IF you don’t know what a burpee is, count yourself lucky. If you do, think of the agony Amy and Stefan Shillingford are inflicting on themselves on Thursday.

Actually, you don’t have to think of it, you can watch it play out in front of you on a live broadcast as the pair take on the excruciating challenge of completing 3,000 burpees each.

And there can be no slacking, they have timed it at a burpee a minute so that they finish in time for the school run!

Amy and Stefan are Fitness Instructors at their Heathbrook Fitness gym based at the Kingswinford rugby ground who were told by many of their clients how much they were missing the gym, as much for their mental wellbeing as for their fitness.

“We noticed we were more sluggish and down, and a lot of members said they were worried about their mental wellbeing because they enjoyed the socialising element of going to the gym and meeting people.”

The couple decided on a challenge to raise money for mental health charity Dudley MIND, and it was Amy who came up with the burpees challenge.

Amy is a big fan because burpees involve the use of nearly every muscle in the body. She uses them a lot in her sessions, whereas Stefan does more weights work.

“He keeps asking me to take some of his burpees to get to the 6,000, but I won’t let him. He’ll have to keep up,” she said.

And there are live cameras to make sure he can’t cheat.

“It’s a really demanding challenge because we want to show people you can do anything if you put your mind to it. We must be a little bit insane.”

You can join in the ‘insanity’ via the live link, for the whole challenge if you’re mad enough, but more likely for half an hour or so for a good workout.

To watch the pair tackle their challenge watch via: https://m.facebook.com/heathbrookfitness/ or https://www.instagram.com/heathbrookfitness/

To donate go to: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/heathbrook6000

NB: A burpee is an exercise where you squat down with hands on the floor, then jump-thrust your legs backwards, jump back, stand up (some people jump up) and then repeat. Enjoy!