What Is a Navy Seal Burpee?

A Navy Seal burpee is a 10-count variation of the American military burpee in which, after dropping to a plank, you perform three push-ups with a knee-to-elbow drive between each one, then jump your feet in and stand. It contains no jump and no clap.

It is the more advanced of the two Sacred Movements in the Busy Dad Program, where it is trained for 40 minutes a week, and the one responsible for the programme's reputation for building upper-body strength without a single piece of equipment.

Until recently the movement was almost unknown outside US military and prison training culture. It reached a wider audience through Max Edwards' follow-along Navy Seal burpee workouts on YouTube, which Men's Health and Yahoo have both covered.

Written by Max Edwards, creator of Busy Dad Training · Updated 2026-09-03

Navy Seal burpee: quick facts

Counts per rep

10

Push-ups per rep

3, with a knee drive after the first and second

Equipment

None

Primary muscles

Chest, shoulders, triceps, lats, traps, scapular stabilisers, core

Secondary

Quads, glutes, hamstrings, calves; cardiovascular system

Time per rep

Roughly 8 seconds at a steady pace

Difficulty

Intermediate to advanced; 1 rep is Level 1A, 150 in 20 minutes is Graduation

Weekly volume in BDP

40 minutes (two 20-minute sessions)

How to do a Navy Seal burpee, count by count

1. 1Counts 1–2: Drop and kick backFrom standing, squat and place your hands flat on the floor about shoulder-width apart. Kick both feet back into a strong plank: straight line from head to heels, core braced.
2. 2Counts 3–8: Three push-ups with knee drivesLower your chest to the floor and press back up to plank (push-up one). Drive your right knee to your right elbow and return it. Push-up two. Drive your left knee to your left elbow and return it. Push-up three. Call out every count; the calling out keeps the rhythm and the breathing honest.
3. 3Counts 9–10: Jump in and standJump your feet back to your hands, then stand up tall. That is one repetition. There is no jump and no clap at the top; the next rep starts as soon as you are standing.

Watch the tutorial

What the Navy Seal burpee builds

The Navy Seal burpee is unusual among bodyweight movements because it builds muscle. Three full push-ups per rep, performed under a raised heart rate and without rest between them, put a large amount of quality volume through the chest, shoulders and triceps. The knee drives load the core and hip flexors while the upper body holds a plank, which is what makes the lats, traps and scapular stabilisers work as hard as the pressing muscles.

It is also a conditioning movement. A practitioner at Level 2A completes 80 Navy Seal burpees in 20 minutes, which is 240 push-ups and 160 knee drives at a sustained pace. In the Busy Dad Program the 6-count is described as the movement that builds the engine; the Navy Seal is the one that builds the frame.

It does not condition the legs the way a 6-count does. That is why the programme pairs the two and never trains one alone.

Navy Seal burpee vs 6-count burpee vs CrossFit burpee

Three movements share the name "burpee" and have very little else in common. The table shows what actually happens in each rep.

How many Navy Seal burpees should you be able to do in 20 minutes?

In the Busy Dad Program every level is unlocked by a Landmark Workout: as many Navy Seal burpees as you can complete in a strict 20-minute window, every count called out. These are the targets.

For context, 20 in 20 minutes (Level 1B) is a realistic first goal for most men who can already do a few push-ups. 100 in 20 minutes (Level 3A) is elite conditioning. Graduation, 150 in 20 minutes in the same week as 325 6-counts, has been reached by only a small number of practitioners.

Common mistakes

• Skipping the third push-upUnder fatigue the last push-up quietly disappears. A rep is three push-ups; anything less is a different movement.
• Half-depth push-upsChest to the floor every time. Shortening the range to keep the count up is how people reach Level 2 numbers with Level 1 strength.
• Sagging hips on the knee driveThe drive is a plank movement. If the hips drop or pike, the core is no longer doing its job.
• Adding a jumpThere is no jump. The movement is already long enough; a jump adds fatigue without adding training effect.
• Not calling the countsCalling out all ten counts sets the tempo, forces you to breathe, and is the standard the programme's benchmarks are measured against.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Navy Seal burpee?

A Navy Seal burpee is a 10-count military burpee: squat and kick back to a plank (counts 1–2), perform three push-ups with a knee-to-elbow drive after the first and second (counts 3–8), then jump your feet in and stand (counts 9–10). There is no jump or clap. It is one of the two movements in the Busy Dad Program.

How many push-ups are in a Navy Seal burpee?

Three. Each is a full push-up, chest to the floor, and a knee drive separates the first from the second and the second from the third.

What muscles does a Navy Seal burpee work?

Chest, shoulders and triceps from the three push-ups; lats, traps and the scapular stabilisers from holding and moving in the plank; the core and hip flexors from the knee drives; and the quads, glutes and hamstrings from the squat and stand. It also places a substantial demand on the cardiovascular system.

Is a Navy Seal burpee harder than a regular burpee?

Yes. A gym-class burpee has one chest-to-floor movement and a jump; a Navy Seal burpee has three full push-ups and two knee drives per rep. It takes roughly twice as long per rep as a 6-count military burpee and is far more demanding on the upper body.

How many Navy Seal burpees should I be able to do?

Measured in a 20-minute window, the Busy Dad Program's levels are: 1 (Level 1A), 20 (1B), 40 (1C), 60 (1D), 80 (2A), 90 (2B), 100 (3A), 110 (3B), 120 (4A), 135 (4B) and 150 for Graduation. Twenty in 20 minutes is a good first target.

Why is it called a Navy Seal burpee?

The name comes from the movement's association with US military conditioning, where multi-push-up burpee variations are used because they need no equipment and train the whole body. It is a variation of the American military burpee, a lineage that runs back to the four-count exercise Royal H. Burpee devised in 1939 as a fitness test.

Can I build muscle with Navy Seal burpees?

Yes. The movement delivers a high volume of full push-ups under fatigue, plus plank and knee-drive work for the back and core. Practitioners in the Busy Dad Program typically report the most visible changes in chest, shoulders and arms from Navy Seal training. Progression comes from increasing your 20-minute rep count over time, not from adding load.

How often should I do Navy Seal burpees?

The Busy Dad Program trains the Navy Seal burpee for 40 minutes a week, usually two 20-minute sessions, alongside 40 minutes of 6-count burpees. That 80-minute weekly budget is fixed, and the intensity inside it is what produces results.

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