There's a common misconception that sprinting and burpees are the best forms of exercise for fat loss.

While the statement holds some truth, the downside can be quite harsh. Why? Well, Celebrity trainer John Rusin revealed a drastic revelation.

On December 10, Rusin made a post on his Instagram handle, which was quite controversial but made absolute sense. He uploaded a photo of the most injury-prone exercises of all time.

The list included sprinting, barbell deadlifts, overhead press, back squats, bent-over rows, bench press, upright rows, high box jumps, preacher curls, and burpees, finishing with burpees.

Quite controversial, however, he found support from another prominent coach, Joe DeFranco, who has trained the likes of David Diehl, Michael Perez, Triple H, and Liv Morgan.

DeFranco took to the comments section, adding, ‘This list is going to trigger a lot of people, but it's not wrong.”

According to a study at Mayo Clinic, the Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center back in 2018, a group of 100 adult participants completed a six-week, high-intensity functional training program. The results?

The participants self-reported injuries, with their back and knees being the most affected. The study further asserts that burpees and squats emerged as the movements most frequently associated with injury events.

The evidence may not be conclusive; however, it highlights how injury-prone burpees can be when performed regularly. SO, how to avoid the pain? Well, let’s have a look at that.

How to ease the pain?

Rather than brupees and sprinting, individuals should be employing structured strength and resistance training. Why? As per studies, these training modules have shown to reduce musculoskeletal injury risk and severity by improving muscular strength, joint stability, and neuromuscular control.

According to the studies, multifacted strength training program not only cuts fat faster but also reduces the risk of knee injury rates by a massive 29%. In addition to that, another study revealed that 12-week-long high-load strength training demonstrated lower overall injury incidence and burden in athletes exposed to structured resistance training.

The bottom line: While burpees and sprinting are effective for cardio, the injuries individuals risk from these movements often outweigh the benefits; a safer alternative is to substitute them with treadmill or machine-based runs combined with structured strength training.

Written by

Suryakant Das

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu