How to Do a Burpee with Proper Form

The burpee is one of the most effective bodyweight exercises you can do. It trains your entire body — upper, lower, and core — while driving your heart rate through the roof. No equipment needed, no gym required. Just you and the floor.

But burpees have a reputation problem. Most people either do them with sloppy form (which leads to injury) or avoid them entirely (which means missing out on one of the best conditioning tools available). This guide covers exactly how to perform a burpee correctly, from the walkout Level 1 variation through the explosive Level 2 jump version.

Quick Facts

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 levels are noted at each step.

1. Start standing. Stand with your feet between shoulder and hip-width apart, arms relaxed at your sides. Brace your core lightly.
2. Squat down and place your hands. Bend your knees and hinge at the hips to lower into a squat. Place both hands flat on the floor, directly under your shoulders. Keep your chest up as long as possible during the descent.
3. Move to a plank. Level 1: Step your feet back one at a time into a high plank. Level 2: Jump both feet back simultaneously. In either case, your body should form a straight line from head to heels — no sagging hips, no piking up.
4. Return to the squat. Level 1: Step your feet forward one at a time. Level 2: Jump both feet forward to the outside of your hands, landing in a low squat position.
5. Finish the rep. Level 1: Drive through your heels and stand up tall. Do not start lowering back down until you are fully upright. Level 2: Explode upward from the squat into a vertical jump, extending your arms overhead and reaching as high as you can. Land softly and immediately begin the next rep.

Coach Ty's Tips

FitCraft's AI coach Ty provides real-time cues personalized to your form and fitness level. Here are his top tips for each burpee variation.

Level 1 (Advanced) Tips

• Drive through your heels. As you stand up, push through your heels to engage your glutes. This protects your knees and builds power from the right muscles.
• Watch your hips in the plank. Keep your hips from sagging when you bend down to touch the ground. A sagging plank puts unnecessary stress on your lower back.
• Stand all the way up. Stand tall at the end of each movement. Don't start lowering yourself back down until you're fully upright — this ensures you get the full range of motion every rep.
• Hands under shoulders. When entering the plank position, keep your hands directly under your shoulders. This distributes your weight evenly and protects your wrists.
• Foot width matters. Keep your feet between shoulder and hip-width apart as you squat up and down. Too narrow and you lose balance; too wide and you lose power.

Level 2 (Expert) Tips

• Land softly. Land softly on your feet after each jump to minimize impact on your knees and ankles. Think about absorbing the landing through your whole foot, not just your toes.
• Reach at the top. As you jump up, extend your arms overhead, reaching as high as you can. Full extension maximizes the work your body does each rep.
• Maintain your base. Keep your feet between hip and shoulder-width apart during the squat. This gives you a stable platform to generate power from.
• Think like a spring. Imagine you're a spring — loading up as you squat and releasing as you explode into the jump. This mental cue helps you generate more power from the bottom position.
• Power from the legs. Explode upward from the squat position, using your glutes and quads to generate power. The jump should come from your legs, not from yanking your upper body upward.

Common Mistakes

Burpees are straightforward in concept but easy to butcher in practice. Here are the mistakes that cost you results or cause injury.

• Letting your hips sag in the plank. This is the most common error. When your hips drop toward the floor, your lower back takes the load instead of your core. Squeeze your glutes and brace your abs as you hit the plank position.
• Not standing fully upright. Rushing through reps means you never fully extend at the top. This shortchanges the movement and reduces the work your glutes and hip flexors do. Stand tall — or jump tall — before starting the next rep.
• Hands too far forward. Placing your hands ahead of your shoulders in the plank shifts excess load onto your wrists and shoulders. Plant your hands directly below your shoulders every time.
• Landing on your toes after the jump (Level 2). Toe-heavy landings send impact straight into your knees and calves. Land on the balls of your feet and immediately let your heels kiss the ground to distribute force through your whole foot.
• Holding your breath. Breathe out as you stand or jump up, and breathe in as you lower down. Holding your breath spikes blood pressure and kills your endurance — the opposite of what you want in a conditioning exercise.

Variations: Level 1 to Level 2 Progression

FitCraft programs two burpee variations, designed as a clear progression path.

Level 1: Walkout Burpee (Advanced)

The Level 1 burpee removes the jump entirely. You step your feet back to the plank, step them forward to the squat, and stand up. This variation is categorized as advanced — it still demands coordination, mobility, and conditioning. It's not a "beginner" exercise. It's the foundation you build before adding explosive power.

Use Level 1 when: You're building your cardio base, working on squat-to-plank transitions, or managing joint sensitivity. Master this before moving to Level 2.

Level 2: Jump Burpee (Expert)

The Level 2 burpee adds a jump back to the plank and an explosive vertical jump at the finish. This dramatically increases the cardiovascular demand and the power output required from your legs. It's categorized as expert-level for good reason — sloppy jump burpees are a fast track to knee and lower back problems.

Progress to Level 2 when: You can complete 3 sets of 10 Level 1 burpees with clean form and controlled breathing. If you're gasping or your plank collapses by rep 6, stay at Level 1.

How FitCraft Programs This Exercise

FitCraft doesn't throw burpees into your workout randomly. Coach Ty uses your 32-step diagnostic assessment to determine when, how often, and at what intensity burpees appear in your programming.

• Automatic level selection. Based on your assessment results, Ty assigns either the Level 1 or Level 2 variation. As your conditioning improves and you consistently hit your targets, the AI progresses you to the next level.
• Smart volume and frequency. Ty programs burpees at a volume that challenges you without destroying you. The number of sets, reps, and rest periods are calibrated to your current fitness level and your workout history inside the app.
• Context-aware placement. Burpees might appear as a warm-up finisher, a metabolic conditioning block, or part of a circuit — depending on your training day and goals. Ty places them where they'll have the most impact without compromising the rest of your session.
• Real-time coaching cues. During your workout, Ty delivers the form tips listed above at the moments you need them most — so you don't have to memorize everything before you start.

The result: you get burpees programmed intelligently into a plan that actually progresses, instead of doing random reps until you hate the exercise.