Jack Burpee
- Target muscle
- —
- Equipment
- Body weight
- Body part
- Cardio
- Type
- Aerobic
The jack burpee is a high-intensity, full-body bodyweight exercise that finishes each burpee with a jumping jack instead of a straight vertical jump. The squat and jump drive the quads, hamstrings, and glutes; the plank and optional push-up load the chest, shoulders, and triceps; and the core braces throughout. Cycling from the floor to an explosive jump every rep spikes your heart rate, making it a staple of HIIT and circuit training.
How to do the Jack Burpee
- 1Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and your arms at your sides.
- 2Bend your knees and hinge at the hips to plant both hands flat on the floor just outside your feet.
- 3Jump or step both feet back to land in a high plank, hands stacked under your shoulders and your body in a straight line from head to heels.
- 4Optionally perform one push-up, lowering your chest toward the floor with your elbows tucked at roughly 45 degrees, then pressing back up.
- 5Jump both feet forward to land flat just outside your hands, returning to the bottom squat position.
- 6Drive through your legs to stand and jump, splitting your feet out wider than shoulder-width and sweeping both arms overhead — the jumping jack phase.
- 7Land softly with your feet wide, arms overhead, and knees slightly bent to absorb the impact.
- 8Hop your feet back together and lower your arms to your sides, then drop straight into the next rep.
Form tips
- Absorb every landing through the balls of your feet into slightly bent knees rather than flat, stiff legs — it protects your knees and ankles across high rep counts.
- Brace your core as if bracing for a punch during the plank phase so your hips neither sag toward the floor nor pike up toward the ceiling.
- Hold a steady, repeatable pace instead of sprinting the first few reps — the transitions are where form breaks down as you fatigue.
- Exhale on the explosive jumping jack and inhale as you drop back down to your hands.
- Scale the movement by stepping your feet back and forward one at a time instead of jumping them if your hips sag or your pace collapses.
Common mistakes
- Letting the hips sag in the plank, which loads the lower back into extension and takes the tension off the core the position is meant to train.
- Landing the jumping jack with locked-out knees, which sends impact force straight through the knees and hips instead of into the muscles.
- Rounding the back while diving from the squat down to the floor, which puts the lumbar spine under load in flexion at speed — a common way to tweak the lower back.
- Sweeping the arms only to shoulder height instead of overhead, which cuts the range of motion and drops the shoulder and cardio demand of every rep.
- Landing the feet-forward jump too far behind the hands, which leaves you in a rounded, cramped squat and forces an awkward stand-up.
Frequently asked questions
What muscles does the jack burpee work?
The jack burpee is a full-body movement. The plank and optional push-up phase works the chest, shoulders, and triceps; the squat and jump phases work the quads, hamstrings, and glutes; and the core stabilizes your spine throughout. The continuous jumping also makes it a strong cardiovascular demand.
What is the difference between a jack burpee and a regular burpee?
A regular burpee finishes with a straight vertical jump, feet together. A jack burpee replaces that with a jumping jack — feet split out wide, arms sweeping overhead — then you hop the feet back together to reset. The wider legs and overhead arms add hip and shoulder range of motion, so the rep takes longer and demands more cardio.
Do I have to do a push-up in a jack burpee?
No, the push-up is optional. Skip it if you are new to burpees or training for cardio endurance, since it lets you hold a faster, steadier pace. Add it when you want more upper-body work per rep.
How many jack burpees should I do per set?
For HIIT, 10–15 reps per set with short rest between sets is a sensible default. For circuit training, timed intervals of 20–40 seconds of continuous work are common. Start at the low end and add reps or time only while your form holds.
Are jack burpees good for beginners?
They can be, with scaling. Drop the push-up, step your feet back and forward instead of jumping them, and do the jumping jack as a step-out rather than a jump. Build to the full version once you can hold a solid plank and land quietly on every rep.
