The burpee sit-thru is a bodyweight movement that adds a rotating leg pass-through to a burpee, training the core to control rotation while you breathe hard. The burpee gets you to the floor and the sit-thru turns the trunk under load, so one rep asks for pressing strength, hip mobility, and rotational control in sequence. It belongs in conditioning work, where the rep count is high and the quality of each turn still matters.
Muscles Targeted
- Primary: rectus abdominis, obliques
- Secondary: pectoralis major, anterior deltoids, quadriceps
- Tertiary: triceps brachii, gluteus maximus, hip flexors
Starting Position
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart on a clear patch of floor with room to rotate. Keep your knees soft, your chest up, and your abs braced. You need enough space for a full plank in front of you and for one leg to sweep out to the side. Bare floor or a mat both work.
Execution Steps
- Squat down and plant your hands on the floor just outside your feet.
- Jump or step your feet back into a plank with the body in one line.
- Lower your chest to the floor and press back up into the plank position.
- Pull one knee under your body and sweep that leg through to the opposite side.
- Turn your hips to face upward as the leg passes, keeping the opposite hand planted.
- Reverse the sweep back to the plank, then stand up and repeat on the other side.
Form Cues
- Keep the hips low on the sweep: a high hip turns the sit-thru into a scramble and loses the core work.
- Press the planted hand down: driving through that arm gives the rotation something to turn against.
- Look toward the leg that is passing through so the head and trunk move together.
- Land your feet quietly on the way back to the plank.
- Breathe on a fixed rhythm rather than holding your breath through each rep.
Common Mistakes
- Sagging hips in the plank: a dropped middle turns the push-up portion of the rep into a lower back exercise.
- Rushing the sweep: speed pulls the shoulder out of position and loses the rotation control you came here for.
- Letting the planted elbow bend: a collapsing arm on the turn is the most common way this movement hurts a shoulder.
- Skipping the push-up: leaving it out makes the set easier but removes half of what the movement trains.
- Alternating unevenly: sweeping the same leg every rep builds a side difference over a long conditioning session.
Variations
- Sit-thru only: dropping the burpee isolates the rotation and suits beginners.
- Burpee: the base movement without the sweep, for pure conditioning.
- Bear crawl sit-thru: adding a crawl between reps raises the shoulder demand.
- Burpee box jump: swaps the sweep for a jump when power is the goal.
- Step-back burpee sit-thru: stepping instead of jumping cuts the impact on the knees.
Tips for Progression
- Add reps before speed, building to 10 clean reps per side.
- Add rounds rather than stretching out a single long set.
- Slow the sweep down and pause with the hips open for two seconds.
- Add a weighted vest only when every rep still hits a full plank.
Training Notes
Use the burpee sit-thru in a conditioning block at the end of a session, for 4 rounds of 8 to 10 reps per side with 60 seconds of rest. Once or twice a week is enough given the shoulder volume. It pairs well with a heavy carry or a plank, which train the trunk to resist movement while this one trains it to rotate.