Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Burpies do not equal Joy

When I took on the Burpie Challenge, it was with a bit of nonchalance. The Burpie was the primary exercise of the crew teams I was on in High School, a hallmark of the sport that got me into college. Though I have not been on the water since 2004, muscle memory dies hard and I figured I had this monster slayed.
Until, that is, we got beyond day 10. The first six or so burpies always seem so easy, but after that my gorge starts to rise and I wonder, Why? Why did I do this? Why am I not as fit as I was when I was a long-haired 18 year old lad? How could this possibly hurt so much?
As we have gone forward with the challenge, I notice myself getting measurably stronger. I don't feel like dieing until the 9th or 10th burpie now, but that is cold comfort when we go to 22 tomorrow. However, motivation is not my problem, so I am current on my burpie count, and look forward to the rest of the challenge.
Other Thoughts-
I have been doing my Burpies in the morning, a few moments after getting out of bed. I realize this represents poor judgement on my part, and my misery would be lessened if I burped at the end of the day.
Also, I have been doing my burpies in socks, which requires more control during the push up. The slipperiness of the socks demands more isometric force from the frontal quad, which sucks on sprint days.
That is all for now, thanks for reading, keep up the good work~B.

4 comments:

  1. B - After reading this I realized I hadn't been looking for improvements with my burpees. Only how much my form is sucking at some point and how much air I am sucking at the end. I too am doing them first thing in the am, but today read first for motivation. I realized that my first 10 are easy and my form is great (I can touch the ground in my push-up). I quickly deteriorate from there, but 10 good ones is so MUCH better than before! Woo Hoo!

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  2. I don't know if anyone else does this...but around day 12 I realized that i was doing my burpees in what I call Kelly Tonka McMahon style...not breathing. Once I started paying attention to my breathing...making sure it was actually happening and getting into a good pattern with it my burpees got a lot easier. Just a suggestion that a more repetitive breathing pattern might make the higher numbers a bit more maneagable.

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  3. I do that too! I have to constantly remind myself about breathing while I burpee, or I forget to.

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  4. I try to push out a breath after I land, as well as add that rep to the total. It helps foster a rhythm in which my mind can relax. God this brings me back to when I was in better shape and less popular.

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