100 Day Burpee Challenge

The 100 Day Burpee Challenge has been roaming around CrossFit gyms and other fitness sites for awhile now. However, I recently became a member of the Challenge started by Miss Muffet (http://missmuffetsmuses.blogspot.com/). The quick and dirty theory is that on day one - do 1 burpee, day two complete 2 burpees, day 100 I should complete 100 burpees. I voluntarily signed up for this AND got a lot of people at my training location to join in as well. Misery loves company.

Uh, I thought I liked burpees. Especially flying burpees, but I guess too much of a good thing just isn't! Today is day 27 (http://www.bodyfocusfitness.com/ has the daily tracker) and now I feel like the burpees are more of a nuisance than anything. And when I forget to do them - UGH - not pleasant. I had to do 69 burpees one night. So I'm going to use this post to track my love/hate relationship from here on out.

Day 27: they better be included in the workout tonight. The burpees
were included - so happy. My form sucks, but I'm counting them anyway - so there!

Day 28: I picked up my vehicle tonight and missed class 'cause of traffic - therefore, I blew off the burpees. Bad idea - 57 burpees tomorrow.

Day 29: I should only be doing 29 burpees today, but since I missed Tuesday's, I'm being punished with 57!! Before everyone got to class Kevin and I knocked out some burpees. Since 28 were included in today's workout - I did 29 before we even started the warmup. Blech!

Day 30: Shouldn't we be done with these by now?! Once today's burpees are complete, we will have done 465!

Day 31: Today was the best burpee day ever, really. We did "fun" burpees in Kevin's class. See Friday's workout in the post for September 28th: Workouts.

Day 32: Finally, it's a weekend and I remembered to do the burpees. After a nice business dinner and an evening of jazz from Wynton Marsalis, I went home and continued to chill by watching a little TV to unwind. I've got to say, it's not so bad finishing the assigned burpees when you break them down into 10's during each TV commercial.

Day 33: The Next Iron Chef has the perfect commercials to complete 33 burpees!

Day 34: Because they were included in the workout, I ended up doing 50 burpees. Breaking them up in 10's in the way to go. Also, I like having them in the workout instead of doing them after. Call me lazy ;-)

Day 35: Hah! Did 45 - not because I wanted to, but because they were in the day's workout. Not too bad. They are getting easier, relatively speaking ;-)

Day 36: After completing today - we will have done 666 burpees. Is that a sign? 3x 12 reps

Day 37: 45 Thruster jumps - harder than a true burpee and more than 37! I'm done for the day.

The next 10 days will be challenging. Mostly because I'll be on vacation AND there is no room to miss a day! But I can sum this all up by saying - UGH. I'll keep a written journal and make sure I update this post when I get back.

Day 38: It's Friday and day one of a relaxing vacation. After a long flight, burpees might be just the thing to get the blood flowing again. Burpees completed at Grandma Moses' house. I even got my Mom to do one. She had good form and did a great job for never having seen them done before. But now she thinks her little girl is just a bit crazy.

Day 39: Yup, more burpees. I was very determined not to skip even one day. Completed the burpees in 3 sets, 15, 15, 9

Day 40: Day one of cruise. Already eating, but managed to complete all 40 in the room after big dinner.

Day 41: Worked out in the ship's gym, I included the burpees in my program. Noticing that even though we are at sea level, a moving ship makes these a bit more challenging

Day 42: Included in the workout again - actually did 50

Day 43: Nope, skipped. It's Wednesday and we decided to rest

Day 44: Back to it. I ended up doing 100 burpees by including them in the routine. So I effectively made up for skipping Wednesday.

Day 45: More burpees. Done.

Day 46: Yes, I did them. We were traveling 22 knots and the wind was 30 miles an hour. Holy Crap-o-ly. Never knew where I was going to land and how close (or far) the floor would be. We were rocking and rolling.

Day 47: Last day of cruise. So how many pounds will I gain on the cruise? Will it make it more difficult to perform them? Not much extra poundage to report. Other than the humidity and the sway of the ship, performing the burpees wasn't too difficult. I'm proud that I stuck to the challenge and didn't give up. Of course, I managed to not do Sunday's - I was in the airport all day and didn't really feel like it when I got home last night since I had out-of town friends over. Sometimes, there are just more important things than burpees.

Day 48: Did them. Wasn't liking the dizzyness - blech

Day 49: Thank goodness Kevin of Body Focus Fitness has to do lots of burpees too. He understands the pain and thankfully includes burpees in the workouts. Yeah Kevin!

Day 50: More fun burpees tonight! I love (strongly like) flying burpees and my new fav is deck burpees. So much fun.

Day 51: It's official - we have made it passed he half-way mark. I changed the burpees up again tonight. No one else in class tonight has been doing the challenge - it was lonely and a little sad.

Day 52: Friday, I spent the day in the hospital with a friend. Some things are WAY more important. No burpees today.

Day 53: Saturday - I skipped again, so there

Day 54: Sunday - my bravado didn't pay off. 159 burpees today. I'm doing them - but not liking it! Thanks to Barbarajo for keeping count and letting me watch crappy TV between each set of 20!

Day 55: Much easier completing burpees before, during, or after a workout. Doing them on rest days is not so good. We completed 55 burpees with a burpee/slam ladder. Good work. So the originator of this particular challenge has officially dropped out. So now it's down to Kevin, two people in his AM class, the married couple from the PM class, and myself - (6 people). I'm not quitting now - I didn't do burpees on my cruise to give up now! I can imagine I'll be very happy to say I went 100 days.

Day 56: Done. Tonight we made a pact: When the Burpee Challenge is complete - we will have a hiatus on any burpees for at least 30 days.

Day 57: After tonight, we have 3397 more burpees. Now, doesn't that make it easier?!

Day 58: Rockin' & Rollin' Looking good and feeling good. These burpees aren't going to bring me down!

Day 59: After a long day at work, and a rest day from working out - completing the burpees is no fun. But I did all 59.

Day 60: Happy Halloween! I managed to complete 20 burpees in between my running around and getting ready for the party.

Day 61: 101 burpees - 25 at a time.

Day 62: Three more people have dropped out of the challenge. Now only 3 people are left: Kevin, AM athlete, and myself. Who knew the challenge was to make it to the 100th day? Because I'm sure everyone did at least 100 burpees at LEAST once by now. I know I have. Today I did 30 kettlebell release burpees. This involves picking the KB up on the "jump", catching it into a squat, and then releasing it in the air to set it down just before the pushup portion. Then I followed with 32 sledge hammer burpees. I asked Kevin to invent this for me! These take a bit of coordination at first to alternate the hands but turned out to be fun. First, go into the pushup with your hands on the sledge hammer. While coming out of the squat, hit the tire and alternate the hands on the bounce. The sledge hammer should be going the opposite direction now - that's one. Once you get the movement down, these go pretty fast.

Day 63: 18 - 15- 12 - 9 - 6 - 3 : medicine ball slam burpees


Day 64: 30 burpees before going to the bookstore - then... nadda. I managed to get 17 done in my office and then 17 more after Kevin's class.  I HOWEVER, did NOT do the 64 from today.


Day 65: November 5, 2009 - Must do 129.  Starting at work.... Did some more but not all.


Day 66: Friday - I missed class, but felt I need to do some hard work. I challenged myself to 100 burpees for time.  It took me 9:14 minutes (although it felt like forever).  All caught up with the burpees now.

Day 67: Saturday, didn't do any


Day 68: I get caught up, only to fall behind again.  But I ended up doing ALL my burpees and I'm going into the new week on track.

Day 69: How quickly I can fall behind again. Did burpees in class, but not enough. Heck, I'll do the remaining ones tomorrow.

Day 70: Need to do 109 burpees. So... burpees for time again. 11:25 minutes. Not as fast as when I sit on my butt all day, but I did them.  Yeah me.

Day 71: Did them all - yeah!! We have officially completed half of the total number of burpees - 2556.

Day 72: I did 10 deck burpees.  Tomorrow will be a big day.  I plan on doing a lot at work to get the 135 done before leaving for Vegas.

Day 73: Friday the 13th - 2701 burpees completed today, 2349 more burpees to go. That is scary.

Day 74: I did ZERO burpees yesterday. Must do all 209 today otherwise, bad news for me.  Can't quit now. OK, just did 19... 190 more to go. Whew!


Day 75: 109 burpees yesterday - 100 short. 175 today :-(  So sad that these never seem to end. But I'm getting closer to being finished for good.  Gotta get these ALL done today before traveling home.  Not a lot of places to stop and burpee on the road home from Vegas. Well, I did all 175 before checking out of the room on Sunday. It wasn't so bad. Really. But I hope not to make a repeat performance.

Day 76: I'm not sure why I do this to myself. I only did 10 burpees today. Tuesday, I'll have 143. Why, oh why?!  Today, someone asked if we go back down after we reach 100 burpees.  WHAT?!  No way.

Day 77: It's been awhile since we had the burpees as part of the workout.  Which today, was a good thing.  I've been getting a little off track on keeping up with these things.  So, with the burpees I did at work and the ones in the workout, I completed all but 26 burpees.  It's a funny thing.  I just looked over the posts from this journey - I used to think 30, 40, 50 were a lot.  But lately, completing over 100 almost every other day is a nuisance and no fun - but it's not hard. Well, it's mentally hard to stick with it.  But again, I think that is the point.  That, and the comradery of the task. And I think that is the reason why the group is trying to come up with a new challenge. It's fun, it's something we can all complain about, a way to cheer on others, and it's something we can feel proud of when we finish. I know I'll be happy and proud when this one is done.  Look for blogs in the new year for what the next challenge might be for Body Focus Fitness.

Day 78: Maybe doing over a 100 is getting too easy. LOL.  Either way, I skipped doing any today.  Why would I do that?

Day 79: 183 burpees and 10 down.  It's going to be a long day. Very sad. UPDATE: By the time I got to Kevin's class, I only had 50 burpees left to go.  With no burpees programmed into the workout, I was left to doing them on my own.  Or was I?  Kevin had 100 and Dave had 200 on their rosters - with a little prodding, I was able to talk them into taking 50 off.  We did 5 sets of 10.  Kevin and Dave flew through them - I stayed about 2 behind each time.  The last set I really just threw myself into the mat each time and pushed hard.  Thanks guys for joining in on the fun!

Day 80: Friday - none

Day 81: Saturday - 10

Day 82: Sunday: 233 - 123 = 83 left

Day 83: Monday and there's 203 burpees in my future. Sub'd burpees for jump roping then added 23 more burpees.  ALL 203 done.

Day 84: Dave and Kevin were looking forward to today.  It's a sad state of affairs when we know how certain workouts will be good for completing burpees. 21-18-15-12-9-6-3  Pretty, isn't it?

Day 85: Yeah!  Still caught up. Getting closer to the end.

Day 86: None

Day 87: None

Day 88: It's 7:14 PM and there's still hope that I'll complete 261. But it's fading. Did some but not enough.  Crap.

Day 89: Did a few - hardly made a dent.

Day 90: Monday. On day 90 and I have to finish 320 of these evil burpees.  I can't believe it.  This is awful!  UPDATE: It's 9:30 PM and I've got 100 more to go.  I'm thinking 191 tomorrow doesn't sound so bad - afterall, I did 220 today.

Day 91: I did a few, but I'm still behind.  150 burpees left to go towards tomorrow.  My "challenge" now is to ONLY have 100 burpees on the last day.

Day 92: Looming over me first thing in the morning is the realization that I had to attempt to finish 242 burpees. It seemed like a daunting task.  While I didn't wipe them all out, I got my number down to 90.  That's 152 burpees in one day.  At least 183 on Thursday will be more manageable.

Day 93: I caught up.  Zero burpees left by the end of the day!

Day 94: Did 24 for the day. So much for being caught up.

Day 95: It's Saturday and I just didn't feel like ruining a perfect day with burpees.

Day 96: Why start now?

Day 97: It's Monday and my slacking has left me with 317 burpees.  It's 1:30PM and I have 240 more to go for the day.  But this challenge is almost done.  3 more days. 


Day 98: By the beginning of FFIT class, I had only 50 burpees left - I completed all 317 in one day.  98 today should be a breeze.  Just need to do them.  Looking forward to seeing how we will complete the 100 Day Burpee Challenge.  I think Kevin is thinking about 100 burpees for time.  My goal is to do it in under 8 minutes.


Day 99: Completed them all before I left work.  I am going into the final stretch burpee free.

Day 100: Thursday, December 10, 2009 Total burpees = 5050.

The night started off a little hectic.  I went to change and for some reason, I was missing my workout pants (which I still haven't found??). Thinking that Walmart was closer than home, I braved the treck.  I was lucky and got a good parking spot. But when I arrived in the "fitness" section, all the pants were XL.  OK, there were a few XXL?!  Other than the sweatpant route, I did find a shelf with more pants. These were mostly XS!  So everyone is obese or anorexic?? I finally found a pair that I thought would do and made the fastest checkout EVER from that demonic place.

I arrived a little late. But Dave and Kevin waited for me - thank you.  We did a little warm up, discussed our strategies, started the timer and video and began the 100 burpees for time. I had a little too much addrenalin and did way to many in a row out of the gate.  Strategy lost.  Kevin mentioned later he didn't stick by his plan either.  But we all got the business done.  Good job to those who participated and great work to Kevin and Dave for sticking through it.  I'm proud of us. 

5050 (5250 for Kevin) burpees. . . not a problem!