Workout Finishers – how do they fit with your workout program?
I got Mike Whitfield back online to talk about how his program, Workout Finishers, is designed to work with your current workout program. If you missed part1, check out Workout Finisher Review, Part 1.
Interview with Mike Whitfield
Why Add Workout Finishers
It will help you burn more fat in less time; elevating your caloric burn.
Turbulence training is focused on building non-competing supersets of exercises. You work your lower-body, then the upper-body in a compressed interval format. My recent post Metabolic This; Metabolic That goes over the science behind the model of interval training and why it makes a difference.
By building Workout Finishers into your workout you can easily do a full resistance training program and workout finisher in less than 45 minutes. Spread three of those workouts out through the week for a great program to build muscle and burn fat.
Intervals Help Hypertension
We’ve heard for a long time that regular exercise is essential for our heart-health, but what form is better? While sifting through research for this interview I ran across this quote:2
Continuous and interval exercise training were beneficial for blood pressure control, but only interval training reduced arterial stiffness in treated hypertensive subjects.
Read that again. Boring steady-state cardio is good for your blood pressure, just like interval training. But interval training reduced arterial stiffness. Nice bonus.
Works Cited
- High-intensity intermittent exercise and fat loss. – Boutcher SH., School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.m J Obes. 2011;2011:868305. Epub 2010 Nov 24
- Effects of continuous vs. interval exercise training on blood pressure and arterial stiffness in treated hypertension – Guimarães GV, Ciolac EG, Carvalho VO, D’Avila VM, Bortolotto LA, Bocchi EA, Faculdade de Medicina, Heart Institute InCor, Hospital das Clínicas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil., Hypertens Res. 2010 Jun;33(6):627-32. Epub 2010 Apr 9.
- Towards the minimal amount of exercise for improving metabolic health: beneficial effects of reduced-exertion high-intensity interval training. – Metcalfe RS, Babraj JA, Fawkner SG, Vollaard NB.,School of Life Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK., Eur J Appl Physiol. 2011 Nov 29.
- Effect of sprint interval training on circulatory function during exercise in sedentary, overweight/obese women. – Trilk JL, Singhal A, Bigelman KA, Cureton KJ.,Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA, Eur J Appl Physiol. 2011 Aug;111(8):1591-7. Epub 2010 Dec 29
- Metabolic Response of Different High Intensity Aerobic Interval Exercise Protocols. – Gosselin LE, Kozlowski KF, Devinney-Boymel L, Hambridge C., Department of Exercise & Nutrition Sciences, 204 Kimball Tower, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Nov 23.
I would hate for anyone to suggest that I only pull research that backs my own personal preferences. So … read on.
The jury is still out. There is some emerging research that is starting to question early studies that claimed extended EPOC benefit from interval training. Check these out:
Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption following continuous and interval cycling exercise. – McGarvey W, Jones R, Petersen S., Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2005 Feb;15(1):28-37.- Comparison of two different resistance training intensities on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption in African American women who are overweight. –
Thornton MK, Rossi SJ, McMillan JL, School of Nursing, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, USA., J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Feb;25(2):489-96.
How Will You Spend Your Time?
What most of the research boils down to is … time. How will you spend your limited time to exercise? I’ll still cast my vote with Mike and the improved efficiency of interval training. When I read through the studies the total amount of time devoted to steady state cardio is much longer. Who has extra time to spend? Get-in and get-r-done, right?
Check out Mike’s Workout Finishers and make the most of your workouts.
About Troy Pesola
Troy is the founder of Cube.Dweller.Fitness. He's an innovation catalyst in several areas of life including business, marketing, and process improvement. Outside fo work he's actively involved in fitness, health, and living vibrantly in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
Thanks for having me Troy. I will post this on my facebook page. This was a lot of fun.
This is a good idea. Often I find that many people do the same workouts each week and complain that they are not losing fat. Often they are simply not pushing themselves enough. These finishers sound pretty good to combat that.
Jon,
Check out part 1 ( http://cubedwellerfitness.com/2011/12/workout-finisher-review/ )
During that interview Mike described a sample workout finisher. I gave it a try and filmed it.
I’ve wanted to find research that backs what I’ve experienced and observed — that a pattern of 3-4 weeks on a progressively harder program with a week+ break before starting something different WORKS. You are right that variety and intensity matter; they produce results.
Great post Troy! I love the interviews. I think workout finishers are very effective when done right. I’ve been adding them during my lean days and have seen some great results!
Srdjan – Bloom to Fit recently posted..24 Things About Me That You Probably Didn’t Know
Thanks. For Christmas I got a MIC – woo hoo. So now I will definitely need to do more interview and they will have better sound quality.
What’s your favorite workout finisher? I think I’d call an 8 round tabata of burpees and mountain climbers.