How to pace burpees
By Hlynur Stefánsson · Updated 26 October 2026 · Published 2 July 2026
Burpees are simple. Pacing them is where it falls apart. You know the target, like 100 in 20 minutes or as many as you can hold for a set time. The first two minutes feel easy, so you go out hard. Then the wheels come off. By minute eight you're gasping, your reps are scattered, and the back half turns into damage control.
This is the exact problem I kept running into, and it's why I started building Workrate. Pacing burpees comes down to one number per minute, decided before you start. Here's how to find it, and how to hold it so the last round looks like the first.
Pace beats intensity for rep targets
When your goal is a rep target inside a time budget, what counts is how evenly you can go, more than how hard. A steady pace you can hold for twenty minutes will almost always beat a fast start you can't. Going out hot spikes your heart rate early, and once you're in the red your rep rate collapses and doesn't recover. Even pacing keeps you at a rate you can hold to the end.
The math is simpler than it feels
Divide your reps by your minutes and you get the number to hold each minute.
100 burpees in 20 minutes is 5 burpees a minute. Do five every sixty seconds and you finish exactly on time. Once you know the per-minute number, you stop chasing 100 and start hitting 5, twenty times.
For seconds per rep, flip it around. 20 minutes is 1,200 seconds, and 1,200 divided by 100 reps is one burpee every 12 seconds. Here's the same math for common targets:
| Target | Per minute | Seconds per rep |
|---|---|---|
| 50 in 10 min | 5 | 12s |
| 100 in 20 min | 5 | 12s |
| 125 in 20 min | 6.3 | 9.6s |
| 100 in 10 min | 10 | 6s |
| 150 in 15 min | 10 | 6s |
| 200 in 20 min | 10 | 6s |
If you want it done for you, the free burpee pace calculator turns any target and time into a minute-by-minute plan.
Pick a pacing strategy
There's more than one way to pace a session. These three work for most:
- Every minute (EMOM-style). Do your per-minute number at the top of each minute, then rest until the next one. It's predictable and easy to track, and the rest in each minute helps you keep good form.
- Steady grind. Keep moving the whole time at a slow, continuous pace. It's harder mentally, but efficient when your target is high relative to the clock.
- Sets with short breaks. Break the total into chunks, say 10 sets of 10, with a few planned seconds between them. Good when the per-minute number is too high to do unbroken.
Pick one before you start. If you wait to decide until you're gassed mid-workout, you end up improvising and fading.
A worked example: 125 burpees in 20 minutes
125 in 20 is 6.25 a minute, which isn't a clean number. Round down to 6 a minute and you finish 5 short. Round up to 7 and you're over-reaching every minute. Instead, do 6 a minute and add the 5 extra reps to five of the twenty minutes, spread out rather than front-loaded. You're on pace at every check-in and finish at exactly 125.
When to switch to step-back burpees
On fast targets of 10 or more a minute, or a rep every 6 seconds or less, jump-back form starts to break down late in a session. If you can't jump back cleanly at your pace anymore, step back instead. A steady step-back rep keeps your rhythm. A scrappy jump-back rep costs you more than the second it saves.
The mistakes that wreck the back half
- Going out hot. This is the most common one. An easy first minute doesn't mean you can go faster.
- Watching the clock instead of moving. Every glance is a rep you're not doing. Set a plan and let something else keep time.
- No plan at all. "As many as I can" becomes a fast start and a slow crawl. A number to hold each minute prevents that.
Put it together
Take your target, get your per-minute pace, pick a strategy, and hold that pace. Aim to be exactly on pace at each check-in, not ahead. Being ahead early means you borrowed from the back half. Decide the pace before you're tired, then stick to it.
Pacing burpees: FAQ
What is a good pace for burpees?
The one you can hold to the last minute. Take your target, divide by your minutes, and start at that number, not faster. If the last few minutes are your fastest, you can raise the target next time.
Should I do burpees unbroken or in sets?
If your per-minute number is low enough to finish with rest left in each minute, do it unbroken at the top of the minute. If it isn't, break the total into small sets with planned short breaks before you get tired, not after.
When should I switch to step-back burpees?
When your target needs a rep every few seconds and you can no longer jump back cleanly, stepping back keeps your rhythm steady. A consistent step-back rep beats a sloppy jump-back one, and it's easier to hold over a long session.
How do I stop checking the clock?
Decide the per-minute number before you start and use a timer that calls each round, so the clock tells you when to move instead of you checking it.
Let Workrate keep the pace
This is what Workrate does during the workout. You give it the target, it builds the per-minute plan, and it calls your pace with audio cues, so you can move without doing math or watching the clock. It's on the App Store now, and the Android beta is open.
