10 Burpee Alternatives for Whatever Reason You Skip Burpees

Try these 10 burpee alternatives to gain the health benefits of burpees even if you have a low fitness level or just hate burpees.

Table of Contents

• Burpee Benefits To Look For in Alternatives
• Why You May Want to Substitute Burpees
• 10 Burpee Alternatives – Beginner to Advanced
• Wrapping Up

Burpees are great for strengthening the whole body, so there is a benefit to including them in your workouts. However, some people, for various reasons like injuries or lack of endurance, cannot perform them, while others simply dislike the exercise. Therefore finding burpee alternatives that offer similar benefits can be helpful. 

In this article, we will provide you with some of the best burpee substitutes, as well as insights into how they can benefit you in your fitness journey. 

Burpee Benefits To Look For in Alternatives

Whether you are a burpee fan or not, this exercise is often seen in workouts for those who want to improve their fitness level. Dynamic exercises like burpees help develop strength, power, and endurance. [1] [2]

There are not many exercises that can offer the same benefits simultaneously. Tire flips, dynamic plank variations and kettlebell swings are among the few that can.

Burpees offer such a wide range of benefits if, for some reason, you are unable to perform them, it is suggested you find an alternative. 

The main benefits of performing burpees include:

• Improved cardiovascular fitness
• Increased muscular endurance
• Improved strength and power output
• Prevention of injuries
• Improved coordination
• Fat loss
• Total-body conditioning [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Why You May Want to Substitute Burpees

You may need to find a substitute for burpees for many reasons, but usually, it is due to injury, low aerobic capacity, or simply because you dislike them. 

Regardless of the reason behind your decision not to do this exercise, finding the right alternative to burpees will help you achieve better health and build sustainable habits whilst also enjoying your fitness journey.

Here are some of the main reasons you should search for burpee substitutes and what you should be looking for in each instance:

• Too intense or too difficult: look for less dynamic burpee alternatives that focus on performing slower movements or that don’t require the coordination of several muscle groups.
• Recovering from an injury/painful joints: look for alternatives that don’t put a strain on the affected area, such as avoiding extended plank positions if you have painful wrists or jumping if you have bad knees.
• Don’t like burpees: look for an exercise that doesn’t involve the specific move you don’t like. For instance, if you dislike push-ups, find a burpee substitute that doesn’t involve this motion. 
• Lack of mobility: you can find some gentler options that utilize a smaller range of motion, so that you can slowly work on your mobility and flexibility without hurting yourself or feeling uncomfortable.
• Postpartum recovery: if you’ve just had a C-section, you may want to opt for alternatives that don’t put too much strain on the abdominal muscles. On the other hand, if you have developed diastasis recti after delivery, you should look for alternatives that include more isolated core strengthening exercises. [8]

10 Burpee Alternatives – Beginner to Advanced

This section will show you what exercises to do instead of burpees if you have injuries, are in postpartum recovery, or simply haven’t reached the appropriate fitness level to perform burpees yet. 

#1 Jumping Jacks

This exercise is a great alternative to burpees if you want to improve your cardiovascular fitness and improve your legs’ power output.  

Instructions: 

• Start from a standing position with your arms extended down your side
• Jump out with your feet whilst also raising your arms above your head
• Jump in with your feet whilst lowering your arms down your side 

Best For: bad wrists, cardio fitness

Quiet Burpee

This is a low-impact burpee alternative, as it emulates the same movements but without the jumping motions. Great for performing at home so you don’t bother your downstairs neighbors.

Instructions: 

• Start from an upright standing position
• Place your hands on the floor and extend your legs back to get into an extended plank
• Move your feet next to your hands one at a time
• Push through your legs to stand back up into the starting position

Best For: bad knees and bad ankles, diastasis recti, quiet workouts

High Plank Jacks

This exercise works similar muscles as burpees whilst also improving your cardiovascular fitness and targeting your core.

Instructions: 

• Place yourself in an extended plank position
• Jump to the sides with your feet to spread your legs whilst keeping your arms extended and your hands on the floor
• Jump in with your feet to get back into the starting position

Best For: diastasis recti, improving core strength and cardio fitness

Plank Frog Walk

This low-impact burpee alternative is particularly useful for developing core and arm strength rather than focusing on leg muscles.

Instructions: 

• Place yourself in an extended plank position
• Move your right foot next to your right hand. Repeat with the other foot
• Once in a frog-like sitting position, straighten back one leg at a time to get back into an extended plank

Best For: bad feet or bad knees, improving core strength

Plank Jumping Lunges

This dynamic exercise is a great alternative to burpees as it also trains the whole body and improves your endurance.

Instruction: 

• Place yourself in an extended plank position
• Jump with your right foot next to your right hand, keeping your left leg extended back
• Jump back with your right leg to move it to the starting position
• Repeat on the other side

Best For: full-body workouts and cardio fitness

You may also like: Plyometric Exercises For Speed Training

Squat Jump

This exercise is particularly useful for developing leg strength, power, and endurance, making it a great alternative to burpees.

Instructions: 

• Start from a standing position
• Hinge back at the hips and bend your knees to get into a squat
• Push through your legs to jump up
• When landing, move swiftly into a squat position before jumping up again

Best For: bad shoulders and wrists, cardio fitness, and lower body strengthening

Squat Jacks

This squat jump variation is a fantastic alternative to regular burpees as it also allows you to improve endurance as well as your legs’ power and strength.

Instructions: 

• Start by standing upright with your feet placed next to each other
• Hinge back at the hips and bend your knees to get into a squat position
• Push through your legs to jump up
• While mid-air, spread your legs wider than hip-width and land on the floor keeping this stance
• As you land, move into a squat
• Jump up again, and close your legs to land with your feet next to each other 

Best For: bad shoulders and wrists, cardio fitness, lower body strengthening 

Thruster

This burpee alternative is a low-impact exercise that works the legs and the arms and is performed with dumbbells. Just like burpees, it is a great way to develop whole-body strength and endurance.

Instructions: 

• Stand upright with your feet hip-width apart while holding a dumbbell in each hand
• Move the dumbbells to your shoulders, keeping the elbows bent
• Hinge back at the hips and bend your knees to squat down
• Push through your legs to move back to a standing position
• As you move up, extend your arms to lift the dumbbells above your head
• Bend your elbows to move the dumbbells back down to your shoulders

Best For: quiet workouts, lower body strengthening 

Plyo Push-Up

Just like burpees, this exercise can help you develop strength in your arms while also improving your power output.

Instructions: 

• Place yourself in an extended plank position
• Bend your elbows to lower your chest to the floor
• Once your chest reaches the floor, push powerfully with your arms to lift your hands off the floor
• Land on your hands with your arms extended to get back to a plank position

Best For: upper body strength and conditioning

Spiderman Push-Ups

This push-up variation can be used as a less dynamic burpee alternative if you want to work on upper body strength but not on your power output or cardio fitness. 

Instructions: 

• Place yourself in an extended plank position
• Bend your elbows to lower your chest to the floor. In the meantime, bring your right knee to your right elbow and squeeze your core. 
• Straighten your arms and extend your right leg back at the same time
• Repeat on the other side

Best For: quiet workouts, such as for people living in apartments, and upper body strengthening 

Wrapping Up

Burpees are a great exercise to improve your health. However, not everyone may be able to include this exercise in their workout routine. Here are some of the key points about burpee alternatives:

• Burpees offer a wide range of benefits, such as improved cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance, strength, power output, injury prevention, and coordination, but they also work the whole body and support fat loss. 
• Some people may look for an alternative to burpees if they find them too difficult or intense, if they are recovering from an injury, if they suffer from joint pain, or if they simply don’t like performing them.
• If you have an injury or painful joints, try to look for exercises similar to burpees that don’t put a strain on the affected area or don’t include jumping motions.
• If you don’t like burpees, lack mobility, or find them too difficult, look for alternatives that you enjoy doing and that match your fitness level.
• If you just had a C-section, avoid exercises that put too much strain on your abdominals, or if you have diastasis recti, look for alternatives that help isolate the deep core muscles.