Ok, so I’ve been receiving a ton of emails and questions in regards to the past few blog posts I’ve put in talking about Workout Finishers.
I wanted to make sure all you crazy mo fo’s out there are implementing these the correct way into your training to get the most out of them as possible.
It’s easy to make mistakes and some of these mistake if made, will hurt you more then anything…
So with out any more hesitation, here’s my 5 Rules of Finishers…
Rule #1 – Always Train SMART
Now before you even begin thinking about throwing some intense finishers in at the end of your training sessions, you’ve got to make sure you’re ready to handle a finisher.
If you’re just a beginner, I would say to hold off with adding in finishers to your workouts altogether until you know for sure that your ready to take them on.
For example, if you’re having issue with bodyweight movements such as push ups, squats, lunges, pull ups, rows, burpees, ect there is NO reason why you should be adding in finishers to your workout yet.
You need to be focusing in on getting STRONGER first.
NO EXCUSES here.
Some people asked me if it was OK to throw out form and techniques when you do finishers and my reply to that is, “HELL NO!”
Why would you ever do that?
You should always put major focus into your form and technique. Yes, your form and technique will be somewhat compromised a bit while you get more and more fatigued during a finisher, but this is why you should make sure you’re in good enough condition first before you hammer out a finisher at full throttle.
Obviously you will start to look a little bit horrid as far as form and technique go at the end of a finisher which is the point, but having a base level of conditioning is key and a must have!
Just make sure you attack finishers in a SMART way.
Rule #2 – Intensity is EVERYTHING
I shouldn’t have to explain too much about this rule.
If you’re going to do a finisher, that is exactly what you need to do… FINISH the workout!
You’re intensity should be set on overdrive and your mind on full ATTACK MODE!
Take NO PRISONERS and get after it!
You should literally be “finished” after you’re done…
Nuff’ said about that!
Rule #3 – Not All Movements Are Created Equal…
Now when you do finisher, you’re not going to get a whole lot of “bang for your buck” if you choose panzy-ass movements.
The movements you choose to use should be high rate of return movements that work a lot of muscles as once. Yes you can add in a few isolation based movements within your finisher, but for the most part you need to think “full body” movements.
Try to include movements such as:
- thrusters
- cleans
- kettllebell swings
- single arm snatches
- clean and presses
- prowler / sled work
- burpees
- box jumps
- pull ups
- push ups
- squats
- lunges
- sprints
Adding in movement like those above or similar, then combining them with other “assistance” type movements will make your finishers be worth while.
The golden rule would be to make sure you add in one of those “big ticket” moves first, then go ahead and design the rest of your finisher based off of that.
I try to stick around what I did for the main workout. For instance, if I just did a deadlifting workout, I’ll throw in some movements that are similar to the deadlift like swings, cleans, or other hip extension based movements.
Here’s a finisher I did after a deadlifting session to focus on more core and grip…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsijdgikwMM
1A) Kettlebell Swings x 20
1B) KB Farmer Walk with Towel (works grip, abs, and shoulders)
1C) Banded Plank w/ Alternating Knee Tucks (Kills the shoulders and the core)
Rest about 30-45secs and repeat for 3 rounds
I started with KB Swings, which rock my whole body and jack up my heart rate. Then I hit up the single arm farmer walks which test your grip and hit your abs like crazy. And finally, I ended the circuit with some banded knee tucks. Thee smoke your abs and light up your shoulders a ton!
Three solid movements for a KILLER finisher…
Rule #4 – Keep It Short and Sweet
Now, the point of a finisher is to be quick and to the point. You should have already hit a regular workout and now you’re ready to end things off right with a bang.
Think of your overall training session as a 3 course meal…
The Warm Up is your appetizer… The Workout is the main course… Then your Finisher is the dessert…
Keep the dessert short and sweet! You’re not going to have a HUGE serving here as you don’t want to make your finisher be a 20 min marathon session! If you have that much left in the tank, your main workout might have been a bit too easy.
I would say the sweet spot for an effective finisher is around 3-10 mins tops.
Maybe even 12-15 mins, but I would say that’s pushing it a bit.
Just focus on getting it done as fast as possible so you can end your training session off right.
Rule #5 – Test and Re-Test
Something that I feel is very important to do is to test and re-test your finisher Instead of always doing a completely different finisher after each workout, pick out 4 or 5 to use over a period of 4-6 weeks and hit those after each workout.
Or, if you want to be a bit more sporadic, do a different type of finisher after each of your workouts but have one “go-to” finisher that you may be weak in or the one that completely KILLED you when you did it last and re-test yourself in that finisher again 3-4 weeks later to see how you’re progressing.
All training should revolve around overall PROGRESSION and if it doesn’t then why even train? You’re either progressing or getting worse… Do your best to keep moving forward at all times.
Testing and re-testing will also give you a nice little “mini goal” or “challenge” to shoot for within your training sessions. You should always be gunning to BREAK RECORDS within your training and re-testing certain finishers will give you a good target to shoot for.
For example, the last challenge I posted a few days ago would be an perfect example…
If you did this, you were supposed to keep track of your time. The next time you take on this challenge again, you can shoot to beat your time from before.
It’s small things like this that push us to the next level.
And, if you don’t want to keep track of time, the same can be done within a finisher by changing the weight being used. In other words… Next time GO HEAVIER! 😉
Bottom Line: test and re-test the different finishers you do to make sure your making consistent gains in progress!
Now that you know the rules, you can start to implement Finishers into your workouts more often.
The real truth to finishers is there really isn’t any “rules”… Just follow the guidelines I disguised as “rules” I wrote above and you’ll be fine 😉
Just be smart about it and ALWAYS go H.A.M.!
Live Aggressive and Get Strong!
PS – If you’re like me, you like DONE-FOR-YOU stuff and since my boy Mike Whitfield already has come up with 33 KILLER Ab Finishers, I would highly recommend you grab these bad boys instead of wasting your time coming up with your own.
I can attest to the 33 Finishers Mike has in his newest manual and I’ll tell you straight up that they are 110% LEGIT.
Check out more info ==> HardcoreAbFinishers.com