December 18, 19, 2017
/I had to go out of town to film some tips in Hilton Head, SC but the guys were hard at work at the gym
Yesterday
This morning we did a series of short efforts with 3-5 min rest between
100 burpees
100 Knees 2 Elbows
100 Double unders
100 Empty Bar Lunges
The workout of 100 Burpees is a deceptively difficult task. You simply throw yourself on the ground and then get back up to standing, add a slight jump and do it again...100 times. Of course there is some technique that can help you go faster at this movement, but for the most part it is a max effort gymnastic movement that will test your cardiovascular system and ability to purge lactic acid.
When I do the 100 burpee test, I always make sure that I make a note of the standard. For the most general, I just make sure my chest touches the ground and then upon standing, that my hips are open and that I jump off the ground enough for my entire foot to come off the ground. I have also used a bumper plate to jump onto each time, go over a barbell or rower, jump onto a box or even do it for distance with a broad jump between the burpees.
Today, I used the most general standard which I have recorded 14 times over the last few years. My scores are all over the place because some of these efforts were done with a 60 lb ruck while preparing for Selection.
A few years ago, I started doing the Wim Hof breathing and noticed some performance benefits but nothing that I could really put my finger on as being a result of the breathing. The first time I did the 100 burpee test on Jan 17, 2016, I was surprised and amazed to be able to do them straight through, unbroken. At that time, I had never been able to complete more than 50 without a break. I did 100 straight and set a new PR of 4:55 which was more than a minute better than I had ever done before.
Since then, I beat that time with a 4:35 and then today, beat it again with an all time PR and Gym record of 4:27. At 49 years old, I am feeling so great about this accomplishment!
The first time I ever did 100 burpees for time was in 2007 and I remember my time being around 8 minutes. Over time my technique definitely improved but so did my conditioning and strength. I hovered around 6 minutes for a couple of years and made some improvement but once I started doing the Wim Hof Breathing regularly, the time dropped on the burpees and lots of other things as well.
This test can be done anywhere you have a 6 foot area and will improve your conditioning or act as a test to allow you to see if you are making improvements or backsliding. Write down your results and the standards you used so you can repeat the test in the future.
