Burpees
The burpee is a full-body conditioning move: squat down, kick back into a plank, do a push-up, jump your feet in and leap up. It trains your chest and quads, with your abs, shoulders and glutes involved. Pick it to raise your heart rate fast with no equipment. Step back instead of jumping to make it easier.
Muscles worked
The burpees trains the chest and quadriceps, with abs, shoulders, glutes helping.
Primary
Weekly sets for chest
Hard sets per week that Swole.fit plans for chest, counting every exercise that trains it. Start a cycle near the growth line and climb toward the recovery limit before a deload.
How to do the burpees
- 01Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, then squat down and place your hands on the floor in front of you.
- 02Jump or step your feet back into a high plank with your body in a straight line.
- 03Lower your chest to the floor in a push-up, then press back up to the plank.
- 04Jump your feet forward to land just outside your hands in a deep squat.
- 05Explode up into a jump with your arms overhead, land softly and start the next rep.
Coaching cues
- Plank stays tight, no sagging
- Feet land flat, outside your hands
- Jump tall, land soft
Common mistakes
- Flopping onto the floor with sagging hips at the bottom stresses your back; keep a solid plank and do a real push-up.
- Landing your feet far behind your hands makes standing up a struggle; jump them all the way into a squat position.
- Racing until form falls apart turns reps into flailing; pick a pace you can hold with clean positions.
How Swole.fit programs it
Log it once and the app plans the next session for you.
- Most sets land between 8 and 15 reps, the range the plan steers compound lifts toward for size.
- Week one starts around 2 to 3 reps in reserve. Each week you train a little closer to failure, ending around 0 to 1 in reserve before a deload week.
- Once the top of the range is easy, Swole.fit suggests a harder variation or added load.
- Sets for this exercise count toward your weekly volume for every muscle it trains: a full set for the primary muscles, half a set for the helpers.
The full method, with the maths, is in how mesocycles work.
Burpees alternatives
Same muscles, different tool. Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or your joints want a change.
Log it. Let the app plan the next one.
Track your burpees free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.