The Ultimate Workout Grand Finale (Guest Post)

by Nia Shanks | Follow her on Twitter here

Today is a guest post courtesy of my friend, Mike Whitfield, of WorkoutFinishers.com. He is the ultimate jedi-master of  ”finishers”, and I’ve been playing with many of them lately in my own training since I’m all about keep things simple, short, but very effective. Also, he’s lost 105 pounds! How awesome is that? And finally, he  has as special offer exclusive to the readers of NiaShanks.com, but you’ll have to wait until the end of the article to see what it is. Anyway, I’ll hand things over to Mike now. Enjoy!

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It’s hard to believe that in just a few short months, I’ll be approaching my ten-year anniversary of dropping 105 pounds.

Now before I continue, I want to be clear that my before picture was indeed NOT stretched in photoshop (I had somebody ask me that one time).

Shamefully, it’s just me after a typical day of soda and an iced honeybun for breakfast, a super-sized lunch and a frozen pizza along with ice cream for dinner. I’m guessing I consumed around 5,000 – 10,000 calories a day. I still remember my grandfather coming up to me one time and asking, “Mike, do you know Jenny Craig?”, and I replied with, “A little bit”. He then responded with, “You ought to get to know her”.

Well played Paw-Paw… very well played.

Anyway, that is behind me. I’ve moved on and dropped 105 pounds and have kept it off  (that’s the key). I LOVE working out, but I don’t live in the gym either. No one needs to obsess about working out and losing fat. Enjoy the journey… that was by far the biggest key to my success. (Nia — I agree 100%. If you’re not enjoying the journey, then you must change things up now).

The second you start to obsess about the scale or how your clothes fit, it will over-take your life and you’ll get burned out. Trust me because I know what this feels like. Every time I hit a plateau, I would get crazy and add more long, boring cardio because I didn’t know any better.

I soon started to add these “metabolic workout finishers” to the end of my workouts because honestly… I couldn’t stand cardio. I’ll explain what those are, but first, I want to let you know that I’m not knocking cardio. It’s just not one of the most efficient tools to use if you’re looking to drop fat. I enjoy a casual jog outside, but to do it every single day? That’s just not me.

Alright, What is a Metabolic Workout Finisher?

I like metaphors, so let’s go with this one… eggs rock, right? Scrambled, fried, poached (I don’t even know what that means, but it sounds cool), with or without cheese, etc., etc. But when you put some hot sauce on those eggs, you just made something awesome… awesomer. So, a workout finisher is awesome sauce for your workouts.

“Even with my workouts, Mikey? Because my workouts are the best in all the land.”

Yes,  even with your workouts, Miss Imaginary Person.

Seriously, a finisher is something that can be added at the end of your favorite workouts (whatever they may be) that can help:

• -Improve your overall conditioning
• -Bust a weight loss plateau
• -Break workout boredom (my personal favorite)

These finishers typically last anywhere between 3-8 minutes with some of the craziest set and rep schemes you’ve ever seen. But that’s the idea… you look forward to the challenge and you stay consistent.

When you stay consistent, you get results. This applies to everything in life, but today, let’s stick with your fitness.

I got to a point where I looked so forward to my workouts, that I would forget that I was aiming to lose weight. These finishers improved my mentality and confidence, which in turn gave me a side effect of more weight loss.

I finally took this concept and applied it to my clients’ programs and they loved them just as much as I did. I would structure their programs just like this:

5-minute warm-up of bodyweight exercises

20-30 minutes of metabolic resistance training

3-8 minutes of a metabolic finisher

Let’s Rock This Metabolic Workout Finisher

Alright, after your next main strength workout, perform this finisher. And please, don’t worry about the name of the finisher (that’s my favorite part – naming my finishers – do not judge). This finisher is designed to give you the ultimate pump, making your muscles twitch. But don’t worry, it won’t be a problem. In fact, this finisher is called…

99 Problems but the Twitch Ain’t One Workout Finisher

Do the following circuit ONE time, resting ONLY when needed. Time yourself. The next time you perform this finisher, try to beat your previous time. Why? Because it’s just awesome. Quit asking questions and rock it.

33 Jump Squats

33 Decline Close-Grip Pushups

33 KB or DB Swings

That sure does beat the boring, long cardio, right? It’s finishers like these that are more fun to do, work more muscle and really challenge yourself. It can really get you back into a groove with your workouts. It’s almost like the Ultiimate Workout Grand Finale.

Please note… that is what I named this post. #BrilliantIAmNowISoundLikeYoda

I also like to use what’s called the “Density Method”. This is when you perform as many rounds of a superset or circuit in a certain amount of time. In fact, do you mind if I show you one? Ha. I’m kidding. I really don’t care. I’m going to show you one anyway. This is the infamous finisher Craig Ballantyne and I put over 50 trainers through at the TT Summit:

The 3’s Company Density Workout Finisher

Do the following circuit as many times as possible in 3 minutes, resting ONLY when needed. Once the 3 minutes is up, you’re done.

1A) Burpee/Spiderman Pushup Combo (3)

1B) Lunge Jumps (3 reps per side)

1C) X-Body Mountain Climber (3 reps per side)

The Burpee/Spiderman Pushup Combo is something I made up on a random walk. It hit me out of nowhere. This is when you perform a burpee, but once you kick your legs out, you perform a Spiderman Pushup by bringing in one knee as you lower yourself and repeat that with the other leg (1 rep per side), and then kicking your feet back in and then stand back up.

Now THAT’S how you end your workout. Sure, 3 reps doesn’t look bad on paper, but once you get through the third or fourth round, you’ll soon discover two things:

1)      This is going to be tough to get through

2)      Mikey is a punk.

So if you find yourself in a rut with your workouts or you want to break a plateau, as well as get rid of workout boredom, use these finishers with your favorite workouts and you’ll be back in the saddle (I don’t know what that means either… but it sounded cool and it felt like a good fit).

May you never, EVER get bored with your workouts,

Mike Whitfield, CTT (aka “Mikey”)

Author, Workout Finishers

Thanks for having me, Nia – keep inspiring!

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Be sure to give those workout finishers a shot at the end of your next training session. They look “fun”.   ;)

If you want tons of workout finishers to keep you motivated to workout, or to kick things up a few more notches in your own training, then check out Mike’s finishers. Check it out here.