The 6-count military burpee, or 6-count for short, is a six-part compound movement that recruits every major muscle group. The core is engaged throughout the movement (counts 1-6). The legs and posterior chain are working hard at the start and end of the movement (counts 1-2, 5-6). And in between the leg work, at the center of the movement (counts 3-4), the upper body is in the limelight. You’ll get a better idea of what I’m talking about if you watch the brief tutorial video below.

Your 6-count training will condition and strengthen your entire body, but where the 6-count really excels is in building leg strength and cardiovascular fitness. After 18 months of training 6-counts, my resting heart rate had dropped from 70 bpm to 45 bpm.

The Navy Seal burpee, or Navy Seal for short, is the stuff of legend. There is dispute about where and how exactly it originated; but whoever invented this movement deserves a Nobel prize. No calisthenics movement builds upper body strength like this movement. None. It has genius, power, and magic in it.

With 10 component parts, the Navy Seal is a more complex movement than the 6-count. As with the 6-count, the navy seal starts and finishes (counts 1-2, 9-10) with leg work. The upper-body magic happens between those counts. As you move through counts 3-8, your core, chest, shoulders, triceps, scapula, traps, and lats synergize with one another in a way that will shock your body and stimulate muscle growth. This brief tutorial video takes you through all ten counts of the movement:

The Navy Seal is an effective device for building cardiovascular fitness, especially if you call out all ten counts of the movement, as we do in BDP. It doesn’t condition the legs like the 6-count. But for building upper body strength and mass, no bodyweight movement on earth comes even remotely close. 6-counts will get you strong and fit. Navy Seals will get you ripped.

Recall our strict 80-minute training budget. On a standard week of BDP, you will allot 40 minutes to your 6-count training and 40 minutes to your Navy Seal training.