The intensity of our workouts dies down towards the end.
If you want to optimize your physical results, increase fat loss, and develop muscle, you must maintain intensity throughout your workout.
Doing a workout finisher is the best way to ensure you finish every physical training session with a crash.
As a fitness trainer with over 10+ years of experience, I've used several exercise finishers with my clients, which proved effective.
In this article, I will provide my expertise on the greatest workout finishers to perform and the importance of doing the workout finishers.
Quick Summary
- Workout finishers are generally 1-10 minutes long and include aerobic and strength workouts.
- A finisher might include bodyweight activities and exercises with other training equipment.
- Whatever you select, the goal is to fatigue yourself and test your limits.
Effective Workout Finishers
1. Full Body Flush
The full body flush is the best post-workout finisher, boosting your metabolism and completely depleting each muscle.
The exercises are basic, but the intensity and number of reps accomplished are high.
Perform the following workouts in the sequence listed.
Each exercise should be performed with the correct form for 25+ repetitions or until failure.
Let your repetition count determine the load you use when selecting a weight. You want to be hitting that repetition count or failing close to it.
Also, perform full push-ups in every burpee.
When performing step-ups, drive your body weight into your heel rather than your toe.
This will put more strain on the glutes and less on your knee.
- Push-ups
- Sit-ups
- Inverted row
- Burpees
- Single-leg Step Up (perform one leg at a time)
2. Tabata Finisher
A Tabata finisher is among the most effective methods to end a workout.
It's fast-paced and intense, therefore high fat burning. You'll be fatigued at the end of this one.
Push past the pain since your muscles will burn from the lack of rest periods.
The total finisher time will be four minutes, with 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest.
Perform two rounds of the following exercises in the order they are in.
- Jumping Lunges
- High Knees
- Burpees
- Up-Down Planks
Related post: Best Tabata Workouts to Boost Your Cardio and Endurance
3. Kettlebell Conditioning Finisher
The goal is to improve both cardiovascular fitness and strength. Kettlebells are ideal for this work since you'll complete powerful, full-body exercises with minimal rest.
Make sure you pay close attention to the form.
If you only have one kettlebell, cut the training duration in half and complete the thrusters unilaterally.
- Double Kettlebell Thrusters for 30 seconds
- Alternating Kettlebell Cleans for 45 seconds
- Double Kettlebell Swings for 60 seconds
- Rep the circuit 3 to 5 times. Rest for 90 seconds in between circuits
4. Battle Rope Finisher
Battle ropes workouts are a great way to add variation to your upper body act.
They'll get your core, shoulders, forearms, and upper back working. Furthermore, your pulse will be racing from the start.
If you have to rest more between sets, feel free to do so until your physical stamina and work capability improve.
Consider shortening your rest intervals as you advance in your training.
- Battle Rope Wave for 20 seconds
- Take a 20-second rest
- Battle Rope Slam for 30 seconds
- Take a 20-second rest
- Repeat the circuit five to ten times. Between circuits, take a 45-second break.
Related: Battle Ropes Benefits
5. Sally Up, Sally Down Finisher
Bodyweight Squats, Press Ups, Jump Squats, Pull-Ups, and Plank Push-Ups are popular workouts for the Sally Up, Sally Down finisher.
You will need the tune Sally Up, Sally Down for this finisher. You may find it online by searching Sally Up, Sally Down. To perform this workout finisher, listen to the lyrics up and down in the song.
For instance, if you pick jump squats, you would begin in a standing squat posture, with your toes facing front and feet slightly wider than hip-width; this is your up stance.
When you hear the phrase down, sit into a squat posture and maintain there until you hear the word up, at which point you can return to a standing squat position. Repeat for the duration of the song.
6. Sprint Finisher
The purpose of this finisher is to lose fat while maintaining muscle mass, and leg mass, increasing the anaerobic threshold, boosting strength and explosiveness, and improving cardiovascular health.
This is ideal for athletes. You'll need to go out on the track or find a large field for this one. An empty road will also suffice.
The total finisher time will be approximately five to six minutes.
The work-rest ratio is 1:2, which means you will rest twice as long as it took you to complete the sprint.
Begin at 200 meters while working your way down to 50. Then you're finished.
- 200 meters
- 150 meters
- 100 meters
- 75 meters
- 50 meters
7. Functional Finisher
Sometimes the most valuable movements – pulling, pushing, and carrying — get the least attention in training.
This finisher is intended to boost your working capacity and grip strength and to address possibly missed parts of your functional training program.
Perform each workout in turn, taking as little break as possible.
- 15-meter Sled Push
- Unilateral Overhead Carry (left side) for 30 seconds
- 10 repetitions of Burpees
- Unilateral Overhead Carry (right side) for 30 seconds
- 15-meter Sled Pull
- Repeat the circuit 3 and 5 times. Rest 45-90 seconds between circuits
What Is a Workout Finisher?
Workout finishers are micro-training solution exercises executed after your regularly scheduled strength training.
They are supposed to be brief and intense, focused on circuit and interval training to raise your heart rate.
Some may run sprints, while others may use good adjustable kettlebells, battle ropes, or sleds.
Bodyweight finishers, in which you focus on high-intensity activities like burpees or execute as many rounds of pull-ups, sit-ups, and push-ups as possible in a specific amount of time, are another option.
Finishers are designed to push you to the point of breakdown.
The theory is that if you raise the intensity of your workouts after you've given it your all with the barbell lifts, you'll be able to make far more significant gains over time.
Finishers, because they are circuit and interval-based, can help you improve your conditioning and exercise capacity. You'll also be conditioning your mind and body to push harder for longer.
Your preferred training equipment is less significant than the degree to which you work. For instance, metabolic conditioning is beneficial when upper and lower body exercise cycles are used in short bursts [1].
Movements such as burpees, kettlebell swings, and thrusters increase your metabolic conditioning and strength [2].
"Finishers increase the effectiveness of your regular workout by causing an acute metabolic boost."
- Megan Dahlman, Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist
Because finishers require less time than less intense activities — and because your stimulus changes with the work-rest intervals — studies show that recreationally active people prefer high-intensity interval training [3].
As a result, if you want to conclude your exercise on a high note, finishers are a good option.
How Finishers Work
Interval and circuit conditioning following strength sessions can improve your metabolic fitness and make you more potent.
This implies that finishers may assist your body in processing higher intensive workouts more effectively.
As a result, your muscle groups — and lungs — may be able to endure bigger weights for more reps.
When your body can adequately handle increased training intensity and volume, you might achieve even greater total strength improvements.
If you want to enhance your ability to breathe and recover from a higher rep or heavier sets, you should work on increasing your maximal rate of oxygen intake (VO2 max), which is a vital sign of cardiovascular fitness.
Finishers may help you in doing this.
You increase your body's ability to tolerate harder effort by grouping short bursts of intensive work so close together following your regular lifts.
That is not to say there is just one efficient way to conduct finishers. They are adaptable to various levels of training and experience objectives.
Your high-intensity intervals might be short (less than 30-second exercise intervals) and low volume (less than five minutes total).
If you're more experienced and want to get the maximum benefit out of your end-of-workout interval session, more extended periods of work (two minutes or more) at a greater volume are preferable (15 minutes or more) [4].
Related Articles:
Importance of a Workout Finisher
- Excellent anaerobic fitness: A finisher exercise will gradually increase in intensity. This, in turn, makes it more challenging for the body to supply oxygen to the muscles. When your muscles lack oxygen, your body enters an anaerobic condition, which helps to raise your metabolism, change body composition, boost power and explosion, improve bone density and strength, protect the joints, increase lactic threshold, and lower the risk of illness.
- Rapid calorie burn: Adding a finisher to your exercise is a terrific method for adding a lot more calorie burn. This is excellent for weight loss and eliminating unwanted body fat.
- Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC): If you do an extreme finisher, you will burn fat throughout your exercise and after you finish. Post-exercise oxygen consumption is a physiological phenomenon. A regular workout finisher may be significantly more intense and taxing on the muscles than a medium-level resistance workout; therefore, your energy reserves will be depleted. As a result, your body must refill your muscles' energy supplies and heal muscular damage. Your body needs energy in calorie form to do this.
"The body uses roughly five calories of energy for every 1 liter of oxygen. As a result, raising the volume of oxygen taken during and after an exercise might result in a spike in the number of net calories burnt."
- Pete McCall, ACE Certified Personal Trainer
- Endurance and speed: You will improve speed and explosiveness by executing burst workouts. And by performing a high volume of work quickly, your endurance will develop, particularly concerning strength endurance.
FAQs
Are Finishers Good for Muscle Growth?
Yes, finishers are good for muscle growth. Finishers make good anaerobic fitness builders due to their rapid and intense nature. Like sprinting, lifts, and plyometric motions, anaerobic workouts can accelerate metabolism and enhance EPOC, power and explosive capability, and muscular endurance.
What Is a Good Core Finisher?
Crunches and side crunches are good core finishers. Perform 12 crunches, then 12 side crunches on each side, and repeat for two more sets.
Do Workout Finishers Work?
Yes, workout finishers work. Exercise finishers are efficient and effective ways to improve your fitness and raise your work capacity. Incorporate them into your routine twice or thrice weekly to gain greater strength and cardiovascular fitness benefits.
Post-Workout Supplements for The Workout Finishers
Although exercise finishers are brief, they tend to be intense. As a result, you won't want to perform a finisher after every exercise or every day.
This applies even to the most skilled athletes. Aim for 2-3 finishers every week, spaced out across the week.
Also, after each exercise, ensure you get enough rest, and replenish with water, healthy meals, and the best post-workout supplements for recovery.
Based on our routine testing, the supplements helped rebuild and repair damaged muscle tissues faster, speeding up recovery.
They also contain a great blend of ingredients proven to help overcome fatigue and boost endurance.
References:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6763680/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6003684/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28076352/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30733142/
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