The Single Leg Burpee is a challenging and fun plyometric(jump training) exercise that you should include in your fitness routine. It will help you to increase your cardiovascular endurance and will help you to strengthen your Chest, Shoulders, and Core.
The One-Legged Burpee gets your heart rate up fast making them a great addition to High-Intensity Interval Training programs.
How to Guide
Video Demonstration
Image Example
Step by Step Description
Step 1: Stand up straight with your head looking forwards. Lift one of your feet off of the ground. Push your hips back and bend at your knee lowering your body. As you are lowering your body move your foot that is off of the floor behind your body.
Step 2: Put both of your hands on the floor directly in front of you. Kick your legs back(do not let your lifted foot touch the floor) and move into the top of plank position.
Step 3: Inhale and bend at your elbows(keep your arms tucked close to your sides) lowering your chest down until it is almost touching the floor.
Step 4: Exhale and push your body back up to the top of plank position.
Step 5: Now jump your foot so that it is under your hips(your other foot should still be off of the floor). Now explosively jump up as hard as you can. Land on the foot that has been on the floor. Now put your foot on the floor and lift your other one off of the ground and repeat.
You have now completed one repetition. Repeat for your selected number of sets and repetitions.
Difficulty Level
The Single Leg Burpee gets rated at an Intermediate difficulty level.
Most people find that balancing themselves on a single leg the hardest part of this lift.
It should go without saying, but you should be able to perform the traditional two-footed burpee with perfect form before you attempt the single leg variation.
Equipment Required
Since this is a calisthenics exercise, you only need your body and an area large enough for you to perform a jump without hitting your head.
A useful piece of equipment to continue making progress with this lift is a weighted vest. Overtime continually add more weight to the vest to keep the exercise more challenging. Alternatively, you can increase the amount of time or reps that you are performing with this lift.
Muscles Worked
The Single Leg Burpee uses a lot of different muscle groups in your body.
Your Quadriceps(front of the leg), Hamstrings(back of the leg), Glutes(your butt), Calves, Core(abs, lower back, and Obliques), Trapezius, Scapula, Chest, Anterior Deltoid(Front of the Shoulders) and your Triceps are all involved when you perform this exercise.
Benefits
Since many different muscle groups get recruited when you perform this exercise, your body will burn a large number of calories in a short duration.
This exercise can also help you to strengthen your body since you will be performing two different compound movement (Squats and Push-Ups).
The Single Leg Burpee will help you to develop your Hip Mobility, increase your core strength, balance, and stability while helping you build explosive power.
Training Tips
The push-up portion of this lift while it is technically optional you are not going be getting everything out of this exercise that you could. If your goal is to develop strength, then definitely need to add the push-up portion. On the other hand, if you are trying to get your heart rate up you do not need to perform the push-up part(but you should still add it).
Your back needs to be in a neutral position(natural position of the spine) when you perform this exercise. If you find that burpees are causing back pain, you should try to increase your hip mobility.
Another part of the burpee that can lead to back pain is the transition from landing into the plank and reversing back to the bottom of the squat. If your lower back sags, the joints between each of your vertebra(facet joints) can get irritated and cause pain.
If you have limited hip mobility, but still want to perform this exercise, you can use a raised platform in front of you to place your hands on to. Not having to lower your hands all the way to the floor reduces the involvement of your hips and reduces your chance of causing strain to your lower back.
If you plan on using this exercise to help with your cardiovascular endurance or fat loss, try using it in a High-Intensity Interval Training program. Using it in a HIIT routine will allow you to burn the highest amount of calories in the shortest amount of time.
We offer a free online HIIT TImer you can use right now. Its simple to use and only takes seconds to set up.
In Closing
If you are looking for a way to get your heart rate up while working on your balance and stability, the Single Leg Burpee is just what you need.
Similar Exercises
Wall Ball Burpee
Burpee Pull Up
Burpees Over The Bar
Broad Jump Burpees
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