Hyrox Burpee Broad Jump Technique: The Station That Decides the Race

Round 4 of Hyrox is where the wheels fall off. Burpee broad jumps - 80 meters of burpee + jump combinations - gas everyone. Strong athletes are reduced to walking-pace jumps. Cardio specialists run out of leg power. The station rewards efficient form over raw power. This guide is how to find that efficiency.

The Hyrox burpee broad jump standard

Element	Detail
Distance	80m total, both Open and Pro divisions
Movement	Burpee → broad jump → repeat
No-rep penalty	Hands must touch ground at the bottom of the burpee; chest must touch ground (most venues - verify per event)
Direction	One-way 80m or out-and-back depending on venue (40m + 40m)

The math: a typical jump is 1.0–1.5m. So you’re looking at 55–80 burpee broad jumps in a row.

What kills people at this station

Three failure modes, in order of frequency:

1. Standing up between burpees - adds a wasted vertical motion that costs energy and time
2. Jumping too far - early-station heroics that you can’t sustain past meter 30
3. No-rep loops - chest or hands not touching ground; getting sent back to redo

Avoiding these = surviving the station.

The optimal cadence

The fastest burpee broad jumpers don’t think of it as “burpee → broad jump → recover → burpee.” They think of it as one continuous flowing movement with no pause anywhere.

The sequence:

1. Drop to ground (chest taps lightly - don’t slam)
2. Push off ground with arms while feet snap forward
3. Don’t fully stand - stay slightly hinged
4. Hop forward (modest distance - 1.0m is plenty)
5. Land + drop immediately - no pause at top, no full standing position

The whole sequence takes about 2.5–3.5 seconds for fit athletes; 3.5–5 for first-timers.

Jump distance: shorter is faster

Counterintuitive but proven: shorter jumps win. Here’s why.

A 2-meter jump requires 1.5–2 seconds of “loading” - the squat-down before the explosive push. A 1-meter jump requires 0.5–1 second of loading.

Math: 80m at 2m/jump = 40 jumps × ~5 seconds each = 200 seconds. 80m at 1m/jump = 80 jumps × ~3 seconds each = 240 seconds.

So 2m jumps win? Yes, if you can sustain them. But fatigue rapidly compresses 2m jumps to 1m anyway. The athlete who jumps 2m for the first 20m and 0.5m for the last 60m is slower than the athlete who jumps 1.0m the entire way.

The rule: find your sustainable jump distance. For most athletes, it’s between 0.8m and 1.2m. Train at that distance. Race at that distance.

The “low-form burpee” - your secret weapon

Hyrox rules require chest contact (most events) but don’t require a full lockout at the top. Use this.

The low-form burpee:

• Drop with chest contact
• Push back to a quarter-squat (NOT a full standing position)
• Hop forward from the quarter-squat
• Drop directly back down

By staying in a half-squat throughout, you save 0.5–1 second per rep on the standing-up phase. Across 80 reps that’s 40–80 seconds saved.

Watch the rules at YOUR specific event - most allow this; some have stricter standards. Don’t get caught by a no-rep at a stricter venue.

Hand and foot placement

Hands during burpee:

• Shoulder-width apart, just outside chest
• Fingers spread, weight distributed
• Avoid hands too far forward - you’ll have to push back too far

Feet during burpee:

• Snap forward to land just outside hands (athletic stance)
• Don’t try to land in a perfect deep squat - too much depth wastes energy
• Forefoot strike, not flat foot

Common faults:

• Hands too narrow (push-up position) - slows down the snap
• Hands too far forward - increases push-back distance
• Feet land too narrow - destabilizes the jump

Breathing strategy

Burpee broad jumps are anaerobic-aerobic blend. Most athletes hold breath for 2–3 reps then gasp.

Better pattern:

• Inhale during the hop forward (the brief upright moment)
• Exhale during the chest-touch (compresses the chest, forces air out)
• One full breath cycle per rep

In training, practice this consciously for 10 reps. After 2 weeks it becomes automatic.

Pacing within the 80m

This is a “bank energy early, spend it late” station - opposite of sled push.

Optimal pacing:

• First 20m: smooth and controlled, 70% effort. Don’t show off.
• Middle 40m: find rhythm. The “grinding middle” where most athletes break.
• Last 20m: push when you can; accept micro-rests if needed.

Counterintuitive: most athletes speed up at the end (“I can see the line!”) and burn out their last 5 reps. Faster total time comes from even pacing throughout.

Common technique faults

Fault	Cost	Fix
Standing fully between reps	+1s/rep × 80 reps = 80s	Stay in quarter-squat
Jumping too far early	Burnout by meter 40	Shorter jumps (~1m), even pacing
Chest not touching	Re-do = 5–10s penalty	Tap chest deliberately, don’t bounce
Hands and feet far apart	Slow snap-forward	Hands shoulder-width, feet land just outside hands
Holding breath	Anaerobic shutdown by meter 30	One breath cycle per rep

Training the burpee broad jump

This station is the most punishing to train because there’s no shortcut - you have to do them.

Weekly volume in 16-week prep:

• Weeks 1–4: 3 sets × 10m unbroken (focus: cadence, no time pressure)
• Weeks 5–8: 4 sets × 20m, rest 60s between (focus: efficient form)
• Weeks 9–11: 3 sets × 40m, rest 90s (focus: pacing simulation)
• Weeks 12–13: 1 set × 60m unbroken (race-pace simulation)
• Weeks 14–15: cut volume; one short session weekly
• Week 16: skip entirely (race week)

Don’t do them every day. Burpee broad jumps wreck quads, lower back, and shoulders. Twice a week is enough; more is counterproductive.

A drill that works: the metronome burpee

Set a metronome (or any beep app) to 30 BPM (one beep every 2 seconds). Do burpee broad jumps in time with the beeps - one rep per beep.

This forces consistent cadence and exposes form breakdown immediately. When you can hold 30 BPM for 60 reps without breaking form, your race-pace burpee broad jump is in the top 20% of athletes.

What I do in training

For full transparency: I do burpee broad jumps twice weekly in race-prep blocks. Tuesday is form-focused (low volume, video-recorded for review). Friday is race-pace (a 60m or 80m simulated effort). I never do them three times in a week - body breaks down.

I also film one set per month and watch it back. Form drift is invisible to the athlete inside the rep but obvious on video. Highly recommended.

Track every burpee broad jump session - distance, time, form notes, breakdowns - in the Hyrox Training Logbook. Two months of data shows your trajectory; one session shows nothing.

What to do this week

1. Film one burpee broad jump session - side angle, 30 seconds
2. Time a 20m unbroken effort - log as your week-1 baseline
3. Try the metronome drill at 30 BPM for 30 seconds
4. Identify your breakdown rep - the rep where form falls apart. That’s your training target.

Related reading

• Hyrox Training Plan for Beginners
• Hyrox Sled Push Technique
• Hyrox Wall Ball Technique
• What is Hyrox?

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Part of the Kitaborn Hyrox series. Books born with purpose.