5 Sweaty Workout Finishers
There are a ton of different ways to workout (check out how to develop a workout program here), and my advice is always to find something you love and rock it. But what I’ve learned in the past ten ish years of coaching is that people love to feel that muscle burn– and workout finishers do that.
The funny thing is, feeling your muscles burn isn’t always the best way to hit your goals. Neither is that burn always a tell that the muscle has been worked. In fact, when you’re goals are strength based, it’s rare you’ll ever work until complete fatigue and sheer muscle burn.
Instead, you lift really heavy items for very low reps. You tax your fast twitch muscle fibers and your CNS system. You also allow it full recovery so lots of rest between sets. This is how you strength train.
But that’s getting into a whole other subject ?
For the majority of mamas, workouts finishers are fun. Yup I said it. Having a quick burnout at the end of the session can be a fun way to challenge yourself and get that last little bit from your muscles. They leave you breathless, sweaty and fatigued. In short, they make you feel like you really worked.
Over the years I’ve used a ton of finishers. Normally 1-3 exercises done with a higher than normal rep scheme. Or hitting one muscle group two different ways. Normally my workout finishers are cardio or endurance based, and thus, sweaty.
Now that said, it’s easy to just finish off with an ascending burpees (10 reps, 30s rest, 15 reps, 30s rest, 20 reps, 30s rest) and call it a day. But I wanted to get you to think outside the box a bit. So the ones below are a bit more than just burpees or jump squats (here is a printable if you need it!)
Psst.. skip the write ups and scroll down if you need video demos!
So, choose one and add it in! Perform the workout finishers at the end of your workout and give yourself that extra little push. They’re all super speedy and challenging.
Note: these finishers play upon your fatigue. Make sure you’re still using proper form and engaging the necessary muscles when you do them. Otherwise, finishers are an easy way to injure yourself!
Workout Finishers: Swings & Sumo Walks Superset
This one is always a fun one but take note: it fries your glutes. I personally love this feeling and I hope you do too.
Ensure you understand how to kettlebell swing though. The swing is a hip hinge (learn how to hip hinge here) movement and not a squat. I cannot stress this enough. Check out the swing here.
Perform 30 Kettlebell swings supersetted with 25 sumo walks (per side). Repeat for a total of three sets without rest. Then… stretch your glutes!
Thrusters & Bear Crawls
This workout finisher is… hard. It’s fatiguing as hell. So that makes it fun, right?!
Grab a weight to use for a Dumbbell thruster. Make it lighter than you think because your shoulders are going to be slaughtered.
Perform 15 Thrusters followed by 30 seconds of bear crawls (alternating forwards and backwards). Rest for 30 seconds and repeat for a total of three rounds.
Barbell Glute Bridge + KB Swing 21-15-9
I love this finisher because it pairs a strength movement with a power movement. Read what I mentioned above about kettlebell swings though. Really, don’t mess those up. It is a posterior chain exercise, not a squat.
Load up your bar with a weight that you can perform for 21 reps. It should be challenging but you shouldn’t be grinding out those last few reps.
Perform 21 barbell glute bridges, then 21 kettbell swings. Jump right back to the bridge and go for 15 reps (the 15 of the swing) and then 9 reps of both.
That’s it! Super speedy and super fatiguing.
Banded Hip Thrust Countdown
Can you tell I love training glutes (here’s a few reasons why)? Glutes are often overlooked and yet they respond so well to volume. So, they make a great muscle group to hit with a finisher!
To be honest, the setup on this finisher sucks.. but it’s worth it. If you can’t rock this exact set up, opt for just a mini band around the knees and a dumbbell hip thrust. Not as awesome but still great.
Perform 30 hip thrusts (lockout at the top!), rest for 30 seconds then perform 25 thrusts, rest for 20 seconds, 20 thrusts, 15s rest, 15 thrusts, 10s rest, 10 thrusts + 20 second isometric hold at the top.
DB Walking Lunges & Mountain Climbers
This one will leave your quads and hip flexors on fire. It’s also very much volume oriented. So, if you’ve already done a lot of legs, I wouldn’t opt for this choice.
Grab a set of dumbbells (15’s work) and perform 30s of walking lunges with 30s of mountain climbers. Without resting, repeat alternating exercises until you hit four minutes.
So there you are! A few of my favorite workout finishers to get your heart rate up and pull that last bit of energy from your muscles. You can check out the video below for the demos and then, chose your favorite and give it a shot!
Drop me a comment and let me know how they go ?
Don’t forget to pin these sweaty workout finishers!
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