Sprawls are an alternative exercise to burpees. If you get tired of burpees, why not add this popular and explosive exercise to your next workout? In the meantime, I wanted to know what would happen to my body if I did 80 sprawls every day for a week.

Burpees are an intense full-body workout that can be composed of a strength and conditioning workout, a cardio circuit, a finisher, or any part in between. However, I prefer to hit the floor with a sprawl instead.

If you're not familiar with the sprawl, it's a (bonus) weighted burpee variation that is gentle on the lower back and doesn't require you to lower your chest to the floor. Instead, jump your feet to the outside of your hands. This movement uses explosive power and speed to increase reps and work multiple muscle groups, including shoulder, chest, core, and leg muscles.

Sprawls also raise the heart rate and create an explosive rhythm that helps develop muscle, strength, and power. I tried it out on my yoga mat, which is ideal for training at home. Here's what happened to my body.

Sprawls are also known as gorilla burpees because of the forward jumping posture. This movement is characteristic of flexibility workouts and other types of gym classes, and if you want to forget the burpee, these two alternatives will build full-body strength and power (one of which is the sprawl). These work the core, buttocks, and leg muscles primarily, but jumping back into a plank position activates the same muscles in the shoulders, chest, and hips. Without the chest-to-floor movement, the movement is similar to the lower body during burpees.

Avoid rounding the spine or hyperextending the hips. If the hip flexors are tight, avoid landing on the balls of the feet, practice stepping first, and extend the back as needed. Mobility exercises for hip flexor pain are also recommended to relieve tension in the hip flexors. This movement should feel fast and powerful, similar to a rocking motion.

Sprawls target the entire body.

Because the sprawl is fast and explosive, there is little time to rest and the heart rate jumps quickly. I may have done 10 or 20 as part of my workout routine, but I don't think I ever did 80 (unless I was mentally blocking it).

Some exercises are better to just rip the band-aid off and be done with it, so I decided to do all my reps in one session each time. I tried to keep the reps consistent and not do them too fast so I wouldn't burn out in the process. It worked, but I was a shaky, sweaty mess and collapsed when I was done. Not surprisingly, sprawl is a defensive move derived from Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling, and other mixed martial arts (open in new tab) and often used in grappling.

Beginners may choose to step rather than jump to practice the move before progressing. Also, adding blocks (we love this $10 accessory) or a higher surface to place your hands on makes them more accessible on higher reps.

I enjoy exercises that work the core muscles hard in ways people might not expect. For example, exercises like deadlifts are not considered distinctly "core" exercises like situps, but the core is very important in supporting and propelling the exercise.

I concentrated on squeezing my abs, especially during the jump back. Without a strong core, it is easier to drop back during this phase, which can overstretch the lumbar spine and cause back pain. To maintain good form, contract as many muscles as possible, including the chest, glutes, and quads, and tighten your body as you jump.

It wasn't just my core that I felt the next day. My hip flexors, shoulders, and legs were sore from doing 80 reps every day without warning. It was better than 80 burpees, though.

It was no surprise that this exercise started to get boring around day 3 or 4. I got into a better rhythm and could switch off halfway through, but decided to add more movement in the remaining days.

I began with small movements like lifting my arms overhead in an overhead squat to test shoulder mobility and stabilize my upper body and hips. Then I moved on to frog leaps (explosive jumps forward from a low squat position) to test core and lower body power. This works the quads in a seesaw motion by lifting the hips up and back from a low squat position (see figure below).

It's sadistic. But it's more fun and the reps are more bearable.

Of course, the reps slowed down as I got tired, but overall my time to completion improved. I had no expectation of finishing within a certain time, but I was curious about the timing. I didn't think a week of sprawl would have much of an effect, but at the end of the seven days, I felt like my entire body was working harder and my reps felt stronger and faster.

I don't think I would do this again, but I think I could take on a few sprawl races in CrossFit.

Next up: the fitness editor did 100 heel taps a day for a week, and I tried some stretches from Stretch Lab to increase flexibility and strength.