Summer is coming, and bodybuilder Erin Stern has some tried-and-true methods for achieving a lean physique. She recently broke down her top five favorite finishers for melting away body fat in a YouTube video shared on April 30, 2025.
Stern is an accomplished bodybuilder who reached the top of the sport not once but twice. She claimed the Figure Olympia title in 2010 and managed to win the crown back in 2012. In addition to testing herself in the Bikini division, she’s become a trusted fitness influencer, providing detailed training pointers for lifters of all skill levels.
Aside from her top finishers, Stern emphasized that if you’re looking to get leaner, adhering to a calorie deficit is critical. She also believes that increasing daily activity is essential to dropping fat.
“I think the keys to getting leaner faster include being in a caloric deficit first and foremost. This simply means that you are burning more calories than you are taking in.
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Number two, we want to consider increasing our activity throughout the day. This includes easy walks, cleaning the house, fidgeting, just moving around. This can contribute to between 600 to 1,000 calories burned per day.”
Stern’s 5 Favorite Finishers to Melt Fat
In a recent YouTube video, Stern laid out her favorite finishing movements to burn extra fat.
- Thrusters
- Kettlebell/Dumbbell Swings
- Burpees
- Assault Bike
- Sled Push
Thrusters
Stern’s first finisher is a CrossFit favorite called the thruster. It’s a combination of a squat and shoulder press.
“You can do landmine and barbell thrusters. If you’re new to them, I’d suggest just starting out with body weight. It is essentially starting out with the bar or the dumbbells at about collarbone height.
You are going to squat down relatively quickly and explode upwards. As you’re exploding upwards, you’re simultaneously pressing these dumbbells into the air.”
Kettlebell/Dumbbell Swings
She explained that kettlebell swings are a go-to finisher as the body exerts extra effort to stabilize itself during each repetition.
“It’s going to take your body extra effort to stabilize. You are trying to keep this dumbbell from flying away, but within the upswing and in the downswing.
You’re using your posterior chain. It’s very explosive. You’re going to stand with feet 1 and a half times shoulder width apart, and you’re going to use your lower body to thrust this kettlebell up.”
Burpee
She favors explosive burpees and mentioned that it’s another finisher that requires stabilization.
“I love to do this as an explosive exercise where I am crouching down quickly, kicking those feet out, jumping back up and trying to get some height at the top,” she shared. “You have to control and stabilize your body every step of the way.”
Assault Bike
The assault bike also made her list. She revealed that it’s the closest machine to an all-out sprint and ideal for high-intensity interval training.
“You can go a little bit easier, the resistance is not going to be as hard, but with the assault bike, the harder you pedal, the harder you push, the more resistance you’re going to get. This is probably the closest machine to your all-out sprint. It’s really great for HIIT.”
Sled Push
Since there’s not a substantial eccentric or negative with the sled push, Stern said it won’t leave individuals as sore.
“With the sled, one of the reasons that I love it is that you’re simply pushing. There’s not a lot of eccentric or negative force in the sled, which means you’re not going to get sore from it. You’re going to get gassed from it, but you’re not necessarily going to get sore.”
Stern thrives on making workouts extremely customizable. She recently demonstrated four advanced techniques for ramping up training intensity, which included pause reps, partial reps, one and a half reps, and slow negatives.
Stern continues to help her fan base with useful workouts and exercise strategies. She believes these five finishers can burn extra calories and help you achieve a leaner physique over time.
RELATED: Bodybuilder Erin Stern’s Calorie-Burning Back and Abs Workout for a Smaller Waist
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