Summer shred mode is officially on. But you don’t need two hours in the gym or a garage full of equipment to start leaning out. Phillip Solomon, reality TV star and Barry’s group fitness coach says you just need four brutally focused minutes to wrap up your upper or lower-body workouts.
The Deal or No Deal Island star knows firsthand what movement can do. After overcoming depression, sharing exclusively with Muscle & Fitness that fitness “saved his life,” and radically reshaping his own body, Solomon now helps others rewrite their stories using dumbbells, discipline, and sweat-dripping HIIT. In his four minutes of strategic, high-intensity finishers he wants to push you closer to a shredded physique.
“People think they need more time or more equipment to see results,” Solomon says. “You don’t. What you need is intensity, consistency, and a willingness to go all in for four minutes.” Now deep into prep for his first bodybuilding show, Solomon is pulling back the curtain on two of his go-to finishers. These workouts are designed to spike your heart rate, deplete glycogen stores, and send your metabolism into overdrive.
Why Finishers Work for Shredding
When you want to lean down for summer, allowing your body to tap into its stored fat is key.
“These finishers empty the tank, boost calorie burn, and help train your mind to push through discomfort,” Solomon says.
Here’s what makes them effective:
- Glycogen depletion: These high-rep, high-effort circuits help burn through any stored carbs that’s still left after your lift session, encouraging your body to tap into fat afterward.
- EPOC effect: Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), often called the “afterburn effect,” may help boost overall daily caloric expenditure as it leads to extra calorie burn for hours after your workout ends.
- Time-efficient: They take just four minutes, but feel like forty when done right. Can be done after your workouts or on their own if your time is limited.
Finishers Breakdown
Upper Body Finisher
Equipment: 2 dumbbells
Time: 4 minutes
Target: Biceps, shoulders, core
Format: Ascending ladder
The circuit
- Hammer curls
- Hammer press
- Military march (dumbbell held overhead, drive knees up to the abs)
How to perform it:
- Start with 2 reps of each move.
- Add 2 reps every round until you reach 12.
- (2 / 4 / 6 / 8 / 10 / 12)
- If you finish early, drop down to an elbow plank and hold until the time is up.
Lower Body Finisher
Equipment: 2 dumbbells (or bodyweight only)
Time: 4 minutes
Target: Quads, glutes, hamstrings
Format: Pyramid set
The circuit
- Dumbbell deadlifts
- Alternating reverse lunge (1 rep per leg)
- Air squats
How to perform it
- Start with 2 reps of each move.
- Climb up to 8 reps.
- Then descend back down to 2.
- (2 / 4 / 6 / 8 / 6 / 4 / 2)
- If you have time left over, end with a squat hold to completely drain the tank.
How to Use These Finishers
Don’t be fooled by the four-minute time cap. You’re going nonstop from start to finish, with no rest between sets, so the burn builds fast and you’ll feel that fatigue creeping on.
“I tell people: give me four minutes, but give it everything you’ve got,” Solomon says.
Since it’s all ladder-style (ascending or pyramid sets), the intensity compounds with every rep. The exercises are designed to be done with dumbbells, but correct form must always come before load.
Hence, Solomon explains the right way of doing each exercise in his videos. “If your form starts to slip, scale the movement instead of stopping,” he adds. “Slow down, adjust your pace, or drop to bodyweight if needed, but don’t quit.”
You’ll be moving fast, but control is everything. Keep your core braced, especially during the overhead military march, plank, lunges, and squat hold portions.
Solomon uses them to get that extra burn at the end of the workout, but they’re perfect for anyone trying to carve out more definition, fast. Even if you don’t have time to work out, these four-minute circuits may come in handy to get your day started. You can also squeeze them in between zoom meetings or taking a quick break during the day. Instead of scrolling for four minutes during your break, do these to refresh both your body and mind, and as a bonus, it might just get you closer to that bikini body you’ve been striving for.
“You’ve got four minutes,” Solomon says. “Make them count.”
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