fitness

It turns out your least favourite exercise is apparently a waste of time.

 

If you’re an avid exerciser, you’ll probably know just how horrific burpees are.

They burn, they hurt and they’re just evil.

But there’s good news – it turns out our least favourite exercise might actually be a big waste of time.

Sam Wood shares his exercise tips for the office. Post continues below…

In a new interview with INSIDER, celebrity personal trainers and brothers Ryan and Eric Johnson claim burpees aren’t even worth doing as it’s like “adding garbage for the sake of it”.

“If there’s one specific exercise people should stop doing it’d probably be the burpee,” Eric told the publication.

Although burpees are often included in high-intensity workouts, the brothers believe there are far better ways to get your heart rate up.

“In the bigger picture I don’t believe that a burpee will have any sort of advantage that will make you hit your performance goals, other than getting your heart rate up, and there are so many other tools to do that will actually transfer over and help you in other facets of your training plan.”

The brothers, who own a series of Homeage Fitness gyms across the United States, believe that most people don’t even know how to do burpees properly, leaving the exercise pointless.

The personal trainers, who train Avengers star Scarlett Johansson among other actors, also shared some high-intensity alternatives to burpees.

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are burpees good for you
Kettlebell swings are a good alternative to burpees. Image: Getty.

Alternatives that the pair suggested included kettlebell swings or squat jumps.

"[With kettlebell swings] you're going to get the benefits of an explosive moment that's going to get your heart rate up but is also going to hit your hamstrings, glutes, lats, and core," Eric told INSIDER.

The pair also explained that squat jumps can provide the same benefits as burpees – if you do them right, of course.

If you hate squat jumps and kettlebell swings too, Ryan suggests trying boxing instead.

"Learning how to box or any kind of martial art is a great replacement for burpees," Ryan said.

"Replace a minute of burpees within a minute of hitting a heavy bag."

Now, can we please ban sit-ups next?