Drill library · Burpee broad jumps

Skill · Aerobic

Burpee broad jumps drill.

The most-feared station. Fast BBJs wreck the run afterward, the heart rate spike from explosive movement takes 200+ meters of running to recover from. Most athletes pace BBJs the way they should pace wall balls: full intensity. Wrong move.

Race load + format

80 m of BBJs · No fixed rep count, it's distance covered, not reps completed

Targets: Pacing + recovery + the run after

BURPEE BROAD JUMP · TRAJECTORY ~180CM REPS · 80 TOTAL · SOFT MIDFOOT LAND ~180CM ~180CM ~180CM APEX 1 · STAND 2 · DROP 3 · COIL 4 · FLY 5 · LAND

Technique cues

Four cues that fix most issues.

Open this page mid-session. Cycle through the cues across reps. Don't try to fix all four in one set, pick one, dial it, then add the next.

Read the theory

Article · BBJ cadence that doesn't cook your legs →

Land soft, knees bent

Stiff landings spike heart rate even more and risk knee/ankle. Soft, bent-knee landings dissipate force and let you continue.

Hands plant flat, not tented

Tented hands (knuckles up) cause wrist pain over 80 m of reps. Flat palms distribute the load.

Eyes forward, not down

Looking down rotates the cervical spine forward, throws off the jump. Pick a spot 2 m ahead and aim for it.

Pace: sustainable, not maximal

BBJ pace should feel conversational hard, not race-hard. The run after is where the time is made or lost.

Common faults

What it looks like when it's going wrong.

Each fault has a diagnostic. The diagnostic tells you what to change, load, posture, cadence, rest interval, or skill cue.

Heart rate maxed at end of station

Went too hard. Pace down 10-15%, the run afterward will more than recover the time.

Jump distance shortening dramatically

Lower-body has spent itself. Smaller jumps + same cadence is fine. Massive jumps + slow cadence isn't.

Chest-to-floor too slow

Pace at the bottom is where most time is lost. Hands plant, chest down, hands up, jump, fluid not staccato.

Wrist or shoulder pain

Either tented hands or excessive force absorption. Flatter hands + softer descent.

Modifications

If equipment, injury or level is the constraint.

Substitutes that train similar capacity. None are perfect mirrors, most are 80-90% of the demand. That's enough for week-to-week progress.

No space for broad jumps

Burpees in place + a 5-meter forward jog between reps. Different but similar aerobic cost.

Wrist issue

Step-back burpees instead of jumping ones. Removes the wrist-load element.

Knee issue

Step-up broad-step burpees. No actual jump.

Suggested rep scheme: 5 × 10 BBJs at controlled pace, 90s rest. Focus on quality of jump distance + soft landings. Build to 80 m unbroken at sustainable pace over 6-8 weeks.

Related drills

What pairs with this.

→ Erg pacing → Compromised running → Wall balls
Training only. Pain that doesn't resolve within 2-3 days needs a physiotherapist, not another drill. We're a training platform, not a medical service. → Get help finding a physio

Find out what's actually costing you minutes

Is BBJ cadence your bottleneck?

Burpee broad jump efficiency is one of 8 systems we measure. Take the assessment to find out if metronome work matters most, or if running mechanics should come first.

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Related tools

Burpee Broad Jump Drill: next training move

Use this drill page with the calculator, readiness, article, and playbook pages so technique work connects back to race execution.

Race calculatorTurn drill work into station splits and a target race plan. Threshold pace calculatorSet a running anchor that survives station fatigue. Training articlesRead deeper pacing, sled, wall ball, threshold, and recovery guides. First Race PlaybookDownload the free PDF, checklist, worksheets, and audiobook. Race readiness checkCheck whether training should focus on running, stations, durability, or race execution.