The New 8-Minute Fat Burners

Five Brutally Effective Finishers

Who’s got time to dick around with fat-burning routines that take, like, forever? Add one of these to the end of your regular workout.


Five Fat Blasting Finishers

You have a limited time to train and need conditioning workouts that are quick, to the point, and devastatingly effective.

Enter fat-blasting finishers – short challenges to help you shred fat and transform your body without having to live in the gym. By doing more work in less time and sending your heart rate through the roof, you’ll give your training a much-needed jolt.

You’ll do these finishers directly after your weight-training workout. They’ll add roughly eight minutes to your workout, so consider cutting back on your 12 sets of curls “if you don’t have the time.” Just make sure your finisher focuses on the same muscles as your workout.

1. High-Rep Dumbbell Clean-Squat-Press

Popularized by strongman Sig Klein, the self-explanatory dumbbell clean, squat, press is an incredible test of total body strength and conditioning. Your lungs will be screaming while your quads and shoulders get one hell of a pump.

Best done on: Upper body or shoulder days
What to do: Do 4 sets of 12 clean-squat presses with 60 seconds rest between sets.

2. Ground-to-Shoulder Stands

This exercise requires you to squat down, curl a dumbbell to your shoulder, and then stand up. Reverse the motion and repeat.

Best done on: Lower body days
What to do: Set a timer for 8 minutes and do as many sets of 6 per side as you can, resting only when necessary.

3. Push-Up, Stand Up, Squat Prisoner Jump Countdown

No rest here, so prepare yourself for a grueling 8 (or so) minutes.

Best done on: Any day of the week, or do it as a stand-alone workout.
What to do: Perform 1 push-up. Stand up. Put your hands behind your head and do 1 squat prisoner jump. Now repeat, this time with 2 reps. Continue running the ladder this way all the way up to 10 reps (i.e. 1 rep, 2 reps, 3 reps, 4 reps, etc.).

4. Kettlebell Crusher

This nasty combo destroys your legs and lungs and is surprisingly taxing on your upper back as you struggle to hold the position.

Best done on: Lower body days
What to do: Do 5 kettlebell swings followed by 5 goblet squats and then 5 step-back lunges per leg. Repeat as many times as possible in 8 minutes.

5. Murderous Barbell Clean Complex

This is for more advanced lifters and should be done with lighter weight. About 95 pounds is usually enough to crush most lifters.

Best done on: Any time you train
What to do: Perform 3-4 reps of a Romanian deadlift and then progress to 3-4 hackey pulls. To do hackey pulls, begin with an RDL position and the bar just below knee-level. Accelerate the bar as it passes the knees, aggressively extending the hips forward, in effect “popping” the bar off the thighs. (This movement teaches you to reach full-hip extension before breaking at the elbows during the pull. This also helps you “feel” your glutes working.)

Next, perform 3-4 high pulls, which is a great exercise for accelerating the bar AFTER hip extension is reached. It also builds a thick yoke.

Finally, perform 3-4 power cleans by extending the hips, knees, and ankles and then shrugging the shoulders, bending the elbows as the bar rises and transferring the “weightless” bar.

As the body reaches full extension, aggressively pull the body underneath, rotating the elbows forward, racking the bar on the front deltoids in the shelf position. Loosen the grip and allow the wrists to turn upwards and the elbows to stay parallel with the ground.

Perform 3 reps of each exercise without putting the barbell down. Gasp for air and repeat until 8 minutes is up, or your heart bursts… whichever comes first.

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