Running bit
Burpee-Free Zone
The studio is officially a burpee-free zone, declared in episode one and upheld through the series — though the hosts spent an entire episode investigating the exercise they refuse to do.
In episode one, Kathy named burpees as the worst piece of fitness advice she could give a beginner, and Jason declared the studio a burpee-free zone. By the one-year anniversary, Jason confirmed he had not done a single burpee since making the episode about them.
The episode itself (“Do Burpees Actually Work?”) was prompted partly by listener demand and partly by a promise made in the pilot. It turned out to be one of the most prep-intensive early episodes, and resulted in a grudging rehabilitation of the burpee’s reputation. Royal H. Burpee — yes, that was his real name — designed the move in the 1930s as a simple cardiovascular fitness test, not a punishment. The US military added the jump, CrossFit added the suffering.
Kathy’s original objection stands: burpees require substantial core, hip, and back extensor strength to perform safely. Beginners who do them anyway are feeding the physical therapy economy. The studio remains burpee-free.
First seen in Science with a Smirk: Our Evidence-Based Approach to Health.