Elite military and police forces around the world thrive on it; sports coaches love it; fitness professionals simply adore it.

It’s the single most productive exercise you can take with you virtually anywhere. No gadgets, no gimmicks, just your own body and the desire to shape-up fast.

Whether you find yourself on a parade square, soccer field, fitness studio floor, or at your local park or playground, all you need is an area big enough to lie down in. This is indeed convenient, because when you’re done, lying down is pretty much all you should feel like doing.

A certain Lt. Thomas Burpee is credited with the invention of this devastating move back in the early 1800s. Based in New England in the US, Lt. Burpee used his special combination of press-ups and squat thrusts to drill his unit of Civil War soldiers into fighting-fit condition.

Fitness legend has it that incarcerated former Civil War soldiers later used the exercise to maintain their deadly physical efficiency in prison, eventually spreading the exercise through the entire prison system.

Hardcore indeed; so how can you and I benefit from the exercise that has since become known simply as ‘Burpees’? Whether in camouflage combat denims or contour-hugging lycra, the Burpee has a little something to offer us all.

From functional fitness and athletic preparation to the tightening and toning our problem areas for aesthetic purposes, the Burpee continues to endure as a valuable addition to any workout.

It comes in three main difficulty levels, and each will fry the muscles of your thighs, hips, butt, core, shoulders and arms; pretty much most of the major muscle groups in your body.

Perhaps even more impressively, the exercise will also send your heart rate soaring, which means your heart and lungs benefit too, making you fitter while scorching countless calories. No gimmicks here, just a hardcore, down-to-earth (literally) exercise that won’t cost you a cent.

Let us begin with basic entry-level Burpees, or as I like to call them ‘Baby Burpees’. Stand in an upright position with your arms down by your sides. Bend your knees and hips, lowering into a deep squat position. Place your palms on the floor to your front a little wider than shoulder-width apart, and kick your legs out backwards. You should now be in a press-up position.

Now thrust your knees forwards again, and stand up. In short, you are dropping into a press-up position, and standing up again. Repeat this move several times in quick succession and you will be surprised how such a simple exercise can be so challenging.

Now, let’s move onto ‘Big Boy Burpees’. Here we will incorporate an actual press-up once you hit that press-up position. The entire sequence therefore consists of dropping down into a press-up position, performing a press-up, standing up again and repeating.

The third and final step for advancing your Burpee to dazzling heights of efficiency brings us to a sequence that is known simply the popular ‘B’ word women like to address cheating men by. Give them a try, and you will soon see why.

In short, drop down, perform a press-up. Draw the legs forwards again as before, but from the deep squat position, instead of simply standing up, jump. Jump up and reach as high as you can with both hands and upon landing, drop im-mediately into your next repetition.

And there you have it. Start out with Baby Burpees and when you can perform three sets of 20 repetitions with only a minute rest between each set, progress to the more difficult version.

This short workout alone, performed first thing in the morning before breakfast, will produce noticeable results in your weight loss and toning efforts.

To spice things up further, vary the sets and repetitions, or you can add in extra squat thrusts or press-ups to each repetition. The squat thrust is the phase where your legs are kicked out into the press-up position and thrust forward again.

You can repeat this process by kicking out your feet two to three times per repetition before standing up again. Repeating the squat thrust phase will work wonders for your core abdominal muscles.

Or how about throwing in five press-ups to each repetition for added pectoral and shoulder development? If you get bored of performing three sets of 20, try the diminishing-sets workout.

Perform 12 repetitions, sprint up your stairs, and walk back down. Repeat the process, only this time knocking off one repetition, so you are performing 11, then 10, and so on until you perform just one Burpee, signalling the end of your workout.

Each variation of Burpee may also be performed with added props. How about holding a pair of dumbbells for extra resistance? Or if you have access to a medicine ball, pick it up after the press-up phase and perform your jump with it in hand.

Combine your Burpees with other basic bodyweight moves like abdominal crunches, pull-ups or even sprint intervals if you are outdoors and you can form a complete workout targeting virtually every muscle of your body and annihilating body fat too.

info@noble-gym.com