Finish Strong - How to get Lean with Finishers

The yelling in my ear was getting to me. I was pushing hard. The ground was soft and it was slowing me down. 

“Faster, faster, move it, you’re slowing down, you didn’t slow down last week.”

The last squeaky remark hit home. I dug in and pushed as hard as I could. 

“Yeah, I knew you could do it” my daughter cheered as she hopped off the sled. 

“Thanks,” I slumped over to catch my breath. 

Unless you move heavy objects for a living, strength goes largely unnoticed in every day activities. 

Conditioning provides noticeable real world benefits and makes life easier. Running up stairs with groceries; easier. Carrying kids through a store, easier. Going on a hike with friends, easier. 

Dedicated challenge workouts and finishers are two ways I keep my conditioning moving in the right direction. 

Read about challenge workouts: 

http://www.outdoorfitnessproject.com/blog/challenger-fit

Finishers are 10 minute intense bouts of conditioning drills at the end of a workout. 

They are a blast and get your metabolism primed to burn off chocolate chip cookies and pints of ice cream. Maybe that is a slight exaggeration, but they definitely cook some fat. 

Equipment is optional.
Here are my 10 favorite finishers. Complete each as a superset with no rest between exercises. A total of 3 or 4 sets will get the heart pumping. 

  1. Sled sprint x 50 yards, backward sled drag x 50 yards, 20 jump squats
  2. 50 yard sand bag carry, 20 yards of alligator push ups, 5 box jumps
  3. 20 step ups, 50 yard sled sprint, 50 yard sandbag carry
  4. 20 pull ups, 30 push ups, 30 squat jumps
  5. 3 minutes of jump rope, 10 burpees as fast as possible
  6. 60 mountain climbers, 60 high knees, 10 burpees
  7. 25 yard sled rows, 50 yard sand bag carry, 25 yards of alligator push ups
  8. 5 plyo push ups, 5 pull ups, 1 skin the cat, 5 knee to elbows
  9. 50 to 100 yard hill sprints x 8 to 10 efforts
  10. Two 400 meter sprints, two 200 meter sprints, two 100 meter sprints. Rest between each sprint

Take your training to the next level and incorporate a few of these finishers into your workout. Take action and finish strong!