Workout finishers are all about pushing harder at the end of your exercise session so you can get your heart beating faster, build more muscle, and boost your mental toughness—ultimately helping you reach your fitness goals even faster. 

They’re a tried-and-true way to maximize your workout efforts and only require a few extra minutes, but many people tend to skip them entirely. (They also often make the major mistake of skipping their cooldown stretch, but that’s a whole other story.)

While you may think you won’t have enough gas in the tank to tack on extra movement to your already exhausting workout, you might surprise yourself. “A lot of people save energy during workouts because pushing yourself is a learned skill,” says Peloton instructor Adrian Williams. Workout finishers help you tap into that energy reserve and ensure you leave everything you’ve got on the treadmill, bike, rower, mat, or gym floor. 

What makes workout finishers so good? Below, Adrian and physical therapist John Gallucci Jr., a certified athletic trainer and CEO of JAG Physical Therapy, discuss everything you need to know about how finishers work, the benefits of adding them to your workouts, how often to do them, and 10 spicy options to try. 

What Is a Workout Finisher?

A workout finisher is exactly what it sounds like: A short, intense burst of exercise performed at the end of a workout, according to Gallucci. 

“It’s the last piece of a workout designed to challenge your body’s physical and mental capabilities,” Adrian says. Workout finishers maximize conditioning, burn extra calories, and push your muscles to the point of fatigue, Gallucci adds. 

There are many different ways you can do a workout finisher, but in general, here’s how it works: After your workout, you should take anywhere from 2–10 minutes dedicated to high-intensity exercises that involve bodyweight movements, weights, or cardio. “The goal of finishers is to maximize intensity, not duration,” Gallucci says.

The specific finisher you choose will depend on the type of workout you did beforehand, Adrian explains. For instance, if your workout focused on your chest, as your finisher, you might bust out as many push-ups as you can in two minutes. If you did a rowing workout, you might finish with a few minutes of high-intensity intervals before moving on to a cooldown.

The Benefits of Adding a Finisher to Your Workout

By pushing your muscles to exhaustion, you’ll reap a whole host of benefits, according to Adrian and Gallucci. Let’s dive into the perks. 

1. You’ll Burn More Calories

By adding a finisher to the end of your workout, you can increase your overall calorie burn and boost your metabolism, according to Gallucci. This is due to something called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC)—aka the afterburn effect—which refers to the number of calories you continue burning after exercise. 

Workout finishers are meant to be high-intensity, and research has shown that high-intensity exercise elicits higher EPOC throughout the day compared to steady-state exercise. This is because high-intensity exercise uses up more energy stores than low-intensity exercise, according to a 2010 article in the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism. After your workout is over, your body continues to use a lot of energy (in the form of calories) while working to replenish those stores. Thus, thanks to EPOC, your body continues burning more calories after your workout is over—potentially up to 38 hours. 

2. You’ll Boost Mental Toughness

Both Adrian and Gallucci agree that adding finishers to your workouts helps you push your limits and build mental toughness. “Outside of the physical benefits from enduring an intense finisher, mentally, you’re creating a more resilient, confident version of yourself,” Adrian says. “Finishers are meant to challenge you in so many ways—not giving up is important.” 

In fact, a small 2021 study published in Frontiers in Psychology supports the fact that high-intensity exercise improves resilience (i.e., successfully overcoming challenging situations). Why? Exercise appears to enhance the brain’s ability to adapt and respond to various environmental stimuli and new experiences, and offers a protective effect against stress, according to a 2020 research review published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.

That can, in turn, benefit your workout and sports performance. A 2024 review in Retos also suggests that mental toughness has a positive impact on your athletic performance. “The higher an athlete’s mental toughness, the higher their performance level,” the study authors write. This is because there’s a correlation between mental fortitude and the ability to “maintain goal-directed behavior in the face of adversity.”

3. You’ll Build Muscle

Intense, anaerobic workouts (like workout finishers) can increase the size and number of your fast-twitch muscle fibers, according to the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA). Fast-twitch muscle fibers—sometimes referred to as type II muscle fibers—are muscle cells responsible for quick, powerful movements. When you have more (and larger) fast-twitch muscle fibers, your muscles grow in strength, power, and size, helping you to sprint faster, jump higher, and lift heavier.

10 Workout Finishers to Try

The following finishers are recommendations from Adrian and Gallucci. Remember, finishers should generally work the same muscles or skills as your main workout session. 

1. Push-Up

Push-ups are one of Adrian’s favorite finishers for a chest, push, or upper-body day. “I might program push-ups as a finisher after doing chest presses,” he says. You can do push-ups as fast as you can for two minutes after a chest workout. 

2. Squat Jump 

Adrian loves to do squat jumps after a lower-body workout to tax muscles like your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves. Try doing a few minutes straight of this exercise after a leg workout to maximize muscle gain and fatigue. Try doing a squat jump finisher in the style of a Tabata workout: 20 seconds working as hard as you can, then 10 seconds of rest, repeated eight times total.

3. Burpee

After a full body workout, Adrian’s go-to finisher is burpees. Burpees work your quads, hamstrings, glutes, core, chest, shoulders, and triceps—not to mention your cardiovascular system. Like with squat jumps, try a Tabata-style burpee finisher, doing eight rounds of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off.

4. Sled Push

This exercise involves pushing a weighted sled across a surface for a set amount of distance to build muscle and endurance. “These are great for lower body power, metabolic conditioning, and joint-friendly resistance—and they’re especially useful for athletes,” Gallucci says. He recommends performing four rounds of sled pushes that are 30 to 40 yards each when using this move as a workout finisher. 

5. Farmer’s Carry

Farmer’s carries involve walking with a weight in each hand for a set amount of time or distance. “These build grip strength, core stability, and postural endurance,” Gallucci says, adding that they’re valuable for anyone and everyone. He recommends using heavy dumbbells or kettlebells and walking for three rounds of 40 yards each. (“Heavy” meaning a weight where you won’t have much energy left at the end of this finisher.)

6. Battle Rope Slam

This HIIT move involves repeatedly slamming one or two battle ropes onto the ground, creating a wave-like motion. “This full-body power and endurance finisher is easy to scale for different fitness levels,” Gallucci says. He recommends doing rope slams for 15 to 20 seconds at max effort for four rounds.

7. Bodyweight AMRAP

AMRAP stands for “as many rounds as possible.” For instance, you could set a five-minute timer and do as many rounds of five push-ups, 10 squats, and five burpees as you can in that timeframe, Gallucci explains. “It’s a simple, equipment-free way to elevate your heart rate and reinforce movement quality under fatigue,” he says. 

8. Sprints

If you want to hop on the treadmill for a sprint workout finisher, there are a few ways to do this, according to the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). You could try 30 seconds of sprinting followed by 30 seconds of recovery, repeating this pattern for six to 10 minutes. Or you could try the 30-20-10 format, where you run at a low intensity for 30 seconds, run at a moderate intensity for 20 seconds, then run at a high intensity for 10 seconds. Repeat this for six minutes or less.

9. Bike HIIT

If you’re looking for a finisher that you can do on a stationary bike, Gallucci Jr. recommends HIIT. “This is low-impact but high-intensity, ideal for conditioning without excessive joint stress,” he says. Try 20 seconds of work followed by 40 seconds of rest for five total rounds.

10. Bodyweight EMOM

EMOM is short for “every minute on the minute.” This type of workout involves completing an exercise (or set of exercises) at the start of each minute for however long the workout is. For instance, you could take the above AMRAP and turn it into an EMOM: Do five push-ups, 10 squats, and five burpees, then rest until the next minute begins. Repeat this same pattern for five minutes. 

How to Do Workout Finishers with Peloton

Many Peloton workouts include a finisher as part of the programming—you’ll know that if you’ve ever taken a strength class with Adrian that ends in a full minute of push-ups, or one with Jess Sims that finishes with a sweaty EMOM of dumbbell snatches or thrusters. However, if you’re looking to add a finisher to your workout, many classes on the Peloton App are perfect for that purpose. Specifically, keep an eye out for Extra 5 or Extra 10 classes, which skip the warmup and dive right into moderate- to high-intensity work.

Extra 10: HIIT

You can take Extra 10: HIIT classes on the Peloton Bike, Tread, Row, or even in an outdoor running class. Do these runs or rides after you’ve completed your main workout for the day to finish strong. For both, you’ll primarily work your hamstrings, quads, glutes, and calves, though your core muscles are involved as well. “When you do have a bit extra, this class is the perfect way to empty the tank,” Adrian says. 

Extra 5: Tabata and Extra 10: Tabata

Tabata training is a form of HIIT workout where you alternate between short, intense bursts of exercise and an even shorter rest period. A standard Tabata session is eight rounds, with each round being 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. You’ll find Extra 5: Tabata Row classes available on the Peloton Row, and Extra 10: Tabata Ride classes on the Peloton Bike and Bike+.

10-Minute HIIT Cardio

Though the 10-minute HIIT cardio classes on the Peloton App do include a quick warm-up, they’re a great way to get your heart pumping and challenge your cardio fitness at the end of your workout. Tacking one on to the end of a slower-paced strength session can be a great way to burn out all your muscle groups and squeeze more cardio into your routine.

Who Are Finishers Best Suited for?

Workout finishers are for everyone, but they need to be chosen and executed with intention for it to be beneficial, Adrian says. “Workout finishers all depend on the purpose of the program,” he explains. For instance, busting out 30 squats as quickly as possible after a lower-body session just to check off “workout finisher” from your to-do list is entirely different from recognizing you still have some energy left in the tank and executing a workout finisher that’ll fatigue the right muscle groups or systems, and leave you feeling tired but satisfied. 

Almost anyone can benefit from including workout finishers in their routine. Specifically, workout finishers are best suited for athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and individuals looking to improve conditioning, fat loss, or muscular endurance, as they provide an intense, high-effort challenge that pushes the body beyond its usual limits, Gallucci says. 

“For athletes, finishers help simulate game-time fatigue, improving endurance, resilience, and mental toughness, which are crucial for performance in sports,” he explains. “Fitness enthusiasts benefit from the added intensity, as finishers enhance overall conditioning and prevent workout plateaus by introducing a variety of movements and energy demands. Those aiming for fat loss can take advantage of the metabolic boost provided by high-intensity finishers, which increase calorie burn.”

Beginners or those coming back from a break or injury should focus first and foremost on building a base of cardiovascular fitness and strength, and performing exercises with proper form, before worrying about training to failure with a workout finisher.

How Long Should Workout Finishers Be? 

Workout finishers aren’t one-size-fits-all, Adrian says, but they generally fall between 2–10 minutes. Going for too long puts you at risk of compromising your form due to fatigue, Gallucci explains. “Anything more than 10 minutes is typically considered an extended workout, and sustaining a high-intensity workout for that period of time would be challenging,” he adds. 

How Often Should You Do a Workout Finisher?

You should do a workout finisher two to four times per week, depending on your fitness level, goals, and overall training volume, Gallucci says. “For those focused on building strength and muscle, two to three times per week is ideal to avoid excessive fatigue and allow for proper recovery,” he says. “However, if you are looking to lose fat, you can incorporate finishers 3 to 4 times per week.”

The Takeaway

Workout finishers aren’t necessary after every workout, but they’re a valuable tool to have in your back pocket. When you have energy to spare at the end of a session, you can use a finisher to tap into your reserves and power through a final, give-it-your-all effort. The ensuing few minutes can help you learn to challenge yourself, push your limits, and achieve more significant results—that is, if you can stand the burn.