Tuesday, August 30, 2016

The Easier Burpee Alternative That Still Gets Your Heart Rate WAY Up

Neustockimages / Getty Images

It’s no secret that burpees are one of those hard-as-hell exercises. Doing just a few reps will get you sweating and breathing heavily. While challenging yourself is a good thing, you don’t have to constantly train in struggle city. If you’re thinking about skipping the burpees that your at-home workout calls for, try the frogger variation (AKA half-burpees) instead.

“The frogger is a little less advanced—and a little less miserable, I think—with the same benefits as the progressed variation,” says trainer Hannah Davis, C.S.C.S. and author of Operation Bikini Body. Burpees are great for giving your heart rate a boost, which gives it that cardio edge, and are a great full-body strength challenge. Froggers also improve metabolic condition and strength, says Davis, so you’re not sacrificing fitness benefits, you’ll still burn serious calories, and you won’t lose your momentum during your workout by taking a too-long pause.

And while both burpees and froggers have big lower-body benefits, the way they work your butt and legs is different, explains Davis. The frogger involves quickly transitioning from a low sumo squat to a high plank and skips the vertical jump. “Your time under tension [when you’re holding the sumo squat] is, whereas the jump up in a regular burpee gives just a slight release,” she says. “Staying low in that sumo squat will improve your muscle endurance.” 

Burpees are notoriously tough, but during any exercise, you should never feel bad about listening to your body and taking it down a notch when you need to. Here’s how to do the frogger.

Frogger

FROGGER

Whitney Thielman 

  • Stand with your legs wider than hip-width apart, knees bent, and upper body pitched slightly forward. This is your starting position.
  • Place your hands on the ground in front of you, then jump your straight legs back into a high plank. Make sure you land softly on your toes, says Davis. 
  • Jump your feet back and bring your hands toward your chest to return to the starting position.
  • That’s 1 rep; do 8 to start, then progress up to 20 as you get stronger, says Davis (and make sure you hit each one with good form). Start with just 1 set and do up to 5.

And once you’ve nailed the frogger? Hello, full burpee.

You may also like: 13 Incredible Bodyweight Exercises You Can Do At Home

Related:

The post The Easier Burpee Alternative That Still Gets Your Heart Rate WAY Up appeared first on SELF.



from SELF » Fitness http://ift.tt/2bPCbse

No comments:

Post a Comment