The History of the Burpee - fitness plan

In this article you will learn the history of the burpee exercise and the benefits this exercise has.

The burpee exercise is one that we have all done as young kids and we definitely have a love and hate relationship with it. The burpee was first created by Royal H. Burpee in 1939 as a way to test someones overall physical fitness. He designed this as part of his PH.D. thesis while attending the Columbia University Teacher's College and working at the YMCA in New York City.

At first, Burpee used the exercise as part of the seven main "Tests of Physical Capacity" he created in his thesis. He'd measure an athlete's standing heart rate, then have them do four burpees, and then test to see how long it took for their heart rate to return to normal. And there in his book the burpee likely would have stayed, except for one historical fluke: the U.S. entered World War II. The army used the burpee as a simple test for physical fitness, by testing how many burpees a soldier could perform in 20 seconds.

The burpee is now a common movement in most gyms and has become a staple in any Cross Fit program, which excentuates maximum effort and fitness.

Here are some the benefits of the burpee exercise:

???? A full body exercise to create overall fitness (strength, cardiovascular health and mobility).

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???? Many different variations to compliment your fitness goals.