I just did 3000 burpees! Why? Well, I’m not sure. It seemed like a good idea at the time. If you don’t know what burpees are, they are an exercise/torture developed by someone named Burpee in the 1930s which includes a jump, a squat, a plank and a push up. You can see a video of my final set on our Facebook page: Shaughnessy Wellness. As I shared in my previous blog, I watched a video with Chase Barron and I thought I would take on his fitness challenge for July. You will notice I didn’t share in my July blog what that fitness challenge was. You see, Chase Barron is more than 30 years younger than I am. I wasn’t sure if this was going to do damage, so I only told my family and some close friends the details. I decided that I was doing this to make myself healthier, and I was willing to modify the program if I was injuring myself in the process. In the week leading up to my start date, I did an increasing number of burpees, starting at 30, and I found I could do them. This was encouraging, as I had previously taken a challenge to do 100 push ups over a week (see my blog article “How strong is your core?” in April) and THIS was 100 burpees every day. I wasn’t going to do “CrossFit” burpees, that just go to a plank, I was all in- my burpees were going to have a full push up.
What did I learn from this and how does it apply to life?
I learned it was important to use proper form or I would hurt myself. I opted to use “push up bars” which allowed me to maintain a straight wrist during the burpee, protecting my previously injured wrists from harm. I got all the needed equipment- including an app that I could use to track my sets of 10 (do you know how hard it is to count to 100? Was that 50 or 60 I just finished??!? So easy to get confused). I used an upbeat play list of music that could keep me energized and lead me to dance around and keep moving during the 45 second breaks I took between sets of 10. I also bought an Apple Watch to track my heart rate and sleep, so I could monitor my health progress. (Can you say “business research”?)
How can this apply in my life? When I set myself up for a task, if I invest in the right equipment and set the mood, it is so much easier to accomplish it. Almost anything is easier to get through with good music motivating you! This includes cleaning the house, doing the dishes or mindless data entry.
I found I liked the routine of starting every day with a pre-work out drink, my vitamins, and a walk to the studio where I knocked out a 100 burpees. True, as I went downstairs early in the morning I could be heard mumbling, “those 100 burpees aren’t going to do themselves”. Yes, I enjoyed the memes about burpees, (my favourite was “Burpees don’t like you either”) but it was a consistent way to start my day. This is helpful in life- to have routine. Our bodies do well with a rhythm, consistently sleeping and getting up at the same time leads to better rest. My sleep tracking numbers on my Apple Watch showed improvement over the month.
About half way through the month my daughter asked if it was getting easier to do the burpees. It really didn’t feel like it! It was still work. However (and this is where the investment in technology comes in!) I found that my heart rate wasn’t going as high while I exercised. I decided I would step it up.
I was going to buy 10 pound hexagonal dumb bells to carry during the burpee, as they could take the place of the push up bar to protect my wrist and increase the challenge. It turned out that it was cheaper to buy 10 pound kettle bells. I thought they would work just as well, but when I tried a set the next morning I found that the base wasn’t stable and I fell out of the push up a couple of times, skinning my knee and my knuckles. I thought, these have got to go back- this is not right! They are unstable! On reflection, and doing some more sets, I decided that instability is important to help us to grow. It forced me to work harder at maintaining my core and shoulder position while doing the exercise. This is a good thing. We need to welcome instability in our lives at times- it will lead to our growth!
I started using the kettle bells in alternate sets of burpees and it brought my heart rate back up to my target zone! As I increased the number of sets that included the weights I found that the sets that did not involve the weights seemed so much easier than I ever thought they could be! I won’t say effortless, but pretty close. I realize that this can apply in life. A batter will do practice swings carrying several bats so that their swing with just the one bat will be easier. When we push ourselves for a time, then regular life seems a lot easier. As a parent, when we took a bunch of extra kids for the day (or overnight!), then when they were gone and we were only parenting our two girls it seemed so much easier. At work, if you take on a coworkers responsibilities while they are away on vacation, you will find that your regular job will be easier when life returns to normal and you’ve developed time management strategies with the increased load that you now apply to your regular load.
What did I see change with the burpees? My wife says I look bigger. I like that. I definitely saw my posture change. As you may know from previous blogs, I’ve always worked on my posture. This month I found that my posture was improving without me consciously trying to hold it in place . I found I enjoyed stretching before and after my work out. I have taken yoga for years, and I know how to stretch, but as I stressed my body with the burpees I was naturally drawn to stretches and yoga poses. I appreciate the yoga training I have had, but it came so much more naturally when the urge to stretch came from within.
My resting heart rate was already pretty good, in the low 50s. Doing this high intensity work out for 15-20 minutes a day helped me to maintain my cardio vascular health and burn some fat! It improved my mood and energy during the day. I appreciate the analogy to life that Barron made when he talked about his experience. Burpees are falling down and getting back up again. Over and over. We have to do that in life. Just keep getting back up!