Insanity Workout Reviews » Chalene extreme

I’m Back From Uganda!!

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:54:33 +0000

So it has been a few weeks since I have been able to write about what my plans are with Chalean Extreme. My original plan is still my plan now. I am still going to do the Chalean Extreme workout and I was going to start it the Monday after I got back, but unfortunately when I was playing soccer at a village in Uganda I sprained my ankle on the uneven ground of the soccer field. I have rolled my left ankle a couple times before that, but this was by far the worst I have ever rolled my ankle. It is starting to get annoying, I feel like i am just getting injured all the time, and it is stupid things like my shoulder or my ankle, it is probably a sign of old age, but I am only 26, I should not have so many problems or accidents with my body. I probably take care of my body more than normal people do, and for some reason I always injure it.

Anyways, Monday the 14th of September I am gonna kick this pig, and start with my Chalean Extreme workout and Shaun T insanity workout. It is going to be tough but I think I can do it, I probably need to make another bet with someone so I can remain motivated through the whole thing. I am a little nervous, because I want to do the workouts and the nutrition plans really badly, but I do struggle with seasons of laziness and I am kind of in one right now. Laziness is a hard habit to break and I never want to to be complacent in that, it’s a bad place to be!!

Along with my Chalean Extreme workout and Insanity workout I want to start using the Shakeology, I think that will help replenish my body and help cleanse my system of any unwanted toxins.

In-home workouts are the way to go!

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:03:45 +0000

It is great to go to the gym and workout, but unless you pay a lot of money to have a personal trainer to give you tips with your workouts, then you might be wasting your time, because you can injury yourself pretty easily. Another problem is that there are people who do not change their eating habits to compliment their workout routines. So how do you find workouts that can give both a personal trainer and a nutrition plan? You might be surprised, but it is actually quite easy and less expensive than the gym. Your answer is, In-home workout programs. Yes, that is right, DVDs that you can pop into your DVD player and workout from your own home. Now, you might be unsure, because you are thinking of the old in-home workouts that you do over and over again, which are super boring and repetitious. But new in-home workout programs have come along way. Most of these workout programs all come with a numerous amount of different workouts, which keep things fun and entertaining. They also come with fitness guides and nutrition guides, so that you can maximize your results and continue to live a healthy life style. In-home workouts are also safer; there is a professional trainer who will teach you new techniques and the right way to perform each exercise, so you can avoid injury. These new in-home workouts will change you forever, they will get you in the best shape of your life, and educate you on how to eat, so you can live a long and healthy life.

Some of these In-home workouts include workouts like Chalean Extreme, P90x and Shaun T Insanity workout.

Getting Serious With Weight Loss

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 22:40:09 +0000

So if you do not know by now, I have put my Chalean Extreme Workout on hold. If you want to know what the workouts are like, you can definitely search my blog to find what you need know. I will eventually pick the workouts back up, but right now I am trying to get in shape for my 17 mile hiking trip. I absolutely love the Chalean extreme workouts, but I definitely need to focus on getting my legs and brain into shape for my hike. I also am going to lose 10 to 15 pounds before the hike, the minimum weight loss I would like to achieve would be 10 pounds, any more weight after that would just be a bonus.

So I did a couple more hikes from the last time I wrote, I did Poo Poo point again, which is a two mile hike up and then a two mile trip back down. It was a lot of fun, I actually pushed myself harder than I ever have. There are two clearings, after the first clearing there is about another quarter mile hike to get to the very top, well for the most part my friend and I ran that part, and that was after the hardest part of the climb. I also had another friend who was a little behind, so I ran back down to the first clearing and hiked back up with her. Running that last stretch really got my heart pumping, it was the hardest I have breathed in a long time. After the hike I felt really good, like I could have done it again. A couple days later Ben and I(Ben is going on the 17 mile hike with me did a hike called Mt. Peak. It is only about one mile high but it is very steep. I was breathing hard in no time, but we did not stop until we got to the top. Mt. Peak is the hike that we would like to do twice back to back with 20 pound packs on our backs. Ultimately that will probably be the hike that gets us into expert hiking shape.

Tomorrow I will be doing mt. peak again with Ben, this is our first hike since Wednesday of last week, because Thursday we left for New York and we were there till Sunday. I definitely did not stay on a diet when I was in New York because there is just so much good food, and if you go to New York, you got to do it up right. But we are back now and I am back to eating healthy and doing hikes.

My New Mission

Wed, 20 May 2009 19:02:56 +0000

So I have decided to put the Chalean Extreme workout routine on hold again, I have recently switched gears and am now in hiking mode. I am trying to lose 10 more pounds before I go on my Enchantment hike again in July, so I have the last part of May and all of June to get into hiking shape and get under 185 by the time the hike starts. I went on a 4 mile hike this morning to get a nice little warm up in before the grueling hikes begin. Our plan is to start small and then build up to some 8 mile hikes, but the real test will be when we do Mt. Peak, it is only a one mile hike, but it is very steep and we will do it twice back to back with 30 pounds on our backs. That is going to be the hike that will get us into shape, so we can conquer the 17 mile hike of the Enchantments. I still really would love to do the Chalean extreme program but it will just have to wait for a little bit longer, as great as the workout is, it will not get me in shape to do a 17 mile hike. It’s just a different workout.

So the new workout plan is simple, we are hiking three times a week in the morning and then maybe try to fit either another hike on a Saturday or go running at nights to get my heart back into cardio mode. I will be on a calorie restricted diet, so I will be throwing out a lot of carbs and eating a lot of protein just for the start. I lose weight pretty fast when I am on a high protein diet, however I will include carbs when I do hikes so I can give myself some extra energy and keep my body up to speed.

I am really looking forward to the challenge of getting back into shape, this was the hike last year that inspired me to lose 40 pounds, I have continued to keep all that weight off and actually lose around 10 more pounds since. But I would still love to lose even more weight and really be able to just knock this hike out. It is great to set up these type of goals for yourself every year, so you can continue to remain motivated to stay in shape. I will be posting about my workouts and the weight loss progress through the next couple months.

The ChaLean Extreme Fitness Routine

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:22:18 +0000

Let’s first just go over the basics. ChaLean Extreme is a 90 day workout, but you have the option of going 120 days. There are three main phases, the first phase is the Burn phase. In this phase you will lift weights so you can speed up your metabolism and break down any fat reserves. There are upper body and lower body workouts and most the time your are working them out at the same time. The second phase is called the Push Phase. There are different workouts and still weight lifting, but this time with heavier weights. Where in the burn phase you do a weight where you can get 10-12 reps, in the Push phase you use weights where you can only do 6-8 reps. It gets tougher, but you are still gaining muscle to burn away that fat. The third phase is called the Lean Phase. This is where you will really start to see the results, all that weight lifting and work you did in the first two months, lead you up to this point. You will do new workouts and exercises that will help melt those fat reserves right off your body. After this phase you can be done, but there is also another phase that you can chose to do called the Lean for life phase, it is an extra thirty days for anybody who really wants to push themselves. It is there as an option, so you can make the decision after the 90 days is over.

The great part about the Chalean Extreme workout and even the Px90 workout, is that they both focus on beating the workout plateau. The workout Plateau is when a person stops seeing results from their workout routine, your muscles adapt to your routine and even though you might be working harder, you still do not see results. But Chalean extreme addresses the problem, by continually switching up the routine every 30 days. The Chalean Extreme program also comes with a fitness guide and a nutrition guide, because eating is a huge part of the workout if you are going to see results or not. There are recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and I am pretty sure there are some recipes for snacks. Chalean Extreme comes with a sculpting band and a body fat monitor, and if you get the deluxe version it comes with weighted gloves.

All this to say, the main goal is to build muscle so you can burn fat. Do not worry about bulking up though, because this program is designed for building lean muscle, not huge bulky muscles. The Chalean extreme program has a lot to live up to, because it says you can burn up to 60% of your body fat in three months….I guess they are right no matter what, because it do not promise 60% fat loss, but “up to” 60%. Anyways I am sure that if someone really took it seriously and did it by the book, then they can see great results from it and that is what I am going to try to do. My challenge is to see if this thing actually does work, so I will be sticking to a diet of my own and pushing myself to muscle failure. Let’s see how it goes.

Can You Do The Chalean Extreme Workout?

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 23:40:53 +0000

Here is an article that I wrote on my other blog, I thought that it would be helpful for anyone who was interested in the Chalean Extreme workout.

Before you begin your Chalean Extreme journey, it is important to know if you can even physically do the ChaLean Extreme workout. First you need to do the fitness test, to see if you are even in shape for the workouts. For the Fit test you will need a stopwatch, wall, towel, pen or pencil, comfortable clothes, water, 12 inch ruler and free weights ranging from 5 – 20 lbs. or resistance bands. There are eight parts to the Chalean extreme evaluation, you being with doing about 5 minutes of warm up. The warm up is crucial because it will help you to prevent injury that could happen. The warm up can including light jogging, jumping jacks, etc.

The first exercise you will do after the warm up are push ups. All you need to do, is complete as many push ups as you can do without a break, if you cannot perform a push up on your toes, than you can do the knee option. Just make sure that you keep good form, no butt in the air, flex your abs and butt, and do not lover your head. After you are done, mark how many push ups you did, whether on your toes or on your knees.

The 2nd exercise in the Chalean Extreme fit test is crunches, it is the same goal as push ups, do as many as possible. Lay on the ground with bent knees, with your hands behind your head, lift your shoulders off the ground until you come to a 45 degree angle. Perform as many as possible without having your shoulders hit the ground and make sure you do not pull on your head when you perform a crunch.

Thirdly, squats. Again, do as many as possible. Begin with your feet shoulder width apart and squat down like you are sitting in a chair. Keep your back straight and your knees bent, make sure your knees do not bend past your toes. To keep your balance, you might want to stick out your arms straight from your chest. Make sure your weight is focused on the back of your heels. Lastly so the Squats slowly.

The Fourth workout is the Forearm Plank, for this exercise you will need the stopwatch. To perform this workout , get in a push up position, but instead of being on your hands, lie down on your elbows with your forearms and hands faced forward on the ground. Start the timer and get into plank position, holding yourself up on your toes and your elbows, make sure you tighten your abs and butt. Go as long as possible and record your time.

Fifth, do an Overhead Shoulder Press. For this exercise you will need to do 10-12 reps with dumbbells or resistance bands. You will need to pick a weight so that by the 12th rep you can barely push it up, this is important because the Chalean Extreme program focuses on doing reps until your muscles pretty much fail. For the Overhead Press, stand with your feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, and back straight. Hold the weights or the band handles in your hands so that they are just above shoulder height or resting on your shoulders, then push the weights up straight over you head and slowly back down.

The Sixth workout is a Bicep curl. You will need weights or bands for this exercise. Again you want to pick a weight heavy enough so you almost fail at the 12th rep. This is pretty simple, it is just a standard bicep curl. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, and slightly bent knees. With your arms down and your elbows by the side of your body, lift up the weights and stop just before you get to your shoulders. Do not rush it! Count to 4 when you are curling up to meet your bicep, and then do a 4 count on the way down.

The last exercise is a Sit and Reach, you will need the ruler for this one. This is a flexibility test. Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you. place the ruler vertically in between your legs, with the bottom of the ruler even with the bottom of your feet. Stretch three times with your hands stacked on each other. Record each stretch, if you reach past the ruler and your feet, than you meet the minimum requirements for the ChaLean Extreme workout.

Another Day With ChaLean Extreme

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:04:46 +0000

So today was the first day of my fourth week with Chalean Extreme Review. I did well, but I really have not gotten into a good flow like I would like to. So I either need to start taking it more seriously right now, or wait until Ben gets back so we can do this workout together, I have not really decided yet. I still have really enjoyed the workouts and I do believe that I really can get great results out of this workouts, but I have not been focused like I need to be. I also want to deliver good posts for all of you and actually show you my results.

Anyways, today’s workout went really well and I decided to switch back to my Monday through Friday workout routine, because the Tuesday thru Saturday routine did not work out. I feel like I am more focused if I start on Mondays and that I am more likely to do the workouts every day if I start at the beginning of the week. These workouts kind of baffle me a little bit, because I will be exercising and lifting weights and doing fine and then all of a sudden I will be sweating like crazy, it hits me quickly. The reason I feel like it is odd, is because when I lift weights normally at the gym, I never sweat. But I think because the Chalean extreme routine has you workout your legs with squats and lunges at the same time you are doing your upper-body workouts, it makes you sweat more. I really enjoy it, and I know that if I am sweating then I am getting a good workout. Tomorrow for my Chalean Extreme workout, I will be doing the Burn Circuit 2 session.

I also have a Softball game tonight, and we had a tournament last Saturday. At the tournament WE LOST ALL THREE GAMES!!! I really hate losing, I am not used to it, none of us on the team are, but for some reason we have just not completely clicked yet. I bat either 4th or 5th in the line up, and I went 0-2 in the first game. I only got up twice, because of the ten run rule. The second and third game were a lot better for me. I think I went 3-5 the second game and either 3-3 or 4-4 the third game with a 3 run home run. So things are starting to pick up for me in the hitting arena, but I am still a little slow at playing third base. I am feeling more comfortable over there but I am just missing the ball on some of my dives, but that will all come around. We have two games tonight, so hopefully we can win them both and be 3 and 1 for the season. Wish us luck!!

Shoulders with Chalean Extreme

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:23:27 +0000

So today is Friday and you know what that means… it means I get to do the Chalean Extreme Burn circuit 3 workout and that also means I get to workout my shoulders, because that is all this workout seems to focus on. I really enjoy this workout, although I got to be honest with you, I do not really enjoy working out my shoulders. The reason is probably because I have had some problems in the past with my shoulders. Last year when I was at softball practice, I dove for a ground ball at tweaked my left shoulder, and it has not been the same since. I do not know exactly what is wrong with it, but it continues to stiffen up and pop. I can still do activities without it hurting, but it always pops. Anyways, that is enough of me crying about my shoulder.

Lets talk about the workout, I wanted to push myself a little more in this workout than I did last week, so I used the 25 pounders as much as possible. It is hard to do lateral raises and deltoids raises with 25 pounds, but I did it slowly and with good form. The great thing about this workout is that there are only nine exercises, plus two “get extreme” sessions. So you should be able to go all out and the workout is only 28 minutes long, so it is one of the shorter ones. In every exercise you either do a squat or a lunge, this workout also incorporates calf raises in the squats and lunges too. So not only are you getting a great shoulder, lat, and deltoids workout, you are also getting a great lower body workout. As I mention before there are two “Get Extreme” workouts, in these workouts you do 3 reps as slow as possible, usually an eight count up and an eight count down. The first “Get Extreme” workout are push ups, you only do three, but it is tough because you do them ultra slowly, the second one is an overhead shoulder press as slow as possible. These are great exercises but very exhausting because you hardly get a break before you jump into them. Overall this is a wonderful workout.

Tomorrow I am going to do the Burn it off and recharge, than I have a softball tournament for the rest of the day, so wish me luck, because after our last weeks performance we kind of need it.

Workout Routines For Toning

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:39:53 +0000

I thought I would do a little post on a couple workout routines for toning. So many times many people shy away from workouts with weights because they are afraid of bulking up, well that is not the case anymore. Just because you lift weights and build muscle does not mean you are going to bulk up, it is a myth! There are some great workout routines for toning out there, a couple off the top of my head are the P90x extreme home fitness routine and the Power 90 workout routine. Those two workout routines have been tested and tried and both have been very successful for toning muscles. But there is a new workout that I want to mention, which focuses on building lean muscle mass. It is called the Chalean Extreme workout routine, it’s motto is “Muscle Burns Fat” and if you want to burn that excess fat off then building muscle is the best and quickest way to do it.

Recently I have had the opportunity to try this Chalean Extreme workout. I am only at the beginning of the third week, so I am pretty new at it, but I have already noticed a difference in my body fat. Chalean Extreme is a 90 day workout program that can be extended to 120 days if you want to. In the 90 day session there are three different phases, the Burn, Push and Lean Phase. Each phase is 30 days long and comes with a complimentary food guide that outlines each phase. The reason Chalean Extreme is a great workout routine for toning is because it takes full advantage of dumbbell training. Dumbbells are some of the best weights you can use for muscle building, dumbbells not only use weight resistance but it also use stability resistance. Using dumbbells force all your little muscles to stabilize the weight as you lift it, that is the advantage dumbbells have over bars.

Another thing that makes Chalean Extreme a great workout routine for toning, is that it has you do full body workouts. You are never working out one body part at a time, if you are doing a bicep curl then you will also be doing a squat at the same time. If you are doing a tricep extension, then you will be doing a lunge at the same time. You will always be focusing on two major body sections at a time, whether it is upper and lower body or lower body and mid-section and so on. There are some great cardiovascular routines too.

It is important to know, that even though the Chalean Extreme routine has some great exercises, if you do not have heavy enough weights than you will be cheating yourself from achieving great results. So go out and get a nice set of dumbbells or resistance bands. Dumbbells do not take up much space, but are kind of expensive. So if you are looking for a cheaper alternative, than take a look at getting some resistance bands, they virtually take up no space and are very cost affective. Another great thing about resistance bands is that they create resistance through the band and not gravity like dumbbells. So if you are looking for a workout routine for toning, I highly suggest trying the Chalean extreme program.

Chalean Extreme Day 13

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:01:11 +0000

Today, I had to wake up earlier than normal to go to work. I helped tear up a deck because the wood is all rotten, so I was not able to stick to my normal schedule of doing the Chalean Extreme workout in the morning. I did however meet up with a friend at LA Fitness and did a back and bicep workout routine with him, which worked out great because that was the workout I was supposed to do with the Chalean Extreme workout. We always workout pretty hard at the gym, and we use all the same principles that Chalene Johnson believes in. We use dumbbells for the most part and we do not try to rush our exercises, slow is key.

We usually start off with pull ups but because I injured my bicep last time, we decided to warm up with a lighter bicep curl first. Then we went to the pull up bar, and with our hands facing forward we did as many pull ups as possible, 3 times. After that your biceps and upper back are pretty tired, so it makes it pretty tough to finish the rest of the exercises. We continued to switch off, focusing on biceps and then back and so on, we also did routines that involved working out both areas at the same time. After the back and biceps workout, we usually end it with some abdominal workouts. Doing some crunches and oblique exercises, afterward my abs are always sore, but a good sore not a painful one. I probably will not get to my workout tomorrow, but I will be doing the Burn circuit 3 workout on friday. So far this has been a great workout routine for toning.