How to Do Burpees: Proper Form, Common Mistakes, and Progressions

You don't need a gym or any equipment for a hard conditioning workout. The burpee chains a squat, a plank and a stand or jump, and it drives your heart rate up fast.

Most people either rush the form, letting the hips sag in the plank and landing hard, or avoid burpees entirely. This guide covers how to perform a burpee correctly, from the Level 1 burpee, which finishes standing, to the Level 2 burpee, which adds a jump.

Muscles & Systems Worked

Primary muscles: the quadriceps, at the fronts of your thighs, and the glutes. They lower you into the squat as your hands go to the floor, then straighten your knees and hips to stand you back up, or in Level 2, to push you off the floor into the jump and to soak up the landing.

Secondary muscles: the hip flexors, at the front of your hips, draw your knees back in toward your hands as your feet come back from the plank. The calves push you off the floor each time your feet hop back and in, and again on the Level 2 jump, and they help cushion each landing. The anterior deltoids, at the fronts of your shoulders, hold you up on your hands in the plank, while the rectus abdominis and transverse abdominis hold your trunk straight so your hips do not sag. FitCraft's burpees have no push-up, so your hands only hold you up in the plank.

Heart rate: burpees raise your heart rate quickly because you squat, plank and stand or jump in one continuous movement. The 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities rates calisthenics such as burpees and jumping jacks as vigorous effort (7.5 METs), and high-intensity interval exercise that includes burpees, mountain climbers and squat jumps at 11.0 METs.

Step-by-Step: How to Do a Burpee

These steps cover the full movement pattern shared by both Level 1 and Level 2 variations. Differences between the levels are noted where they apply.

Step 1: Start Standing

Stand tall with your feet about hip width apart (anywhere from hip to shoulder width is fine) and your arms relaxed at your sides or loosely in front of your chest. Brace your core lightly.

Tip: pick the width that keeps you balanced. You need only enough clear floor to place your hands in front of you and reach your feet back.

Step 2: Squat Down and Place Your Hands

Push your hips back and bend your knees to lower into a squat, knees in line with your toes. Place both hands flat on the floor about shoulder width apart, just in front of your feet, so they end up under your shoulders when your feet go back.

Tip: spread your fingers and press evenly through your whole hand.

Step 3: Move to a Plank

Jump both feet back together into a high plank, or step them back one at a time for an easier version. Your hands end up under your shoulders and your body forms one straight line from head to heels, legs straight and hips level with your shoulders. Never let your hips sag toward the floor. There is no push-up: your hands just hold you up.

Tip: watch your hips as your feet land in the plank and keep them level with your shoulders. Brace your abs as you hit the plank position.

Step 4: Return to the Squat

Jump both feet back in toward your hands together, or step them in one at a time, landing in a low squat with your knees in line with your toes.

Step 5: Finish the Rep

Level 1: press through your whole foot, heels down, and stand up tall with no jump. Don't start lowering back down until you're fully upright, hips and knees straight; a short pause standing is fine.

Level 2: jump straight up from the squat, reaching your arms overhead. Use the squat like a spring: load up as you sink, then drive up through your legs. A few inches is plenty; jump only as high as you can still land softly. Land quietly on bent knees, on the front-to-middle of your feet with your heels coming down and your knees in line with your toes, then flow into the next rep.

About one rep every three to four seconds is a steady pace for either version. Go faster only while every plank stays straight and every landing stays soft; slowing down or pausing is always fine.

Common Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

Burpees are simple to learn, but a few mistakes are common.

• Sagging hips in the plank. When your feet go back, your hips should stay level with your shoulders, with your body in one straight line from head to heels. Fix: brace your abs as you hit the plank position and never let your hips drop toward the floor. Practicing forearm planks and deadbugs trains the same steady trunk.
• Rushing so the plank or the finish is never completed. Rushed reps skip the straight plank or never stand all the way up. In Level 1, stand tall with your hips and knees straight before the next rep; in Level 2, finish each jump and soft landing first.
• Hands too far forward in the plank. Plant your hands about shoulder width, just in front of your feet, so they end up right under your shoulders when your feet go back.
• Landing stiff-legged or heavily (Level 2). Never land on straight legs. Land softly and quietly on bent knees, on the front-to-middle of your feet with your heels coming down. When landings feel hard to control, switch to Level 1: stand up at the top without a jump, and step your feet back and in instead of jumping them.
• Knees caving inward. During the squat or the landing, your knees should not collapse toward each other. Fix: keep your knees in line with your toes every time you squat and every time you land.
• Holding your breath. Keep breathing the whole time and never hold your breath. A simple rhythm is to breathe in as you go down to the floor and out as you come back up.

Burpee Variations: Regressions and Progressions

FitCraft has two burpee exercises, Level 1 and Level 2, and neither includes a push-up. Stepping your feet back and in one at a time makes either one easier. A push-up in the plank (the squat thrust burpee some exercise libraries teach) is a harder variation the app does not show.

Easier: Step-Back Burpee

Remove the jumps. Squat down, step one foot back, then the other, into a plank. Step the feet back in one at a time and stand up, with no jump at any point. It keeps the squat-to-plank pattern with much less impact, so use it if you're new to burpees or whenever landings feel hard to control.

Level 1: Stand-Up Burpee (Advanced)

The Level 1 burpee has no jump at the top. You squat and place your hands on the floor, take both feet back to a plank and bring them back in, then stand up tall, about one rep every three to four seconds with a short pause standing. The app rates it Advanced. It still demands coordination and conditioning. Treat it as the foundation you build before adding the jump.

Use Level 1 when: you're building your cardio base or working on smooth squat-to-plank transitions. Get it smooth before moving to Level 2.

Level 2: Jump Burpee (Expert)

The Level 2 burpee does the same floor work, then adds an explosive jump straight up with your arms overhead and a soft landing, about one rep every three and a half seconds. This raises the cardiovascular demand and the power your legs must produce, and the app rates it Expert.

Progress to Level 2 when: your Level 1 reps stay smooth through a whole set, with a straight plank every rep and steady breathing. If your plank starts to sag or you're gasping partway through a set, stay at Level 1.

When to Avoid or Modify Burpees

Burpees are safe for most healthy adults. A burn in your legs, shoulders or abs is normal; any pain in a joint, your lower back or your neck means stop the exercise. If any of the following apply, talk to your doctor or a physical therapist before you do burpees.

• Known cardiovascular disease or uncontrolled hypertension. Burpees spike heart rate and blood pressure rapidly. Get your cardiologist's approval first and stay within the heart-rate zones they prescribe.
• Acute lower-extremity injury (knee, ankle, hip, shin splints, plantar fasciitis). Skip burpees while you have one of these and see a doctor or physical therapist. Do burpees again only once they clear you.
• Pregnancy. Ask your doctor or midwife whether burpees suit you, and which version, at each stage of pregnancy.
• Postpartum recovery. Get clearance from your doctor or a pelvic floor physical therapist before you do burpees or other jumping movements again.
• Stress incontinence. Jumping movements often trigger leakage. See a doctor or pelvic floor physical therapist before doing burpees.
• Wrist pain or carpal tunnel. The plank puts your weight on your hands with your wrists bent back. See a doctor or physical therapist before doing burpees, and stop right away for any wrist pain.
• Vertigo, balance disorders, or vestibular conditions. The rapid up-down position changes risk falls. Ask your doctor before doing burpees.
• Asthma or exercise-induced bronchoconstriction. Talk to your doctor before doing burpees or other high-intensity intervals, and follow the plan they give you.

Related Exercises

If burpees are part of your conditioning, these movements complement, extend, or scale back the same training pattern:

• Lower-impact cardio: Step-n-Clap and Marching in Place drive heart rate up without the landing impact, useful on days you want less impact.
• Same conditioning family: Jumping Jacks, Mountain Climbers, and Jump Squats also raise your heart rate quickly and are great rotation options inside a HIIT circuit.
• Core stability foundation: Forearm Planks, Hand Planks, and Deadbugs train the straight-body hold burpees rely on, useful if your hips sag during the plank phase.
• Lower-body strength foundation: Squats train the same squat pattern without the plank or the jump.
• Ankle and calf conditioning: Calf Raises and Calf Hops train the calves that push you off the floor and cushion each landing, useful before progressing from Level 1 to the Level 2 jump.

How to Program Burpees

Burpee programming is time-based or work-to-rest-interval-based rather than fixed sets and reps. The research we reviewed gives no work or rest times for burpees, so treat the table below as a practical starting point and end each interval when your plank or your landings slip.

Where in your workout: burpees belong in a standalone HIIT session, at the start of a circuit, or as a metabolic finisher in the last 5 to 10 minutes of a session. Don't program burpees right before heavy lower-body lifts; tired legs make good squat or deadlift form harder to hold. Common formats include a 4-minute Tabata (20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, 8 rounds), a 10-minute EMOM (every minute on the minute), or a circuit of 5 movements at 30 seconds each with 60 seconds rest between rounds.

Form floor over rep targets: if your plank starts sagging, your landings get loud, or your knees cave inward, stop the work interval there. Hitting a target rep count or work duration with broken form is worse than hitting fewer reps cleanly.

How FitCraft Programs This Exercise

Knowing how to do a burpee is step one. Knowing when to do it, at what work-to-rest ratio, and when to progress from Level 1 to Level 2 is where most people get stuck.

FitCraft maps your level, goals, and equipment during the diagnostic and builds a plan around them. The app has two burpee exercises, Level 1 (rated Advanced) and Level 2 (rated Expert), and can include them in your plan.

Their 3D demonstrations show both versions with no push-up: Level 1 takes both feet back to a plank and in again, then stands tall, and Level 2 adds a jump straight up with the arms overhead. Every program is designed by an Ivy League-trained exercise scientist and NSCA-certified strength coach using evidence-based programming, then adapted to you by the AI.