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How To Do Burpees in Bad Form at 284 Lbs


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88VN1mIY_Ds[/youtube]

Update: Here is a video of me completing a 100 burpee challenge.

Did you ever want to learn how to do a burpee? How about I show you how to do a burpee with bad form. Then maybe you can work on the right form. I’ll post a video of me doing some burpees in good form later this week. I’ve been doing them for several months now, ever since I was 300+ lbs. I decided to make a quick video to see what I looked like performing a burpee. The video doesn’t lie and although my left pec is hurt as I’m doing them, I won’t use that as an excuse. I noticed some major flaws in my technique.

Keep in mind that when you are as obese as I was and am, it is extremely difficult to control your bodyweight. But you already know that right? Burpees are not for beginners. They can really kick your ass. I love them. I hate them. If you do enough you can get an amazing workout in a short amount of time. I started out just being able to do 5 burpees, I think it was. We’d worked up to doing 3 sets of 10. I’ve been Facebooking about it for a few months now. I’ve lost a tremendous amount of weight by incorporating burpees into my weekly routine. I was able to 105 burpees one night, but never video taped it. Until this afternoon, which I’ll post later this week.

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What did you notice about my form? This is what I noticed:

  • My heels aren’t flat on the ground during either squat.
  • My elbows are flared out instead of in tight.
  • Coming down too hard on my wrists, which shouldn’t be happening since I’m supposed to be squatting down.

I of course am not jumping high (it’s hard to do so when you are as heavy as me, so that’s not really something that counts as an error). Some people think that burpees should be left to the physically fit. I say screw that. Get your fat, out of shape butt on the floor and do some burpees.

The pain from burpees is akin to that of doing sprints after football practice. After 2 hours of drills and hitting, we would have to run sprints. It was like hell and it hurt. That’s what burpees feel like. When I first started my legs would burn. But now it’s my whole body that hurts and begs me to stop. After 8 burpees I am already thinking to myself, “Why did I decide to do burpees today?”

Did you notice anything else? If so, please let me know so that I can improve me form (Noticed how I channeled my inner-Pop Eye?).

About the Author

My name is Israel Lagares. I used to be the kind of guy that was always in shape, but over the last few years I've fallen off tremendously. This site is my final attempt to get back into shape. So far I've lost 70.4 lbs. Check out my weight loss chart, weight loss videos and progress pics. Follow my journey, those of others, and read our thoughts on various health topics. Share your thoughts, experience, and journey here on FMU.

Community Thoughts (18)

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  1. YobigmikeNo Gravatar says:

    C’mon Israel. Bad form or good form, you’re working it!! I tried one the other day, but my wrist kinda gave out on me. Gotta make some adjustments like wrapping my wrists. Keep doing what you do though…..

  2. RayhanNo Gravatar says:

    Come on man, i am waiting to see the new videos. When it will come???

  3. Yum YuckyNo Gravatar says:

    Yep, Now I’m really gonna have to get my own Burpee Action Video together. (You did great!)

  4. SeanNo Gravatar says:

    I agree.. bad form is still a working form. Keep it up!

  5. JamesNo Gravatar says:

    Hiya Israel,

    Great work! I agree with Yobigmike, good form/bad form – at least you are doing them. Burpees are nasty-good. Amazing for conditioning.

    Some suggestions: Make sure your chest touches the ground at the bottom of the pushup (full range of motion, develops explosive power); Clap your hands over your head when you jump; The hight of the jump isn’t a big deal as long as you get full hip extension (squeeze your glutes tight).

    Cheers,
    James
    Melbourne, Australia.

  6. very interesting i have bookmarked this site for further reading
    Thanks

  7. nice article great stuff, already clicking for next article : )

  8. That was a really inspiring video. In fact I think your Burpee video will inspire many over-weight persons to start doing Burpees and start reducing weight.

  9. TrentNo Gravatar says:

    I absolutely hate doing burpees. Used to have to do them all the time in wrestling. So I give you credit just for doing them no matter what your form looks like!

  10. In fact I think your Burpee video will inspire many over-weight persons to start doing Burpees and start reducing weight.

  11. RaeNo Gravatar says:

    Hey good for you for wanting to learn and doing it and keep getting at it ! I noticed that you don’t raise your arms when you jump, and was wondering if there was a particular reason for that? I am not sure if it matters or not but i think it def. helps on the jumping part!

    Keep up the good work !

  12. KyleNo Gravatar says:

    Israel! You are the burpee master! Looked like you were going for the 105 in this video for a bit. Why stop at 105 go for 1005, could you do it?

  13. TJNo Gravatar says:

    I’m 320 lbs obese and hypertensive. If I do that, I think my blood pressure will be really high.

    Looking at how you look now and how you look before makes me really motivated to lose weight.

    I’m still sticking to walking an hour a day.

  14. Tom ChavezNo Gravatar says:

    I was a very skinny guy and wanted to gain weight. What I did was to exercise a little more and eat more, that’s when I started to gain weight and loving it..My post is kinda off but just wanted to let you guys know that people who want to gain weight goes to weight loss blogs to get some weight gain ideas.

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