Best Strengthening Exercise For Runners: The Burpee

By Linzay Logan
Published Oct. 11, 2011
Updated Jul. 11, 2012 at 11:35 AM UTC

Begin standing with your feet hip distance apart, squat down and plant your hands on the ground just in front of your feet.
Jump back with your legs into a plank position with your arms straight underneath your shoulders.
Jump your legs back up right behind your hands. Come back to standing, raise your hands over your head and jump as high as you can into the air.

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This article first appeared in the September issue of Competitor Magazine.

At the end of the exercise, raise your hands over your head and jump as high as you can into the air.

Once used as an agility test for the Armed Services in WWII by Royal H. Burpee and as punishment for prisoners following the Civil War, the exercise now known as the burpee is accepted as one of the best full-body strengthening moves, particularly for runners. The high-intensity burpee engages the core, chest, triceps, shoulders, back, quads, hamstrings and fast-twitch muscles, explains Wooch Graff, trainer and co-owner of Timberline Fitness in Houston.

Photo Gallery: Click here to see a step-by-step visual demonstration of the exercise in action.

“You will be hard pressed to find an exercise that encompasses as many muscle groups as a burpee and taxes the heart at the same time,” Graff said, which is why it’s such a great workout for runners. It not only builds muscle strength, but also increases lung and heart strength, all of which are essential aspects of a well-rounded runner.

Many runners make the mistake of sticking to a run-only training program and this limits their potential, explains Jonathan P. Little, post-doctoral student of biology at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan. “When you run, you only call on some of your muscles,” Little said. “However, when you do high intensity interval training such as burpees, lots of your muscles are recruited. This is important because in the late stages of a marathon when you typically would be depleted you’ll have those muscle fibers to call on.”

Burpees can be easily incorporated into a typical run training program. Little suggests adding a set of burpees into training three to four times a week, but notes even once a week will produce benefits. Graff suggests doing 11 burpees after completing a run or adding a set of 11 burpees in between running speed drills. “You’ll be surprised by how much more resilient your body will become,” Graff said.

Check out the photo gallery below for a step-by-step visual demonstration of the burpee.

FILED UNDER: Inside The Magazine / Training TAGS: burpees / High-Intensity Training / strength training

Linzay Logan

Linzay Logan is the copy editor for Competitor magazine and cares about punctuation probably a little too much. She particularly loves to avoid commas as well as add exclamation points whenever she can get away with it! She also loves to run marathons and half-marathons—probably a little too much. Don’t let her small size fool you; she’ll still try to outrun you anytime. Even though chances are she probably can’t.