Burpee broad jump technique

Step-by-step technique

The burpee broad jump exercise guide covers the movement in general. For racing, this sequence tends to be the most efficient:

1. From standing, place your hands on the floor roughly shoulder-width apart, just in front of your feet.
2. Step or jump your feet back and lower your chest and thighs to the floor under control. Do not belly flop from height.
3. Push up and bring your feet forward towards your hands, landing with them roughly hip-width apart.
4. Swing your arms back, then drive them forward as you jump, taking off from both feet together.
5. Land on both feet with soft knees, and let the landing flow straight down into the next burpee.

The big efficiency gain is in the transition between landing and the next burpee. Standing fully upright, pausing and then bending down again wastes energy on every single rep. Land, absorb, and go.

How far should you jump?

It is tempting to think the bigger your jump, the fewer reps you need, so the faster you finish. Up to a point, that is true. Beyond it, every extra few centimetres of jump costs a disproportionate amount of energy, your landing gets less controlled and your heart rate spikes.

For most people, a comfortable, repeatable jump somewhere a bit shorter than their maximum is fastest over 80 m. It lets you keep moving without long rests, and it spares your legs for the lunges and wall balls later. Test it in training: do 20 m with big jumps and 20 m with moderate jumps, and time both. Many athletes are surprised which one wins.

Rhythm and breathing

Treat the station like a steady run rather than a sprint. A consistent pace of one rep every few seconds, maintained for the full distance, will almost always beat a fast start followed by standing breaks with your hands on your knees.

Match your breathing to the movement. A simple pattern that works for many people is to breathe out as you go down to the floor, take a breath as you push up, and another as you jump. If you find yourself holding your breath at the bottom, you will run out of air quickly. For more on this, read breathing for HYROX.

If you do need a pause, take it at the top, standing, for two or three breaths and no longer. Lying on the floor feels good for a second and makes getting going again far harder.

Common mistakes

• Belly flopping. Dropping to the floor from full height is hard on your wrists and shoulders. Lower under control.
• Jumping off one foot. A staggered take-off or landing is likely to be no-repped. Feet together for the jump.
• Chest not touching. When you get tired, the bottom position gets lazy. Make sure your chest reaches the floor every rep.
• Going out too fast. The first 20 m feel easy. The last 20 m do not. Pace from the start.
• Landing stiff-legged. Absorb the landing through your hips and knees to protect your joints.

One more that catches people out: drifting sideways. On a crowded lane, tired athletes zigzag and add distance to their 80 m without realising. Pick a line on the floor or a marker at the end of the lane and jump straight towards it every time.

Finally, think about what comes next. The row follows this station, so arriving at the rower with your heart rate through the roof means the first few hundred metres are spent recovering rather than rowing well.

How to train burpee broad jumps

Frequent, short exposures work better than occasional huge sets. The movement is simple, and what you are really training is the ability to repeat it efficiently when tired.

• EMOM: every minute, 6 to 8 burpee broad jumps for 10 to 12 minutes. Focus on consistent jump length.
• Distance repeats: 4 x 20 m with 60 seconds rest, timed. Aim to keep the times even.
• Race rehearsal: 1 km run, then 40 m of burpee broad jumps, then 1 km run.
• Supporting work: push-ups, broad jumps for take-off power, and calf raises for landing tolerance.

The jumps and landings put repeated load through your calves and Achilles tendons. Build volume gradually over several weeks, and if you notice stiffness in the Achilles first thing in the morning, ease back and look at the guide to HYROX injury prevention. Plyometric principles from plyometrics explained also apply here: quality first, then volume.

The Engine classes at Lycan Strength, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, are built around conditioning, which is the right setting to build repeatable efforts like this.