Hate burpees? Try these 3 low-impact variations

Burpees don’t have to be the exercise you dread. Try these low-impact variations which will help make the full-body movement more achievable.

Just the word burpee is enough to make most people want to hide. The full-body cardio move is physically and mentally challenging – involving throwing your entire body weight to the floor and jumping up and down. We’re knackered just thinking about it.

Nevertheless, the burpee is one of the best full-body movements out there. The compound movement simultaneously improves strength and endurance, targeting the quads, hamstrings, glutes, abs, biceps, chest and shoulder muscles. A 2019 study found that burpees are even more difficult than sprinting, and they also have the added benefit of working your upper body as well as your lower body.

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However, burpees aren’t possible for everyone, for example the high impact move isn’t recommended for those who are struggling with an injury or have joint issues. Fortunately, there are a range of low-impact burpee variations that work similar muscles and offer some of the other benefits of burpees too.

Danielle Ren’e Gaskell is a personal trainer and co-owner of the CrossFit Tooting and CrossFit Streatham gyms. She explains that burpees are one of the movements she regularly incorporates into workouts because they are suitable for people of all abilities, even if they are injured or require modifications.

Here, she shares three burpee variations you can try.

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The down-up

The down-up is a fairly self-explanatory exercise that requires you to move your body down and then up, like a burpee but with no jump at the top of the movement. “With a down-up, the chest should still come down to the floor and you finish the movement by standing up with the hips and shoulders over each other,” explains Gaskell.

How to do a down-up:

1. Place your hands on the floor, spreading the fingers to create a good base.
2. Send your bum back and jump your feet into a plank.
3. Making sure your hands are next to your chest, snake your body down to the floor.
4. Tuck your toes under and squeeze your bum and backline of the body and press your arms straight.
5. Snap the hip flexors and the core tight and jump your feet in to meet your hands.
6. Stand up, slightly squeezing your bum at the top of the movement and repeat.

“With the down-up, there’s no aggressive jump at the top,” Gaskell says, explaining that this lowers the impact of the movement on the knees and other sensitive joints. It also allows you to benefit from the strengthening elements of the movement without getting uncomfortably out of breath.

The step-in-and-out burpee

If you have an injury that means you can’t jump at all but still want to reap the benefits of burpees or are looking for a modification when they’re used in a programme you’re following, the step-in-and-out burpee is perfect.

This is very similar to a normal burpee but where you would usually jump, you can step in and out one leg at a time instead.

How to do a step-in-and-out-burpee:

1. Place your hands on the floor, spreading the fingers to create a good base.
2. Send one leg back followed by your other into a plank position.
3. Making sure your hands are next to your chest, snake your body down to the floor.
4. Tuck your toes under and squeeze your bum and backline of the body and press your arms straight.
5. Snap the hip flexors and the core tight and step one leg after the other to meet your hands.
6. Stand up, slightly squeezing your bum at the top of the movement and repeat.

The no-push-up burpee

If you’ve ever done a burpee in a HIIT class, you’ve probably been told off for not bringing your chest to the floor during a workout. But removing this part of the exercise is a great way to modify it.

“The no-push-up burpee eliminates the press aspect of the movement which is good for people who struggle to push themselves off the ground,” Gaskell says. For example, you might struggle to push yourself up off the ground if you’re pregnant or have an upper-body injury.

How to do the no-push-up burpee:

1. Place your hands on the floor, spreading the fingers to create a good base.
2. Jump or send one leg back after the other into a plank position.
3. Snap the hip flexors and the core tight and jump both feet or step one leg after the other to meet your hands.
4. Stand up, jump or stand up straight, slightly squeezing your bum at the top of the movement and repeat.

Looking for more workout tips? Head to the Strong Women Training Club for tutorials, expert advice and all the latest research on how to maximise your movement.

Images: Getty

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