Sport Burp(ee) Challenge

Sport Fitness
Okay, I did the 20-set routine for the first time.

Ehh, 33:42. A bit slower than I had wanted, but plenty of room for improvement.

Any thoughts as to how often this should be attempted?
 
P.S. I felt like I was going to die. This is not easy. At one point, my entire left leg was spasming.

But it's totally worth it, I promise.
 
Every time you do a burpee though you do a pushup right?

I dont believe everybody is doing it correct. Is everyone doing a full push up when going down or what? Because thats a lot of pushups required.
 
Yes, you pretty much do a pushup. But the whole movement is very fluid and continuous, so your momentum does help you out. Try youtube-ing burpee videos -- they can help confirm whether or not your form is correct.

If you think about it, let's say you can do 30 pushups in a minute. That same effort would generate 900 pushups in 30 minutes. Cutting that 900 down to 210 doesn't seem too bad now does it? ;)

Alternatively, 210 pushups divided by 30 minutes is only 7 pushups/minute. It sounds worse than it is, but make no mistake it is very challenging. You'll have to push yourself to finish. I found it worked better for me to count out 20, then 19, then 18, and so forth. Psychologically it seemed like I had less to do as time went by.

Keep at it, BigTom! Just pick a day that your muscles are not already exhausted and go for it! :)
 
Yea i know what burpees are, and my form is correct ;)

I used to do them all the time, but they cant of been proper ones as we didnt really do the pushup phase...o wel.
 
I started with 20. I did not complete the full descending set. I only made it to 165. I still had lots of time to finish. I just ran out of gas. My body was toast. I'm not a man :( But I already knew that ;)

Initially, I thought that if I could work down to the set of 10, then psychologically I would be able to force my body to squeeze out the remaining reps because they are done on a descending scale. Easy enough, right? Um, well, not really. I came to the conclusion very quickly last night that my mind and body are NOT synchronized very well -- my mental expectations far exceed my physical abilities. I'm completely delusional :D Seriously, I was a little disappointed with myself.

My brilliant Plan A didn't really work out that well. Suffice it to say I have some rug burns on my face (particularly the nose, cheeks and chin!). Every time my face hit the floor, I thought "Gee, thats a rather effective way of exfoliating my skin. I won't have to do that this weekend now." ;)

I know my face isn't supposed to rub against the floor. But my triceps were really giving out at the end. I do push-ups with my hands and elbows tucked in close to my body (my hands are above my waist and close to my upper serratus anterior). Next time, I'm doing those push ups the easy way so my pecs and delts can do the heavy lifting. With a little luck, I'll be able to finish the full beginners descending set :)

hockeydrummer88, your math is correct. 20=210, 25=325 and 30=465. But seeing the totals plays with my head. Better to think in descending sets of 20, 25 and 30 ;) Not that my body was remotely aware of the mental advantage ...
 
i_love_muscle said:
I started with 20. I did not complete the full descending set. I only made it to 165. I still had lots of time to finish. I just ran out of gas. My body was toast. I'm not a man :( But I already knew that ;)

Initially, I thought that if I could work down to the set of 10, then psychologically I would be able to force my body to squeeze out the remaining reps because they are done on a descending scale. Easy enough, right? Um, well, not really. I came to the conclusion very quickly last night that my mind and body are NOT synchronized very well -- my mental expectations far exceed my physical abilities. I'm completely delusional :D Seriously, I was a little disappointed with myself.

My brilliant Plan A didn't really work out that well. Suffice it to say I have some rug burns on my face (particularly the nose, cheeks and chin!). Every time my face hit the floor, I thought "Gee, thats a rather effective way of exfoliating my skin. I won't have to do that this weekend now." ;)

I know my face isn't supposed to rub against the floor. But my triceps were really giving out at the end. I do push-ups with my hands and elbows tucked in close to my body (my hands are above my waist and close to my upper serratus anterior). Next time, I'm doing those push ups the easy way so my pecs and delts can do the heavy lifting. With a little luck, I'll be able to finish the full beginners descending set :)

hockeydrummer88, your math is correct. 20=210, 25=325 and 30=465. But seeing the totals plays with my head. Better to think in descending sets of 20, 25 and 30 ;) Not that my body was remotely aware of the mental advantage ...
Click to expand...


hahahhaahahahah

welcome to our world!! hahahahah
once you get really advanced you can get blisters on the tips of all our toes!
jjajajajajajjaja

that was a very awesome post!

A "person" who really did it. We, who have done it, can tell.

Sweat Daily
FF
 
I'm still up for this barfee challenge! I'm doing them every 2 days. My arms feel like steel! The first time I did these, I thought my triceps were going to explode. When I couldn't complete the rep and didn't have the strength left to even hold myself up and I'd do a face plant, I just started laughing at myself. (I really wish somebody had videotaped me and put it on YouTube!)

I'm beginning to think that there isn't really any other exercise that works your triceps quite the way push ups do. In the gym, I do tricep press downs, pull overs, skull crushers, DB kick backs, etc. and I know my triceps aren't my strongest muscle group. But I didn't think I was this wimpy :)

I have found that push ups seem to work the triceps completely differently than any other exercise. Maybe it's the biomechanics of the movement (not as much leverage)? I really don't know. All I know is that this is tough. But I just can't give up. I need to persevere. These burpees are bastards! I have to own them ;)

I'll let you know when I've finally completed the first descending set of 20. Don't hold your breath ...
 
Hey guys...

New to this group and this caught my eye. Sounds like a great challenge, especially for me, mother of 3, like Tom, I will be lucky to be successful with level 1!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing...~Belle
 
I have completed Level 1 burpees! TA DA! :)

I'm not sure I want to go for the next descending set of 25, but I might as well go for it. It will probably take me a month to work up to it. But my triceps are rocking! :D

PS: I can't believe I'm actually doing this. Is anybody else doing this? Am I the only one? Come on guys!

EDIT:

tonymcclellan said:
The Rules :

The total time allowed is 30 minutes. You cannot remove any motion part of the movement or else reps won't count.

Level one : 20 descending sets in 30 minutes or less. You are now a man.

When you reach down to 20:00 or less, you can try the test for level two.

Level two : 25 descending sets in 30 minutes or less. People think twice before messing with you.

When you reach down to 25:00 or less, you can try the test fort level three.

Level three : Being able to perform 30 descending sets walking across the room as a break. You are bona fide stud and nobody's going to mess with you.

This doesnt have an end date. Its on-going as one can continue to improve and post times.
Click to expand...

I can't believe I forgot to time myself. I'm going to have to do these all over again ... crap :eek2:
 
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Thanks, Tony ;) But I don't deserve it yet. I still want to see how long it takes me to do the descending set of 20. That will give me something to go on for the next descending set. I'll do the descending set of 20 tomorrow and time myself ...

Then I'll feel more like an honorary man, although that's going to feel really weird since I'm a girl :)

I actually can't wait to do the next descending set of 25. These are awesome.

I'm just wondering whether or not there is another challenge we can do that is equally as evil :D
 
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I want in on the challenge but I'm not sure I understand the descending set thing. If I get it you, start with 20 burpees (barfees), once you finish the 20 then you do another set of 19, then a set of 18 and so on. Is that right? I ran 8.5 miles of hilly terrain today and my back is sore so I might give myself a rest day tomorrow and start the challenge on Monday, hell, it is Labor day after all what better way to celebrate? If I'm mistaken in getting the whole idea of the challenge please let me know. Thanks
 
OK. Not only am I a man (hehehe), but I am able to go on to Level 2 because I did them in under 20 minutes (my time was 16:25).

I did that burpee set as fast as I could. The reason? I have a burpee sadist living in my house who whips me if I take too long to do the next burpee :violent:

My body is totally fried now. My arms and legs feel like rubber. But it feels soooooooooooooooo good :)

I can't wait to start Level 2 on Monday ;)
 
I went back and reread all the origrnal posts so I am ready to begin the challenge. I'm golfing this morning and then coming home to workout. I'll do the challenge first. I'll report back. If noone hears from me for awhile send out the burpee search party!!! Wish me luck
 
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