The HARDEST burpee variation will build muscle and burn fat at the same time

One-move full body exercise to train the upper body and improve your cardio fitness

how to do navy seal burpees
(Image credit: Getty Images)

One thing is for sure: when it comes to fitness, everyone becomes time-poor instantly. This is why calisthenics exercises such as navy seal burpees are amazing: they build pecs definition, work the triceps and improve cardio fitness, all at the same time, through a combination of high-intensity bodyweight resistance moves.

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Navy seal burpees are essentially burpees combined with push ups and performed in a sequential fashion. For each burpee, you'll perform three push ups so if our maths is correct, just by doing 10 navy seal burpees, you'll do 30 push ups. You'll also burn fat as your heart rate will be sky high thanks to all the jumping. The perfect storm!

How to do navy seal burpees

Important: if you are planning on doing navy seal burpees indoor, you might want to consider using a yoga mat, especially if you are working out on a hard floor. A non-slip, thick mat would work best. To track the workout, we recommend using a heart rate monitor as opposed to a running watch as they are more capable of tracking heart rate during HIIT workouts. Not to mention, since you'll move your wrist quite a lot when doing navy seal burpees, that could skew the readings of running watch's optical heart rate sensor.

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Start with legs shoulder width apart, arms hanging, standing tall with shoulders open and core engaged. Throw your arms up and jump a little, then drop down into a squat position with your hands touching the floor, shoulder width apart. Kick your legs back and get in a high plank position. Core stays engaged.

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From here, do a push up and as you come up from the push up, pull up one of your knees towards the elbow on the same side. Straighten the leg, do another push up and as you come up from the second push up, pull the other knee towards the elbow on that side. Kick the leg back and do a third push up, then jump back into the squat position then jump up with your arms thrown up in the air. Repeat the process.

Understandably, if you don't know how to do push ups, you shouldn't start doing navy seal burpees and the same goes for people who haven't exercised for a while. Navy seal burpees are not a beginner callisthenics exercise, make sure you can comfortably perform both push ups and burpees before you try out this exercise.

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Matt Kollat
Section Editor | Active

Matt Kollat is a journalist and content creator who works for T3.com and its magazine counterpart as an Active Editor. His areas of expertise include wearables, drones, fitness equipment, nutrition and outdoor gear. He joined T3 in 2019. His byline appears in several publications, including Techradar and Fit&Well, and more. Matt also collaborated with other content creators (e.g. Garage Gym Reviews) and judged many awards, such as the European Specialist Sports Nutrition Alliance's ESSNawards. When he isn't working out, running or cycling, you'll find him roaming the countryside and trying out new podcasting and content creation equipment.