How far should each jump be?

Aim for a distance you can land under control on every repetition, which for most people is somewhere around their own height or a little less. A jump that forces a stumble or an extra step is too long for the pace you are holding.

Do I really need to touch my chest to the floor?

In the racing standard, yes, since chest and thighs to the ground is what makes the repetition count. For general conditioning you can keep a push-up depth instead, as long as you apply the same standard to every repetition.

Should I count repetitions or measure distance?

Both work, but measuring a fixed lane and timing it is the closest match to how the movement is tested in competition. Counting repetitions is simpler when floor space is limited.

How do I scale it if I am new to burpees?

Step the feet back and forward instead of jumping them, and replace the broad jump with a long step forward. Build up with Burpee and Jump Squat separately before combining them.

What is a sensible way to program it?

Use it as a conditioning block of 5 to 10 minutes or as a finisher of 3 to 5 short sets, with enough rest to keep the landings clean. It is demanding enough that most people only need it once or twice a week.

Can I do it on a hard floor without shoes?

It is safer with cushioned shoes on a floor that has some give, such as rubber matting. Repeated landings on concrete add up quickly, especially through the heels and achilles.

Burpee Broad Jump

What Is the Burpee Broad Jump?

Burpee Broad Jump is a cardio exercise that improves cardiovascular endurance and overall fitness. It is considered an intermediate-level activity, depending on intensity and personal capabilities, and it needs nothing more than a clear lane of floor to work with.

Each repetition strings together two skills that already stand on their own. The first half is a full burpee: drop the hands to the floor, kick the feet back to a plank, bring the chest and thighs all the way down to the ground, then press up and jump the feet back under the hips. The second half replaces the usual vertical hop with a forward travelling jump, so the athlete leaves the ground from both feet, covers ground down the lane, and lands in a loaded squat ready to start again. Distance covered, not just repetitions completed, is what makes the version used in fitness racing so demanding.

The combination taxes almost everything at once. The quads and glutes produce the jump and then absorb the landing, the calves contribute to takeoff, the chest and triceps handle the push off the floor, and the trunk works constantly to keep the body in one piece as it changes shape. Heart rate and breathing climb faster than in most bodyweight movements, which is why it is programmed as a conditioning tool rather than a strength exercise.

Several relatives adjust the difficulty in useful ways. The standard Burpee removes the travel and keeps the pace higher, Burpee Box Jump swaps the horizontal jump for a vertical one onto a target, and Box Jump or Jump Squat isolate the jumping half so it can be trained fresh. Building the components with Push-Up and Bodyweight Squat makes the full movement far less punishing.

Race athletes preparing for stations such as Sled Pull get the most obvious benefit, but anyone looking for a compact conditioning finisher can use it. The habit worth building is rhythm: keeping the chest contact honest, the arms swinging into every jump, and the landings soft turns a chaotic scramble into a repeatable pattern that holds up when the lane gets long.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Gluteus Maximus: Primary
Rectus Femoris: Primary
Gastrocnemius (Medial Head): High
Vastus Lateralis: High
Vastus Medialis: High
Biceps Femoris: Medium
Pectoralis Major: Medium
Rectus Abdominis: Medium
Erector Spinae: Low
Triceps Brachii (Long Head): Low

Instructions

Stand tall with your feet about hip width apart and a clear lane of floor ahead of you.
Squat down and plant both hands on the floor just outside your feet.
Jump or step your feet back so you land in a straight plank position.
Lower your whole body until your chest and thighs touch the floor.
Press back up to the plank in one piece, without letting the hips sag or lead.
Jump your feet forward under your hips and lift your hands off the floor into a low squat.
Swing your arms back, then drive them forward and up as you jump forward off both feet.
Land on both feet at the same time and bend the knees and hips to absorb the landing.
Stand tall, then start the next repetition from where you landed.

Common Mistakes

Snaking off the floor
Letting the hips rise before the chest turns the press into a wave through the lower back rather than one rigid push.
Jumping up instead of forward
A vertical hop at the end of the repetition covers no ground, which removes the whole point of the broad jump version.
Landing with stiff legs
Absorbing the landing with locked knees drives impact into the joints instead of the muscles that should be soaking it up.
Hands planted too far forward
Reaching the hands out ahead of the shoulders overloads the wrists and lengthens the distance the feet have to travel.
Skipping the chest contact
Stopping short of the floor shortens the repetition and quietly changes the exercise into an easier movement than the one being counted.
Starting too fast
Sprinting the first repetitions burns the pace budget for a long lane and forces a stop that costs more time than a steady rhythm would.

Injuries

Burpee Broad Jump is a medium risk exercise when performed with proper technique. It is fast, repetitive, and usually performed under fatigue, which is exactly the combination that lets small technique faults turn into injuries.

The wrists take a lot of traffic because every repetition lands the hands on the floor from a height, and the loading is worse when the hands are planted too far forward. The lower back is the second concern: kicking the feet back into a sagging plank, or peeling off the floor hips first, forces the lumbar spine into repeated extension under speed. Landings are the third, since a stiff legged landing sends the impact straight into the knees and the achilles instead of being absorbed by the hips.

Protect all three by planting the hands under the shoulders rather than out in front, keeping the body rigid as one unit on the way down and up, and landing with the hips pushed back and the knees tracking over the toes. Regress by stepping the feet back instead of jumping them, dropping the chest contact for a knee push-up, or replacing the broad jump with a step forward. Progress by lengthening the jump, adding repetitions in a fixed time, or covering a set distance for time.

Stop the set if the landings start to feel heavy and uncontrolled, if the wrists ache sharply rather than feeling worked, or if you cannot get the chest down without the hips collapsing first. At that point the movement is no longer producing the conditioning you came for.

Overview

Primary Focus: Full body
Equipment: Body weight
Modality: Plyometrics
Difficulty: Intermediate

Alternative Exercises

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How far should each jump be?: Aim for a distance you can land under control on every repetition, which for most people is somewhere around their own height or a little less. A jump that forces a stumble or an extra step is too long for the pace you are holding.
Q: Do I really need to touch my chest to the floor?: In the racing standard, yes, since chest and thighs to the ground is what makes the repetition count. For general conditioning you can keep a push-up depth instead, as long as you apply the same standard to every repetition.
Q: Should I count repetitions or measure distance?: Both work, but measuring a fixed lane and timing it is the closest match to how the movement is tested in competition. Counting repetitions is simpler when floor space is limited.
Q: How do I scale it if I am new to burpees?: Step the feet back and forward instead of jumping them, and replace the broad jump with a long step forward. Build up with Burpee and Jump Squat separately before combining them.
Q: What is a sensible way to program it?: Use it as a conditioning block of 5 to 10 minutes or as a finisher of 3 to 5 short sets, with enough rest to keep the landings clean. It is demanding enough that most people only need it once or twice a week.
Q: Can I do it on a hard floor without shoes?: It is safer with cushioned shoes on a floor that has some give, such as rubber matting. Repeated landings on concrete add up quickly, especially through the heels and achilles.