Burpee
The Elite Hockey Drills app builds drills like this into your personalized off-ice program, week by week. Your first week is free.
How to Do It
Stand with feet shoulder-width. Drop both hands to the floor just outside your feet. Jump both feet back simultaneously into a high plank position. Perform a full push-up — chest to floor, elbows at 45°. Jump feet back in toward your hands. Explode upward — full jump with arms overhead. Land softly and immediately begin the next rep.
Why It Works
The burpee trains the full-body metabolic demand of repeated explosive efforts — getting up off the ice after a hit, accelerating after a fall, or pushing through the third period when everything hurts. It combines a push-up (upper body), a squat thrust (hip flexors/core), and a vertical jump (power) into one continuous movement. Used correctly, it builds game-specific cardiovascular resilience.
Hockey Transfer
Full-body conditioning with no equipment — builds game-ready fitness anywhere. If the push-up phase looks like a chest-flop, slow down and reset form. Bad burpees train bad mechanics.
Coaching Cues
- "Squat down"
- "Jump feet back"
- "Push-up"
- "Jump feet in"
- "Explosive jump at top"
Common Mistakes
Sagging hips in the plank — maintain a rigid core throughout. Half-push-up (chest never touches) — go full depth or drop to knees. Barely leaving the ground on the jump — the jump must be maximal. Using burpees as pure conditioning at high reps with no quality control — form degrades and injury risk rises.
Progression / Regression
Burpee broad jump (jump forward instead of vertical) — adds horizontal power demand.
Step-out burpee (step feet back instead of jumping) — reduces impact for beginners.
Primary Muscles
Energy System
Glycolytic / aerobic (mixed)
Put it to work
on the ice.
The Elite Hockey Drills app builds exercises like this into a personalized off-ice program — created by a sport scientist and former national-team coach. Your first week is free.
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