Burpees

Another goal that I set for myself early in the year was to be able to do 100 burpees in 10 minutes. I know what you're thinking. "Nervda, what the hell is a burpee?"

A burpee is a calisthenic and cardio exercise in one.

1. From a standing position, squat down, touching your hands to the floor.
   
2. Kick your feet out to a pushup position.
   
3. Do a pushup.
   
4. Bring your feet back to the squat position.
   
5. Jump straight up in the air.
   

Can't visualize it? Here, have a look.

I'm not nearly as smooth as that guy.

The first time I tried to do burpees, I just did 50 as quickly as I could. It took me almost 9 minutes. I thought I was gonna die. I've never had my heart racing quite so hard. And I've done some seriously difficult workouts before.

I knew that without planning, this challenge would beat my ass down. So here's the approach that I took.

In order to do 100 in 10 minutes, I would do sets of 10 reps. I would do 5 sets of 10 until I got under 5 minutes for 50. I did this workout once a week. It took me 6 weeks to get under 5 minutes. Then I'd add one set of ten and do that amount until I average under one minute for each set for two consecutive workouts. This way, I wouldn't bite off more than I could chew.

My first burpee workout was in February. Today, I did 9 sets of 10 burpees in 8:33. I probably could have pushed out another set of 10 and hit the target, but I held off. I think I'll go for the 100 next Tuesday.