Personal trainer sets burpee world record, but critics say she wasn't doing burpees

Liz Lllorente, a personal trainer from Australia, beat the record for most burpees in an hour over the weekend — or did she? (Instagram/Elizabeth Llorente)

If you dread doing burpees, this stat might make you blanch: A woman from Melbourne, Australia, on Sunday set a world record for the most burpees done in 60 minutes by a female at 1,490, topping the previous record of 1,321.

Except the internet is freaking out a bit over whether they were really burpees at all, thanks to a short video 7 News Adelaide posted to Facebook that shows her doing them.

According to the folks at Guinness World Records, the start position is with hands and feet on the ground in a plank; all Elizabeth Llorente, 37, had to do when she got to the jump position was remove her hands and feet from the ground.

So the personal trainer gives a little froglike hop rather than standing up and doing a full jump with arms to the sky; she also skips the push-up element.

"I definitely know what a burpee is," Llorente tells the Washington Post, which notes she trained for three months before undertaking the challenge and did burpee sessions as long as two hours.

She says she was just sticking to the rules and keeping "as close to the floor as possible in order to minimize energy output for the maximum number of reps in total." The video has been viewed more than 1 million times, and commenters aren't convinced.

"Still waiting for that first rep," quips one. "This literally is not even half a burpee she should do 2980!!! At least," wrote another.

Others who had quibbles did note her good intentions: Llorente raised more than $5,000 for Multiple Sclerosis Australia as part of her effort; news.com.au reports her best friend and one of her clients have MS.

This article originally appeared on Newser as "She Set a Burpee World Record, But Her Form Is Bugging People."