Burpees Broad Jump: move faster while saving energy

Why this station costs so much energy

Burpees Broad Jump combines two intense efforts in one continuous movement: a full burpee on the ground, immediately followed by a broad jump forward, repeated over a set distance. Unlike other stations where effort is constant but moderate, this one alternates closely spaced intensity peaks, never offering a real recovery pause between reps.

It's this absence of a natural recovery plateau that explains why so many athletes, even those well-prepared cardiovascularly, find themselves out of breath after just a few reps on this station. This reality often surprises athletes coming from disciplines where effort stays more linear, like classic distance running, who expect their aerobic base alone to carry them through.

The correct technique, step by step

Going down to the ground

Lower yourself with control rather than dropping — an uncontrolled fall unnecessarily fatigues the wrists and shoulders over time. Hands land slightly wider than shoulder width, for a stable base at the moment of the push.

Standing up and jumping

Use the momentum of standing up to directly initiate the jump, without pausing between the two movements. This continuity is exactly what separates an efficient sequence from one that wastes energy on every single rep.

Landing the jump

Land with knees slightly bent, never fully extended, to absorb the impact with the legs rather than the lower back. A too-stiff landing, with straight legs, speeds up muscle fatigue and increases joint discomfort risk over the course of the whole race.

Should you jump as far as possible every time

No, and this is one of the most frequent beginner mistakes. A maximal jump every rep demands disproportionate effort relative to the actual distance gained, and quickly exhausts the legs for later stations. A moderate but perfectly repeatable jump distance, kept consistent from start to finish, is almost always faster over the whole station than alternating very long jumps followed by very short ones due to fatigue.

How to manage pace over the full distance

The temptation is strong to start fast on this station, carried by excitement or the urge to finish quickly. Yet this strategy almost always backfires: an overly intense rhythm from the first reps leads to a full collapse before the distance is complete, with increasingly long and frequent pauses.

Finding a sustainable pace from the very first rep, even if it feels slightly below what you think you can hold, generally gets you to the finish faster than an explosive start followed by a progressive slowdown. This is one of the clearest examples in the whole race where restraint genuinely outperforms aggression.

How to catch your breath during the effort

Recovery on this station happens in the micro-moments between landing the jump and initiating the next burpee. Learning to consciously release the shoulders and jaw during this split second, rather than staying in constant tension, helps limit the buildup of nervous fatigue that adds to pure muscular fatigue over time.

Adapting the technique to your level

For a beginner, a regressed version of the burpee (placing the knees on the ground before pushing back up, rather than a single fluid lowering motion) allows learning the full sequence without injury, before adding fluidity once the base technique is acquired. Similarly, the broad jump can temporarily be replaced by a forward step followed by catching up the second foot, while explosiveness for the real jump develops.

For a more experienced athlete looking to optimize time on this station, the work shifts more toward transition speed between each rep rather than learning the movement itself, which is already mastered.

The mental challenge of this station

Beyond the pure physical demand, Burpees Broad Jump carries a real psychological weight for many athletes: knowing what's coming (repeated full-body effort with no pause) can trigger anticipatory anxiety before even starting the station. Approaching it with a clear, predetermined pace plan rather than deciding rep by rep how hard to push helps reduce this mental load and keeps execution more consistent from the first rep to the last.

Common mistakes

• Pausing between the burpee and jump — breaks the natural momentum of the movement and demands extra effort to restart each rep
• Jumping with straight legs — a rigid landing fatigues more and increases joint discomfort over time
• Starting too fast — an unsustainable rhythm from the first reps leads to collapse before the station ends
• Holding your breath — retaining breath during effort increases overall tension and speeds up exhaustion

The role of ankle and hip mobility

Limited mobility in the ankles or hips noticeably complicates the low position of the burpee and landing the jump. Working on this mobility outside of sessions dedicated specifically to this station — a few minutes of targeted stretching regularly — progressively improves execution quality, with less compensation from the lower back.

How to train this station

Specific training for this station benefits from a progressive approach: first isolate the two movements (burpees alone, then broad jumps alone) to master each individually, before chaining them while specifically working on the fluidity of the transition between the two.

Incorporating burpee broad jump sets at the end of a session, on a body already fatigued by the rest of the training, prepares better for real race conditions than working them only when fresh, at the start of a session.

How this station fits into the overall course

Burpees Broad Jump comes fairly early in the station order, meaning pace management here has a direct impact on the rest of the race: excess intensity here will cost dearly several stations later. To understand how this station fits into the overall course logic, our guide to the 8 Hyrox stations explained in detail places every movement in context.

FAQ

Go further

This content is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the advice of a healthcare professional or certified coach.