Burpee Breakdown AMRAP Pyramid Workout
As I mentioned before, I’m in the (slow) process of moving, so my belongings (and workout equipment…and schedule) are all over the place. I wanted to get in a sweat before the movers arrived yesterday, and put together this seemingly simple workout. It’s basically just burpees, then each individual part of a burpee (the jumping of the feet into plank, the push up, the vertical jump back into squat). Yeah, not so “simple” when you try doing it without stopping for 10 minutes…then 8…then 6…then 4…then 2. This one’s a killer—enjoy!
Burpee Breakdown AMRAP Pyramid Workout
This workout is made up of 5 AMRAPS, each two minutes shorter than the previous, descending in a pyramid structure. First round is 10 minutes, second is 8 mins, and so on, down to a final round of 2 mins. AMRAP stands for As Many Rounds/Reps As Possible, so you’ll be going through the following sequence of exercises as many times as you can in the given time period. Take a minute break in between each AMRAP (maybe just 30 seconds between the last two since they’re short).
This workout will take 30 minutes in total. If you’re a beginner or looking for a shorter workout, just eliminate the first round and start with an 8-min AMRAP.
- Burpees:Start standing, feet about shoulder-width apart. Squat down, bringing your hands to the ground by your feet and jump both feet back into a plank position. Quickly jump your feet back up by your hands and shift the weight into your feet, bring torso upright into a low squat position. From here, jump up, arms overhead. Land softly on your feet, sinking right back down into a squat and starting from the top. If you want more upper body workout of this workout, add in a push up each time you’re in plank position.
- Frog Stamps:Start in a plank position, hands aligned under shoulders, core tight. Jump your feet up towards the outside of your hands, landing in a wide-stance crouching position, and then jump the feet quickly back to plank. Try to keep these quick! Up, back, up, back—no pause, keep the feet moving.
- Push Ups: Do these from your knees if you need to modify! It’s better to keep proper form (i.e. not sagging your back as you lower) from your knees than have sloppy form on your toes.
- Jump Squats:Feet about shoulder-width apart, squat down, sending your hips and butt back and down (not the knees forward!). Bring your hands in front of you as you sink down. From there, explosively jump straight up, swinging your arms back behind you as you do. Land softly and sink right back into a squat, hands swinging forward.
I didn’t write down how many rounds I got in during each AMRAP (no pen and paper…again, I’m moving, my life is a mess), but I did keep track of how many breaks I had to take. The goal of an AMRAP is, of course, to not take any breaks until the timer goes off, but c’mon, 10 minutes straight of burpees?? If you need a few seconds to breathe and walk it out, take a break, but try to keep it brief (under 15 seconds) and take as few as possible. I took two quick breathers during the 10-min and 8-min rounds, one during the 6-min, and pushed through the last two without a break (but slowed down a lot during the last minute of the 4-min round). Keep in mind these “breathers” are in addition to the 1-min breaks that are given between each AMRAP.
At the start of a round, tell yourself you’re going to go as long as possible without taking a breather. It’s better to slow your pace than stop altogether, so try that before breaking.
WEARING | tank: Yogadude // leggings: Target
Speaking of what I’m wearing, I’m including a couple Yogadude tanks in that big Facebook giveaway I have planned for when the page hits 5k likes!
And for the record, I didn’t actually do this workout barefoot on concrete. Just demoing the moves for the tutorial. I wasn’t lying when I said my belongings are all over the place—I had no sneakers!
Have a kickass weekend!
