. Mr Burpee Ph.D infact, after he invented the 'burpee test' in 1940. I can't find out if he is still alive or not as I know lots of people want to egg his house but best to take it out on your personal trainer instead!! According to the ever reliable www.wikipedia.org the fitness test was taken on by the US Armed services after this as it was deemed an excellent test of soldiers fitness.
So we're told to credit Mr Royal H Burpee with all the fun and joy burpees have brought to us and to all the generations ahead of us!
In reading about burpees I also stumbled across the BURPEE MUSEUM! I got incredibly excited and just before booking my flights to the states was horrified to read further it's nothing to do with burpees in exercise form and is a historical museum (which i'm sure is excellent). I was thinking it would have made the perfect Christmas party for everyone at Lean Body Vision! Never mind!
So, whatever you think of burpees and however evil they may be, it's not my fault, I didn't event them, but I do think they're ACE! An exercise that works your whole body, spikes your heart rate in an instant and means your face is out of sight from your trainer, if only for a few seconds, so you can swear under your breath, scowl and curse to your hearts delight before bouncing up into the next jump!
So what are your favourite burpees? I mean, if you had to pick? With press ups? With dumbbells, kettle bells, TRX? Maybe lifting and throwing your personal trainer in the air? Here's one of my favourite...
Why? Because it makes me think i'm just a little bit more like Jessica Ennis than I actually am!
HAPPY BURPEES EVERYONE and thank you to Mr Burpee for enriching all our lives so. We salute you!
Hannah Johnson
Cheif Catalyst at Lean Body Vision
Tweet me @leanbodyvision
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