The burpee. The exercise we all love to hate. This whole body exercise has got it all, it's a combination of a (sort of) squat, plank, squat thrust and jump and in this case it's all done whilst being suspended on one leg. Ouch.

Benefits of the TRX Burpee:

Balance

Strapping a leg into the TRX adds an extra dimension of balance to your regular burpee. Good balance prevents injury and helps us perform better in everyday functional tasks.

Core

Workouts on the TRX fire up your transverse abdominals to help stabilise your spine whilst your body is suspended. This creates a constant tension on your core, no matter what muscle group the exercise focuses on.

Proprioception

Good proprioception is defined as good position sense. It’s your internal awareness of your bodies positioning.This sense allows you to close your eyes and still know where your body parts are in space. Without this kinesthetic sense, you would not be able to maintain your balance with your eyes closed, or tell if your knee is bent or straight unless you look at it. Good proprioception is important for everyone at every level of fitness. The better your proprioceptive sense the better your joints can adapt to changes in position, such as running on uneven surfaces. Good proprioception is important in balance, agility, athletic performance and injury prevention

Legs

Legs are you biggest muscle group and your greatest source of power. The TRX burpee works each leg individually to develop equal strength. What we tend to find with exercises that train both legs at once, such as a leg press, is that your stronger leg does most of the work without you realising it. So to develop solid and equal strength we train the legs individually.

Shoulders

The shoulders work here to stabilize in the plank position and as you launch into your standing position.

Plyometrics

Plyometrics increase your ability to perform anaerobic exercises . The explosive single leg jump here focuses on keeping your heart rate up as well as targeting your leg muscles. Plyometrics are also great for building stronger calves, a muscle we often find difficult to train.

Heart rate

Getting your heart rate up burns more calories and increases the amount of oxygen you uptake, increasing your V02 max.

TRX Burpee Pre Jump Position

Activate the arms with the legs

If you can, use your momentum to leave the floor

TRX Burpee - Returning to Start Position

How to TRX Burpee:

1. Hook one foot into the stirrup. It should be about 30 cm off the floor.
2. Bend over at the hips, pushing them back and reach your hands down to the floor.
3. Once your hands meet the floor, jump your free foot back into the plank position.
4. Pop back up to a single leg hold by jumping your free leg forward towards your hands.
5. Once you return to the start position, explode of your free leg with a jump towards the ceiling.
6. Take it from the top!

To take it down a notch:

To make this easier, knock out the jump up at the top. If you opt for this version, try to aim for the full move after some practise.

Crank up the intensity:

Add a single leg push up for the plank position. This will now involve more of your chest and shoulders, as well as firing up your abdominals to help you stabilize.

This move is a great challenge for high intensity intervals or a whole body workout, give it a go and tell us how you get on!