Love them or hate them, they get you fit fast.
Keep your core tight when you kick back so your hips don't slam toward the floor.
The burpee chains a plank, a push-up, and a jump into one rep, so your heart rate climbs faster than almost any other bodyweight movement, that's the cardio hit it's famous for. Along the way your chest, shoulders, and triceps handle the push-up, your quads power the jump, and your core holds your spine together during the kick back and hop in. It earns its place as the conditioning tool you can do anywhere, with nothing, and hate every second of.
You can scale it, stepping back instead of jumping and dropping the chest-to-floor makes it a squat thrust, which is a fair regression. But if you're logging burpees, the push-up is part of the deal here.
Almost always a sagging kick back, your hips slam toward the floor because your core isn't braced when your feet shoot back. Squeeze your abs before the kick and land the plank with your body in one line.
Smooth and steady beats fast and frantic. Pick a rhythm you can hold for the whole set, breathe at the top of every jump, and speed up in the final reps if you've got anything left.
