3 Intense Workout Finishers

Mike Whitfield, CTT
Creator of the Workout Finishers 2.0 Follow-Along System

Forget the muscle-draining cardio after your workout. You’re going to rock any of these 3 finishers instead. You’re welcome.

You already know that cardio (even intervals) are boring and they won’t make you look athletic and ripped. You gotta’ hit the musclezzz brotherrr. All you hit with interval training are your legs.

You are in for a treat as I’m going to show you 3 unique “twists” to using finishers after your workouts. But first, what’s the point of using finishers? Well, if you’re stuck on a plateau, want to speed up fat loss or improve your conditioning and overall fitness, then finishers can make a big difference.

You simply “plug in” a finisher after any workout. They take 10 minutes or less.

And if you have a hard time believing you can get great results in just 10 minutes or less, check out this study…

Participants performed a high intensity circuit (as found with finishers) with very brief rest periods using compound movements for only 4 minutes. The participants burned an average of 13.5 calories per minute (some participants burned even more!) and doubling their metabolic rate for at least 30 minutes

AFTER.

“This particular style of interval training has profound effects even on short-term post-exercise metabolism”, says lead researcher Michelle Olson, Ph.D., principle researcher at the Auburn University Montgomery Kinesiology Laboratory. It would take five times the amount of typical cardio exercise to shed the same amount of calories.”

So, now that you are convinced of the power of finishers, let’s talk about 3 variations that rock.

Finisher Approach # 1 – Density

There’s even a variety of approaches within this approach! First, there’s timed sets. This is when you’ll do an exercise for a certain amount of time and you’ll do as many reps as possible.

Another approach using density is when you do a certain number of rounds (supersets or circuits) in a given time frame. The set and rep schemes can be really crazy.

For the Density approach, let’s do the “”Big Switch” Finisher.

“The Big Switch” Finisher

Do the following circuit as many times as possible in 5 minutes, resting only when needed. If your form gets sloppy, you must stop and rest.

• Goblet Switch Lunge (3/side)
• 1-Arm Switch Pushup (3/side)
• Skater Hops (3/side)

Don’t worry, you don’t have to complete the madness on your own. Here’s a follow-along video of me coaching Brian through it (plus you’ll get some substitution exercises):

Finisher Approach # 2 – Gauntlets

Inspired by Craig’s original TT Gauntlet program, this is when you assign an exercise as the “gauntlet” within a circuit. So you’ll perform the gauntlet exercise, followed by a new exercise, then back to the gauntlet exercise, etc. That means you’ll do something like this:

• Alternating Javelin Reverse Lunge
• Close-Grip Pushups
• Alternating Javelin Reverse Lunge
• X-Body Mountain Climbers
• Etc, etc.

See how the Alternating Javelin Reverse Lunge is the “gauntlet” exercise?

By the way, here is how the crazy Javelin Reverse Lunge Works…

Javelin Reverse Lunge

• Stand with your feet just outside shoulder width apart holding a pair of dumbbells.
• Take a big step backwards with one leg and lower your body until your thigh is parallel to the ground. Keep your torso upright.
• At the same time press the dumbbell up by extending the arm of the same side you step back with.
• Return to the top by contracting the quadriceps, groin and hip extensors of the lead leg and bring the dumbbell back down under control.

Finisher Approach #3 – Ladders

These can trick you. This is when you do a certain number of reps of each exercise, then in the next round, you do one less rep, etc. Now you can even combine the density approach with a ladder, too. But that’s a post for another day…

For now, let’s do this simple, but effective superset ladder.

“Declined to Gobble” Finisher

Do the following superset resting as little as possible. In the first superset, you’ll complete 8 reps of each exercise. In the next superset, you’ll complete 7 reps of each. Continue in this fashion until you complete 1 rep of each exercise.

• Goblet Bulgarian Squat (8/side…1/side)
• Decline Pushups (8…1)

Here’s how to rock the Goblet Bulgarian Squat…

Goblet Bulgarian Split Squat

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold a dumbbell in front of you at chest height.
• Place the instep of one foot on a bench. Step forward with the other foot, taking a slightly larger than normal step.
• Contract your glutes, brace your abs and keep your spine in a neutral position.
• Lower your body until your front thigh is parallel to the ground.
• Keep your upper body upright and your lower back flat.
• Push up to the upright position. Stay in a split-squat stance.
• Perform all reps for one leg and then switch.

Now that’s how you finish ANY workout with an all day energy rush without draining your hard earned muscle.

Mike Whitfield, CTT
Creator, Workout Finishers 2.0 Follow-Along Video System

Get 51 Follow-Along Workout Finisher Videos and bonuses here

Mike Whitfield, CTT, has lost 105 pounds propelling his passion into the fitness industry. His unique approach of using workout finishers has helped thousands of people lose fat with his online and offline programs. He is known across the fitness industry for his effective “workout finishers” and humor. His workouts have been seen in Men’s Health, Turbulence Training, AJC and more.

Looking for the Ultimate Challenge?
Check out the UTC (Unconventional Training Challenge)

Ab Wheel Training For Real

GANGSTA

I have been continuing to experiment with the Ab Wheel. It is by far my favorite piece of equipment for training the core right now. Here are a few reasons why.

1. It Works a LARGE Portion of the Body

The Ab Wheel is similar to a dynamic plank – you must create tension from the shoulder area to the knee area. Because of this large amount of muscle that is working, I find basic Ab Wheel roll-outs to be a great warm-up, and I often use it at the beginning of workouts as a bridge from my general to specific warm-up.

2. It is not ONLY Hip Flexion

So many abdominal exercises involve hip and trunk flexion – sit-ups, leg raises, crunches – all of them involve drawing the hips and rib cage closer together, potentially causing shortening of the hip flexors. I sit down so much while I work and drive, my hip flexors are short enough, so I avoid doing that movement pattern in training as well. This is something to keep in mind if you sit down a lot and your back hurts – it could be due to tight hip flexors.

3. It Doesn’t Hurt My Neck

For whatever reason, in the past I have strained my neck doing ab movements. Whether it is from hooking my hands around my head, clenching my teeth together, or whatever – it has happened, and a strained neck is one of the most annoying things for me, so I look to avoid it like venereal disease.

With these three benefits considered, the Ab Wheel continues to be something I include in my training on a regular basis.

Plus, in the long-term, I want to be able to do a Standing Ab Wheel Roll-out. It seems to be an advanced feat for this simple device, and I think if I were to train to obtain it, it would be a “Gateway Feat,” in that my core would be so strong that the increased strength would assist in many other lifts as well.

With this in mind, I have been looking for ways to gradually increase the difficulty of the more basic ab-wheel roll-outs in order to progress more smoothly to the more advanced movements.

One drill I have come up with that I have not seen elsewhere is Decline Ab Wheel Roll-outs. For these, you set the Ab Wheel up on some sort of decline, instead of a flat surface.

There are two main strength building benefits to performing roll-outs on a decline:

1. The eccentric challenge level as you roll out is increased greatly, as you must stay engaged in order to control the descent. This gives you much better stability than the basic exercise does.

2. The concentric challenge level is BRUTAL as you must pull much harder to climb back up the hill. This teaches you to pull much harder with the shoulders, lats, and core when returning to the starting position.

Decline Ab Wheel Roll-outs

There are surely many ways you could set this exercise up. One way that I think would be perfect is with an inside pitching mound, such as the one below, to begin with.

However, instead of busting out the nails, hammer and circular saw, I just dragged an extra gym mat out to the hill beside the house and used mother nature to my advantage.

As you can tell by my screams and grunts, this version of Ab Wheel Roll-outs is no joke. Far harder than the basic exercise, this one will hit you hard.

Of course, before you try this, you need to make sure you have the Basic Ab Wheel Technique down first. For a quick video on how to do them right, click here => Basic Ab Wheel Roll-outs.

Even if you don’t go for the more advanced movements with the Ab Wheel, this piece of equipment is a great investment for those with home gyms. For about $10, it takes up no room and leaves every muscle in your core absolutely destroyed.

Get your Ab Wheel here: Valeo Ab Wheel

All the best in your training,

Jedd

Braced Bending DVD: Bend Everything from Steel Bars, to Frying Pans, to Hammers and Wrenches

This video demonstrates a tornado ball rotation while bridging on a swiss ball. Dynamic stabilization of the entire torso; the abdominals AND posterior chain. The lifter has to bridge and remain parallel to the floor throughout the movement and remain fixed while the tornado ball is rotating.

If you do not have a tornado ball, a med ball in a sandbag/dufflebag/pillow case can be used.

The great thing about this exercise is that the lifter is isometrically contracting the anterior and posterior chains against a dynamic, ever changing tension.  This increases the frequency AND intensity of the motor unit recruitment which is exponentially more beneficial than a static, long duration contraction.  Not only that, there is also a deceleration and acceleration component to the lift as well.

Think interval training rather than slow, low intensity treadmill.

Also, this version is easier on the shoulders than the standard swinging overhead version of the tornado ball.

Oh yeah, the video is a LITTLE FOGGY :).  We were in the middle of a conditioning circuit and the camera guy was heated!

How to Build Muscle | Muscle Building Workouts | How to Lose Fat | Six Pack Abs | Build Muscle, Muscle Gaining Workouts | Build Muscle Membership Site

Here is a recent post directed to me on the Elite Q/A:

Jim what are your 5 favorite standing abdominal movements?

____________________________________________________

Cory,

In no particular order, here are some of the top abdominal exercises.

– zercher squat, bracing the torso, under tension, while engaging movements of the lower body

– explosive med ball rotational throws, no deceleration

– core statics – lateral shuffles with agitation and breathing regulation, anti-rotation

– pull-ups – upper back muscular is an essential component of core strength

– deadlifts – full body movement requiring bracing (rigidity) and is essential for developing posterior chain, the other half of the core

________________________________________________

Why are pull-ups and essential part of core strength?  What is torso rigidity?  How do you perform zercher squats correctly?  Check out Combat Core!