When I started planning a cycling vacation, I realized I needed to boost my strength and fitness to enjoy the ride.
I decided to set myself the goal of doing ten burpees before breakfast every day.
Why burpees? This high-intensity, full-body exercise works multiple muscle groups, improving muscular endurance and cardiovascular fitness at the same time.
There are several burpee variations and modifications—I did the advanced version with multiple jumps and a push-up.
My goal was to improve my stamina, endurance and VO₂ max, which is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use.
A bigger VO₂ max means you can exercise for longer at a higher intensity, so uphill cycling feels easier.
As it turned out, 10 burpees a day wasn’t enough to noticeably improve my fitness, as I’m already relatively fit.
Instead, the biggest improvements I experienced were mental and behavioral.
Here’s what I discovered and what surprised me the most from doing this 30-day challenge.
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It helped kickstart my day
Despite the struggle of getting up early to do my burpees before breakfast, and still being sleepy and bleary-eyed for some of them, the burpees actually helped me feel more alert and ready for the day.
Once the shock of sleepiness had subsided, my morning burpees became a trusted way to wake myself up.
It gave me a mental boost
My fitness routine can fall by the wayside when I have a lot on my to-do list, but doing a set of burpees first thing ensured I exercised even on my busiest days.
The burpees boosted my mood and gave me a great sense of achievement before the working day had begun—and this positive mindset stayed with me long after the reps were finished
Doing the burpees while the rest of my household slept allowed me to clear some mental fog before breakfast, letting me tackle the day with more focus and clarity.
It reduced my usual morning stiffness
One of the perimenopausal symptoms I’ve been experiencing lately is joint pain and muscle stiffness when I wake.
This achiness is thought to be due to declining estrogen levels, which contribute to increased inflammation in joints and connective tissue.
Disrupted sleep—another common perimenopause-related issue I'm navigating—can also lead to tight or stiff muscles.
Surprisingly, by the end of week one, I noticed that my daily burpees blasted away this tension and stiffness.
By the end of the month, using my Apple Watch fitness tracker as a measure, I hadn’t noticed any significant changes to my fitness apart from shaving off 10 seconds from my 10-burpee time.
For bigger improvements, I would need to dial up the challenge.
But my mood and mornings have noticeably improved and for that reason, it’s a habit I’m planning to keep.
