Take The 30-Day Burpee Challenge

Man and woman perform a burpee
(Image credit: Getty Images / Raquel Arocena Torres)

The burpee is a phenomenal exercise. In fact, it’s perhaps the very best bodyweight exercise there is, working a multitude of muscles as well as getting the heart pumping. If you could only ever do one bodyweight exercise for the rest of your life, the burpee might well be your best pick. All of this might seem an overstatement, but it’s vital to comprehend just how good for you the burpee is before you try them – because once you do one, it can be hard to convince yourself to ever do another.

However, you simply must keep burpee-ing, because the benefits of doing so are significant and numerous. Muscles all over the body get a workout – your arms, back, chest, core, glutes and legs all take a pounding. The burpee is also good for your cardiovascular fitness, raising your heart rate sky-high, which is why it is a staple of HIIT circuits.

All it takes to gain these benefits is to master one, relatively simple, manoeuvre. Complete this 30-day burpee challenge and you can undoubtedly claim to be a burpee master, but before you take a look at day one, make sure you have your technique nailed down by reviewing how to do a burpee properly.

Burpee form

(Image credit: iStock / Getty Images Plus / undrey)
  1. From a standing position, drop into a squat with your hands resting on the ground just in front of your feet.
  2. Kick your feet back behind you, leaving your hands where they are so you end up in an elevated plank position. (At this point, the truly adventurous (foolish) throw in a press-up, because what situation isn’t improved by throwing in a press-up?)
  3. Jump your feet forward so they end up next to your hands.
  4. Explode into the air and raise your arms straight above your head. Repeat.

Tough, right? It will get easier with practice, probably. Here’s the 30-day burpee challenge.

The 30-Day Burpee Challenge

Designed by CrossFit coach and burpee aficionado Andy McTaggart, the challenge is simple. Complete the amount of burpees listed below for each day. At times, this will be unpleasant, but after 30 days, you’ll be a new person. You'll be leaner, stronger and really, really good at burpees.

The beauty of this burpee challenge is that it’s scaleable – it’s based on your current fitness level, established by the test on day one. Push as hard as you can on 

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Day 1Max number in 2min (test)
Day 225% of test every 2min, complete 4 times 
Day 325% of test every 2min, complete 5 times
Day 450 burpees for time (as quickly as possible)
Day 51 burpee every 10sec for 5min
Day 6Rest day (or complete any days missed)
Day 750% of test then rest 2min, complete 3 times
Day 810 burpees for time, rest 2min, complete 3 times
Day 925% of test every 90sec, complete 4 times
Day 1060 burpees for time
Day 11Rest day (or complete any days missed)
Day 1215 burpees for time, rest 3min, complete 3 times
Day 1325% of test every 2min, complete 5 times 
Day 1420 burpees for time
Day 15Ascending burpees (1st minute, 1 burpee; 2nd min, 2 burpees; etc.) to failure
Day 16Rest day (or complete any days missed)
Day 17Max burpees in 60sec
Day 1815 burpees, rest 60sec, complete 5 times
Day 1925% of test every 2min, complete 4 times
Day 2060 burpees for time
Day 21Rest day (or complete any days missed)
Day 2215 burpees for time, rest 3min, complete 3 times
Day 23Tabata burpees: 20sec all out, 10sec rest, complete 8 times
Day 24Rest day (or complete any days missed)
Day 2550 burpees for time (go quicker than day 4)
Day 265 burpees every minute for 10min
Day 2725% (of test) every 2min, complete 4 times
Day 28Rest day (or complete any days missed)
Day 2920 burpees, 1 every 10sec
Day 30Retest max number of burpees in 2min

Once you've knocked out 30 days of burpees, no fitness obstacle should hold any fear for you, so why not head straight on to our toughest fitness challenge, the 30-day press-up challenge – building up to 100 press-ups in one go. On second thoughts, maybe take a couple of days off in between.


More Burpee Workouts

Nick Harris-Fry
Senior writer

Nick Harris-Fry is a journalist who has been covering health and fitness since 2015. Nick is an avid runner, covering 70-110km a week, which gives him ample opportunity to test a wide range of running shoes and running gear. He is also the chief tester for fitness trackers and running watches, treadmills and exercise bikes, and workout headphones.