Navy Seal burpee.

The Navy Seal burpee exercise is a variant of the conventional burpee exercise described in an earlier article. It was designed to fit into the rigorous training program of the US Navy Seals who require a high level of physical fitness, endurance, and mental fortitude in preparation for wartime challenges. burpees demand the highest energy expenditure of all calisthenics as documented in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.¹

They not only enhance physical strength and endurance, but they also simulate the demands of a hazardous war zone operational environment where Navy Seals have to creep under cover to avoid detection. In order words, Navy Seal burpees, unlike the conventional burpee that’s focused on strength and cardiovascular fitness, incorporate a variation that makes it more complex.

Burpees generally challenge your core stability and boost your overall athletic ability. However, Navy Seal burpees embody the principles of resilience and adaptability that are emphasized in the training of Navy Seals to accomplish missions in war zone scenarios. The cumulative fatigue during sets of Navy Seal burpees serves to mirror the exhaustion faced in real-life combats.

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How to do a Navy Seal burpee workout.

The first thing you want to do before starting any exercise is warm-ups, especially in workouts as tasking as Navy Seal burpees. A 5 – 10 minute warm-up should be ok for most people. Warm-ups may include leg swings, arm circles, and torso twists.

We gave a well-detailed step-by-step guideline on how to perform conventional burpees properly. Navy Seal burpees are variants of the conventional one so while doing the conventional one you only need to add the extra drill that makes for a Navy Seal burpee.

That extra drill involves two push-ups in the plank position. With each push-up, you bend the knee and hip of one leg such that the knee is pulled towards the chest. You then repeat this on the second leg with the second push-up just as shown in the video above at the beginning of this article.

For beginners, you may want to start with lower repetitions and focus on form rather than speed. As your body adapts to it, gradually increase the repetitions and intensity as we recommended in another article you may want to read.

Muscles worked in Navy Seal burpees.

The primary muscle groups worked in a Navy Seal burpee include those in the chest, arms, core, and legs with each playing a crucial role in the execution of the exercise. The whole muscles in your body are literally engaged during Navy Seal burpee exercises as shown in the image below. Different muscle groups are recruited at different stages of the burpee. Some of the muscles recruited are listed below by stage.

• Plank: core muscles, triceps, quads, tibialis, glutes, serratus anterior, wrist extensors, finger extensors, rotator cuffs, etc.
• Push-up: Pectoralis, triceps, deltoids, core, rotator cuff muscles, etc.
• Plank to squat: Iliopsoas, hamstrings, etc.
• Knee-to-chest after push-ups: Iliopsoas, rectors femoris, sartorius, etc.
• Vertical Jump: Quads, calf, hamstrings, glutes, rotator cuffs, etc

The combination of lifting the body and propelling it into the air requires significant leg strength and force. This multifaceted engagement not only contributes to muscle development but also boosts cardiovascular endurance thereby making a Navy Seal burpee an excellent exercise for overall conditioning. However, you will need to boost your protein intake for effective muscle growth as discussed in a previous article you may want to read.

Benefits of Navy Seal burpees.

Navy Seal burpees serve as a highly effective exercise that provides numerous benefits for individuals looking to enhance their fitness levels. They improve cardiovascular fitness as mentioned earlier and rapidly elevate your heart rate such that you quickly hit your target heart rate for fat burn as quickly as possible. By this, they aid in weight loss.

We have a comprehensive list of various health benefits of burpee exercises. Those benefits also apply to Navy Seal burpees as well except that a Navy Seal burpee variation is designed to boost the combat readiness of naval officers and men as mentioned earlier in this article. As a CrossFit exercise, research published in the Journal of Sports Science for Health² has shown burpees reduce:

• Body weight,
• Body fat percentage,
• Resting heart rate,
• Diastolic BP,
• Low density lipoprotein(LDL), and
• LDL-high density lipoprotein(HDL) ratio.

Exclusive health benefits of burpees for women as described in the previous article, also apply in the Navy Seal variant just as in conventional burpees.

Navy Seal burpees, before and after, outcomes.

Many people who engage in burpee workouts report improvements in their overall body composition, stamina, and strength. Before incorporating Navy Seal burpees in their exercise regimen, participants describe certain challenges like fatigue, limited upper body and core strength, and lack of stamina or exercise endurance.

Due to the above-mentioned reasons, starters usually struggle to complete a set of repetitions without breaks but a commitment to regular burpee practice results in significant improvements in their overall fitness levels over time.

After weeks of integrating Navy Seal burpees into your workout routines, you should notice enhanced stamina and endurance. You will be able to execute more repetitions in a shorter time frame without experiencing the same level of fatigue or burnout as before.

More physically evident is the improvement in your body composition over time. Burpees help you build your lean body mass and reduce your fat mass just like most other exercises. Most of the criteria that can be used to evaluate gains in a “before and after” comparison after engaging in Navy Seal burpees can only be felt by you or some instrumental measurements.

However, the improvement in your general body composition is easily evident by sight. This can be appreciated by a comparison of your body image as demonstrated in the images below.

Navy seal burpees every day?

Integrating Navy Seal burpees into your daily exercise routine will reduce the time taken for the manifestation of the benefits of burpees. However, it is crucial to consider that any daily workout regimen must be approached with balance and caution to avoid the potential drawbacks of overtraining.

When setting realistic fitness goals for integrating burpees into a daily routine you have to consider your current fitness level. A practical starting point might be to aim for 3 to 4 sessions weekly and gradually increase the volume and intensity as your body adapts till you get to the point of doing it daily. This gradual approach allows for a sustained increase in fitness without overwhelming yourself from the outset.

While performing Navy Seal burpees daily can lead to impressive quick gains, not allowing adequate recovery time or rest days can result in fatigue or injury. Therefore, listening to your body and implementing recovery days as needed is essential. Additionally, incorporating variety like jogging into your workouts can maintain motivation and prevent early burnout.

References.

1. Poulios, Athanasios1; Fotiou, Christos1; Draganidis, Dimitrios1; Avloniti, Alexandra2; Rosvoglou, Anastasia1; Batrakoulis, Alexios1; Tsimeas, Panagiotis1; Papanikolaou, Konstantinos1; Deli, Chariklia K.1; Stampoulis, Theodoros2; Douroudos, Ioannis I.3; Chatzinikolaou, Athanasios2; Jamurtas, Athanasios Z.1; Fatouros, Ioannis G.1. The Energy Expenditure Associated With Body-Weight Resistance Exercises of Various Movement Patterns Performed at Different Durations. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 38(12):p 2034-2046, December 2024. | DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000004919 ↩︎
2. Dehghanzadeh Suraki, R., Mohsenzade, M., Tibana, R.A. et al. Effects of CrossFit training on lipid profiles, body composition, and physical fitness in overweight men. Sport Sci Health 17, 855–862 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-020-00704-9 ↩︎