A “finisher” is an exercise that is usually a test of your physical and mental powers. Whether it’s a set of sprints at the end of a game of football, or a bicep curl drop set after an upper body workout, or a circuit of core exercises, finishers are used to test muscular resilience, stamina, and strength. There is also the mental high of finishing on a positive note when you get through the finisher. Once relaxed and after a cool down, one exits the gym feeling the glow of a good workout.
Now there are finisher formulas that one can apply when designing a finisher set, and I wrote about five of the best ones in a Lounge article in 2023. These include the drop set, the time trial, sprint intervals and others which can help train the body to accept this last leg of the workout as a separate part of it. It’s like training the brain to break down the workout with an extra step, so that the entire workout looks like this: warmup-mobility-workout-finisher-warmdown.
“Research suggests that interval and circuit training after your strength workouts can boost your metabolic conditioning and make you stronger. That means that finishers can help your body be able to physically process more intense workloads more efficiently. This can lead to your muscles — and lungs — being able to handle heavier loads for higher reps,” states a Barbend.com article titled, Workout Finishers Are the Intensity Booster You Didn’t Know You Needed.
So, without further ado, here are four exercises that work as the best finishers.
Battleropes: This is surely intense, but it is a lot of fun and is an excellent finisher irrespective of which muscle group you have focussed on for the day. It is both an isometric exercise—because the body is in a quarter squat position—and it is dynamic too, with the hands moving the ropes in different patterns. You can also get into a boat position and move the ropes side to side to give a different dimension to Russian twists for the core. Battleropes work every muscle and there is no better finisher than this one. A 30-second on and 30-second off format works best with this exercise.
Read my article for Lounge from August 2024 titled, How to master battle ropes for greater strength, for a better idea on how to get the best out of them.
Burpees: Love them or hate them, burpees are going nowhere. And that’s because of its credibility. Burpees are not just a great way to get the heart pumping, but also excellent finishers. I would rather do them later than at the start because of how the muscles used are already activated by the time you reach the finisher. There is no excuse for muscle rustiness at this point, so do this exercise which works the hamstrings, the core, the shoulders, the arms and the chest. (It will also test your patience).
Sled pull/push: Taking one from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s favourite finishers, this one needs equipment that isn’t always available in a gym, but if it is, then there’s no excuse to not use it. The sled is a sliding trolley onto which weights can be piled on and pushed. Usually it has a strap to pull it back. So make sure you load up and then drop the weights with every lap/rep.
“Load up a weighted sled with weights, at least four plates of 25’s, 45’s, or a combination and attach a rope to the sled. Extend the rope and stand at the end, 10-20 meters away from the sled. Perform a hand-over hand pull, pulling the rope to your position. Push the sled back until the rope straightens out, strip a plate, and repeat until the sled is empty,” states a Schwarzenegger.com article titled, 5 Plateau Busting Finishers.
Kettlebell conditioning: It’s not always easy to use kettlebells because of its design and set weights and limited exercises. But even the lighter kettlebells can become very useful if you know how to use them. And one of those ways is to use them for a finisher. This means multiple exercises can be done in one circuit—including kettlebell swings, cleans, presses and even isometrics.
Add some alternating rows and squats and you have a fantastic way to end the workout with not-too-heavy weights. Below are a couple of YouTube video follow-alongs that can be great starter points. Practicing these will also help familiarising with kettlebells. There is the added advantage of this equipment almost always being available at the gym.
Pulasta Dhar is a football commentator and writer.