A few years back I drove from Madison, Wisconsin to visit my brother in Avon, Colorado. I was relatively new to CrossFit, but knew that Colorado was huge into CrossFit and wanted to visit a few boxes while I was there. The closest one to my brother’s home was CrossFit Venture (now CrossFit Vail).
The people there were incredibly nice and very welcoming and I had a blast doing “DT” that day with them. It wasn’t until after the workout when I went back to the rental home where we were staying that I realized what I had just gotten to be a part of.
I am 6’ tall. That’s me pictured second from the right. The other four fantastic people in the photo are the owners of CrossFit Venture. The woman hanging in the middle, next to me, is Natalie McLain (now Newhart).
The photo was taken in March 2012, just weeks after Natalie won the South West Region CrossFit Games Open debut workout of 7 minutes of burpees with 132 completed.
Natalie is 5’1”. That is almost a whole foot difference in height between us!
I like this photo because I am not sure that people realize just how much height plays into a lot of CrossFit movements. Don’t get me wrong, I am not whining or complaining that CrossFit is unfair to tall people and all that. I love my height. I am proud to be tall. And there are many advantages to being tall, in CrossFit and in life. For me to hit the women’s target doing wall balls, I don’t even have to let go of the ball. That’s pretty cool!
But look at the picture. It’s great to see all of us hanging there. It’s fun to compare what a foot in height difference makes. Look where her elbows are vs mine. Look where her shoulders are vs mine. Look where her hips are vs mine.
Look at the difference in distance traveled for us each to do a pull up and get our chin over the bar. Think of the difference in distance we each have to travel to get to the floor for a burpee. And then get back up again. (It all seems like a lot of science and physics and stuff.)
Natalie rocks at burpees. She’s built for it. I despise burpees because I am not. But burpees are a really great movement to do and learn to love just the same.
Anyone can do them. Doesn’t matter if you’re 4 or 104. (All 3 of my kids get a choice between burpees and a chore to get stuff back when they leave it laying out, they always choose burpees…)
You can do them anywhere with no equipment. Nothing else is needed but your own body. They are a full body movement and they tire you out like nothing else can. Strength, fat burning and conditioning are taken care of all at once because burpees work a wide range of muscles.
With every burpee, you’ll work your chest, arms, front deltoids, thighs, hamstrings, and abs. On top of that you will get some excellent practice loading your hips as you supply power to get you back up off the floor…so you can get back down on the floor again. And repeat. For an eternity. But all that hip power translates into so many of the other CrossFit movements. Everything starts with and is powered by the hip drive.
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, burpees are here to stay. I am not sure there is any other single movement that does as much for the body as the burpee. Learn to love them. Repeat after me. “I love burpees!” Now keep saying it until you believe it…