30-Day Burpee Challenge: The Full Chart

Most 30-day burpee charts start at 10 and climb to 100 or more by day 30, with no rest days and no option for anyone who can't yet drop to the floor and jump back up ten times in a row. Burpees don't forgive that kind of plan. They're a squat, a plank, a push-up and a jump chained together, and they leave you out of breath in a way a squat chart never will.

This chart starts much lower on purpose. You get three tiers, a full day-by-day chart for each, a rest day every seventh day, easier versions for when full burpees aren't there yet, and a max test on day 30 so you can compare against day 1. Pick the tier that matches what you can do today.

01 How the 30-day burpee challenge works

A 30-day burpee challenge is a volume goal with a deadline. You pick a total number of burpees, spread it across a month in slowly rising daily targets, and check off each day. You don't need equipment. You need a patch of floor about as long as you are tall and a few minutes a day.

If you've done our 30-day squat challenge, these numbers will look tiny next to it. That's deliberate. A squat works your legs. A burpee works nearly everything, and it drives your heart rate up quickly, so each rep costs far more. In a small lab study, a few 30-second all-out rounds of modified burpees pushed moderately trained young adults to roughly 85% of their peak heart rate on average. That was close to what the same people reached on all-out sprint cycling.

So the chart follows three rules:

• It starts low and climbs slowly. Week one is short on purpose.
• It has rest built in. Every seventh day is off, with no burpees at all.
• It's scaled to you. An honest max test picks your tier, and easier versions keep the chart doable on day 1.

02 How to do a burpee

There are a lot of variations, but the standard burpee most charts mean has six steps:

1. Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart.
2. Squat down and put your hands flat on the floor just outside your feet.
3. Jump or step your feet back into a high plank. Your body should form a straight line from head to heels, with your hips level.
4. Do one push-up (optional in many versions, and required in some).
5. Jump or step your feet back in toward your hands.
6. Stand up and jump, reaching overhead, then land softly with your knees bent.

Form usually breaks down in the same few places:

• Sagging hips in the plank. Brace your stomach like you're about to be poked. If your lower back sinks, switch to stepping back.
• Crashing down into the push-up. Lower yourself with control. If you can't, skip the push-up or do it from your knees. Our first push-up guide covers how to build it up.
• Stiff-legged landings. Land on the balls of your feet and let your knees and hips bend to absorb the jump.
• Racing the clock. Speed comes last. Six clean reps are worth more than ten messy ones, especially on a 30-day plan where fatigue builds day after day.

Whichever version you choose, count only the reps that match it. If the chart says 20 and you did 12 full burpees and 8 step-back ones, log 20 and note the mix. That record tells you exactly how far you've come.

03 Pick your tier: 300, 600 or 1,200

Before day 1, do one max test. Warm up for a few minutes, then do full burpees at a steady pace until your form starts to break down: hips sagging, landings getting heavy, push-ups turning into flops. Stop there, not when you collapse. Write the number down. You'll repeat this exact test on day 30.

If you land right on a boundary, take the lower tier. Burpee fatigue builds up quietly, and day 12 of a tier that's too hard feels a lot worse than day 12 of one that fits.

For perspective, a large study that built fitness norms for the 3-minute burpee test from nearly 10,000 university students aged 18-25 found averages of about 57 burpees in three minutes for men and about 49 for women. Those students were young and doing an all-out timed test, so treat the numbers as a reference point, not a target.

04 The full 30-day burpee chart

Here are all 30 days for each tier. The standard column is exactly double the starter column, and the advanced column is exactly four times it. If your tier turns out to be wrong in week one, you can switch columns without losing your place.

Day 29 is lighter so you go into the test fresh. On day 30, do the max set first, then make up whatever reps are left to reach the day's total. If your max set already beats it, you're done.

Run this chart without printing it

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05 Splitting the daily reps into sets

You're not meant to do any day in one set. On day 27 of the advanced tier, 68 burpees in a row would be a test of stubbornness, not a training day. Split them up.

This rule works for every tier: keep each set to about half your max and stop while your form is still clean. If your max is 10, work in sets of 4-6. You don't lose anything by stopping short. A systematic review of resistance training research found no evidence that going all the way to failure builds more muscle than stopping a few reps before it. With burpees, sets taken to failure are also where landings get heavy and hips start to sag.

You can do the sets back to back with a minute or two of rest, or spread them across the day. Burpees work well as exercise snacks. A set of five before lunch and another before dinner gets your heart rate up without needing a full workout, and every rep stays clean because you never get very tired.

06 Easier and harder versions

Can't do full burpees yet? Do the chart anyway with a version that fits. Keep the rep counts exactly as written and change the movement instead. This is the part most printable charts leave out, and it's the main reason people quit them in the first week.

• Step-back burpee - step your feet back into the plank one at a time and step them back in. No jumping, much less impact, and still a full-body move.
• No-push-up burpee - go down to the plank, hold it for a moment and come back up. Many charts use this as the standard burpee anyway.
• Elevated burpee - put your hands on a sturdy bench, a step or a kitchen counter instead of the floor. The higher the surface, the easier the rep.
• No-jump finish - stand up and reach overhead instead of jumping. This is a good choice if you're working out in an upstairs apartment or your knees don't like landings.

Aim to reach the full version over the 30 days instead of demanding it on day 1. Mixing is fine too. Doing the first half of the day's reps as full burpees and the rest as step-backs is a perfectly good week two.

If the advanced column feels easy by week two, don't just add more reps. Make each rep harder: add a tuck jump at the top, do two push-ups at the bottom, or time your sets and try to finish them faster without letting your form slip.

07 Rest days, soreness and your joints

Days 7, 14, 21 and 28 are empty on purpose. The training is the stimulus, and your body adapts while it recovers. Skipping rest days won't speed up a 30-day block. It just makes it more likely you'll quit in week three with sore wrists and tired legs.

Missing a day isn't a disaster either. In a meta-analysis of studies that matched total weekly volume, how often people trained made no significant difference to strength gains, and weekly volume was the main driver. If you miss Tuesday, spread its burpees over the rest of the week instead of starting over.

Expect some soreness in the first week, especially in your legs, chest and shoulders. In one small crossover study, burpee intervals left people noticeably sorer 48 hours later than a short run of similar length did. That kind of soreness generally peaks a day or two after exercise and fades on its own. It also gets milder quickly, thanks to a well-documented adaptation called the repeated bout effect: one bout of exercise reduces the soreness from similar bouts that follow.

Burpees also put more load on your joints than most bodyweight moves. Your wrists take your weight every time you drop to the floor, and your knees and ankles absorb every landing. If your wrists complain, try the elevated version or do the plank on your fists. If landings bother your knees, switch to the step-back or no-jump version for a while.

08 What 30 days of burpees will and won't do

First, realistic expectations: 30 days is a real training block, not a body transformation. Most people who finish notice that the first ten burpees stop feeling brutal, their max set goes up, and they get their breath back faster between sets. Many also end up with a daily habit, which may be worth more than the reps themselves.

There's reasonable evidence that short, simple bodyweight workouts built around moves like burpees can improve fitness. In a 2021 trial, inactive young adults did an 11-minute routine of burpees, high knees and jump squats three times a week for six weeks. Afterward they had higher peak oxygen uptake, a standard measure of cardiorespiratory fitness, than a control group that didn't train. It was a small study with just 19 people, so treat it as encouraging rather than conclusive.

Other studies show the limits. When Army ROTC cadets swapped their usual hour of physical training for a few rounds of all-out burpees over four weeks, their fitness held steady but didn't improve. Their regular training didn't improve it either, so a short burpee block may be better at keeping fitness than building it in people who are already fit. In another trial, very short burpee intervals improved vertical jump height, but body composition didn't change in any group.

That last point matters because "burpees for weight loss" is one of the most common reasons people start. Burpees are demanding and they do burn energy, but a month of daily burpees on its own is unlikely to change your weight much. Diet, sleep and your total daily activity matter far more. The World Health Organization recommends regular aerobic activity plus muscle-strengthening work for all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week. Burpees cover part of that, not all of it.

One more point in their favor: people may actually like them better than you'd expect. In a small crossover study, participants rated a burpee interval session as more enjoyable than a steady run of similar length, and they said they'd be more willing to do it regularly. A workout you're willing to repeat usually beats a better-designed one you skip.

09 Day 31 and beyond

The most common way to waste a finished challenge is to stop cold on day 31. Pick your next step before you get there:

• Move up a tier. Finished 300? Start the 600 chart. With a month of work behind you, the numbers will feel very different.
• Make each rep harder instead of adding more. Add a push-up, add a tuck jump, or time a set of 20 and try to beat it every week with clean form.
• Pair it with strength work. Burpees build conditioning, and a month of push-ups or squats builds strength. The 30-day push-up challenge and the 30-day squat challenge use the same chart format, so it's easy to switch.
• Keep the move, drop the chart. A set of ten burpees every morning is enough to keep what you built without scheduling anything.

Whatever you choose, keep tracking it. A visible record makes it easier to keep going than to break the streak. Our guide to building an exercise habit that sticks covers the rest.

10 Frequently asked questions

Does the 30-day burpee challenge actually work?

It works for what it's designed to do: build conditioning and full-body endurance, improve your burpee form and create a daily habit. A small 2021 trial found that an 11-minute bodyweight routine including burpees, done three times a week for six weeks, improved cardiorespiratory fitness in inactive young adults. It won't transform your body in a month, and results vary from person to person.

How many burpees a day should a beginner do?

In this chart the starter tier runs from 6 a day in week one to 17 a day in week four, averaging about 12 across the training days. Start with a number you can do in clean sets without going to failure. If full burpees aren't there yet, keep the rep counts and use the step-back or no-push-up version instead of cutting the numbers.

Is it OK to do burpees every day?

You don't need to, and this chart builds in a full rest day every seventh day. Burpees put repeated load on your wrists, shoulders, knees and ankles, and your body adapts during recovery rather than during the sets. Taking regular rest days generally makes it easier to finish the month without joint irritation or heavy soreness building up.

Are burpees cardio or strength training?

Mostly cardio, with some strength. A small study found that all-out burpee intervals pushed heart rate to roughly 85% of peak on average, close to all-out sprint cycling. Burpees also work your legs, chest, shoulders and core, but because the load is only your body weight, a dedicated push-up or squat plan builds strength more directly.

Will a 30-day burpee challenge help me lose weight?

It can add to your total activity, but on its own it's unlikely to change your weight much in a month. In one trial of short burpee interval training, body composition didn't change. Weight change depends mostly on diet, sleep and your overall activity, so treat the challenge as one part of a bigger routine.

Are burpees bad for your knees or back?

Burpees aren't inherently bad for healthy joints, but they involve repeated landings and a plank that can strain your lower back if your hips sag. Land softly with bent knees, keep your stomach braced, and switch to the step-back or no-jump version if anything feels irritated. If you already have knee, back, wrist or shoulder problems, talk to a doctor or physical therapist before starting.

What if I miss a day?

Spread the missed reps across the rest of the week rather than starting over. A meta-analysis of studies that matched total weekly volume found training frequency made no significant difference to strength gains, which suggests your weekly total matters more than the exact days you train.

How many burpees in 3 minutes is good?

A study that built norms for the 3-minute burpee test from nearly 10,000 university students aged 18-25 found averages of about 57 burpees for men and about 49 for women. Those are young adults doing an all-out test, so use them as a rough reference rather than a goal, and compare yourself mainly against your own day 1 result.

Track every burpee, not just the good days

RepDrop counts your reps, splits any goal into sets, and keeps your streak visible so day 19 is as easy to start as day 1. Free on iPhone and Android with no account needed. Burpees and 14 other exercises come with Pro.