ChaLean Extreme: Day 5 – Burn and Recharge
So today is the last workout of the week with ChaLean extreme, and it has been a great workout so far. Ben and I will do the same routine next week and for the rest of the month, before we switch it up into the push phase. Today, we did the ChaLean Extreme Burn it off and recharge disc, where you are trying to get your heart rate up as much as possible. Ben and I do not have to much room to maneuver so it was kind of difficult at first to get really into this workout, but by the end we were sweating and Ben felt light headed because he worked out so hard. The workout involved a lot of movement dips, lunges, jumps and football drills. Yes, I said football drills! I thought that was pretty cool, I always love it when workouts incorporate sporting drills in to the exercises. My P90x Workout did that with the plyometrics disc. It adds an element of fun to the whole thing, although it is pretty challenging.
After the ChaLean Extreme Burn it off disc, I got to do the Recharge exercise. The first workout today was a little under 30 minutes long and the recharge disc was about 20 minutes long, so all together you will workout for about 50 minutes. But the recharge disc was nice, it was all stretching, and boy did my muscles need it, in fact my muscles need the two rest days coming up too. There were a lot of Yoga poses in this workout, it had upward dog, downward dog, warrior poses and some other yoga exercises. I kind of struggled with Yoga routine in P90x, but the ChaLean extreme workout is not meant to be a full on Yoga workout, so it was not as difficult, it did feel great though. I am glad they have put stretching into these workouts, because they really do help your flexibility and your muscles to develop.
I have a big day tomorrow, it is my sister’s birthday and we are going to Mizu. It is a Japanese restaurant where the chef is at your table and he cooks and does all sorts of cool things right in front of you. It’s pretty sweet, I think I am going to get the Steak and Lobster.
ChaLean Extreme: Day 4 – Burn 3
So it is Thursday today, so that means it is the fourth day of my ChaLean Extreme Workout. Today was not so good, not because of the workout, but we had a few unexpected guests in the middle of the workout, so we had to pause a few times. I am sure if we were able to go through the whole thing without stopping then it would have felt like more of a challenge. The ChaLean Extreme Burn Circuit 3 disc was the shortest workout so far. It was just a little bit above 30 minutes, which is fine because after yesterday’s workout we needed a shorter workout. I do not really mind the workout pushing me to much today, because that means I will feel more up to going to the gym to run a few miles. I do not think I am going to lift at the gym, because I need to give my muscles some time to recover from all the workouts I did with ChaLean and the gym. There were a lot of squats and shoulder workouts in the Burn circuit 3 workout, your shoulders will get a great workout in this session.
So far both Ben and I have agreed that the workouts have been really great, even our buddy Derek has worked out with us the last couple days. Derek used the resistance bands that I bought for my P90x workout routine. I think he had a hard time using them, not because of difficulty but because he was just not used to them. They can be kind of a pain if you do not use them correctly. I think Dumbbells are difinitely the way to go with the ChaLean extreme workout, and if you can get the same kind Chalene Johnson is using than that is even better.
If there is one thing I can start doing better, is eating more healthy. Last night a bunch of my friends got together, and I sort of pigged out on doughnut holes. I have not even opened the nutrition guide yet, maybe I should take a look at it and try to follow some type of plan.
ChaLean Extreme: Day 3 – Burn and Abs
First off, I need to tell you how the hike went! This is a continuation from my last post so hopefully you are reading everything I write about, if you are not I am going to hunt you down and make you read it…not really. It was a great hike though, although I was completely unprepared for the weather conditions. I do not like hiking in long warm ups, I like wearing shorts and I could not find my hiking boots so I just wore some old running shoes. Both of those decisions were a mistake. It was muddy and then when we got to the top there was about a foot of snow. I was dressed for a summer hike!! So…I do not know what I was thinking, but it will make a good story to tell, so I am happy. Hiking is a great workout and it is just great to get outside and experience nature and fresh air. The Gym can feel so unpleasant sometimes, so it was a nice change of scenery.
Okay, back to Chalean Extreme. Today Ben and I did the third day of the the ChaLean extreme workout. It is called Burn Intervals and Ab Burner. Combined, the workouts equal up to around 55 minutes, definitely the longest workout so far out of the three we have done. Our friend Derek even came and joined us. Three of us were packed in a small living room trying not to get in each others way. Besides that, I sweated like crazy in this workout, you just keep on going and going, there are no breaks. So for 45 minutes you are doing dumbbell routines, crazy plyometric routines and lounges through the whole thing. It was a wonderful and fun workout. Apparently you are not supposed to use heavy weights during this workout, for example, the guy in the back of the DVD was using 7 lbs. I was not so lucky, I had to use 15 lbs. the whole time, while Ben used the 10 lbs. and Derek got the 5 lbs, and my body is still sore from my Gym workout two days before. It was fun though, we joked around the whole time and pushed each other to get a better workout. After we got done with the burn Intervals, it was time to do the Ab Burner. Ten and a half minutes of crunches and side crunches and other weird crunches. It was great!! Actually, if I am being honest, abs are my least favorite thing to workout. But the Ab burner workout was very good. I was able to do this one better than the P90x ab workout, because it did not put so much pressure on my tail bone.
Also, Remember to check out Ben’s Chalean Extreme review.
ChaLean Extreme: Day 2 – Burn Circuit 2
Today was the second day of my Chalean Extreme body workout, if you remember anything about my first post on how day #1 went…throw it all out the window. I found heavier weights and ChaLean Extreme Day #2 was way more difficult. I pretty much used 25 lbs. the whole time, I know that does not sound like a lot, but you have got to understand something, I also go workout at the gym with my friends, so the night before my friend and I did chest, triceps and abs. Since my muscles were already fatigued it made the workout hard to get through. It felt really great though to get back into a tough routine. I am more excited now about ChaLean Extreme because I no know that it is actually going to be a challenge for me, like how the P90x workout was. Some of the exercises are still taking a little time to get used to and I will probably be going through that awkwardness for the first week, but after that it should be smooth sailing. I also do not really like the warm up section, I feel like we are being rushed through the whole thing, but what do I know…I have never made a successful workout video. My buddy Ben did pretty good today, although later on I found out that he almost threw up, but he hid it well. You can also read up on his ChaLean Extreme Blog to see his progress and his opinion of the whole workout. Personally, I really enjoyed this workout.
So later on today, Ben, Jeff and I have decided that we are going to skip the gym and get outside to do a hike. We are hiking up a place called Poo Poo Point (I know…what a terrible name). It is about 2 miles up and two miles back down, so all together it is around 4 miles. It will be a lot of fun, hopefully it is clear when we get to the top so we can see over Issaquah and Bellevue. The spot is famous around Washington for hang gliding and para sailing. This is the beginning step for getting back into hiking shape for The Enchantments 09′!! Check out my Enchantment 08′ pictures, they are sweet.
ChaLean Extreme: Day 1 – Only 119 days left
So today was the big day!! It was the first day of my new 120 day workout called Chalean Extreme. It is one of the newest home workout DVD systems on the market that is promising great results. I recently just finished the P90x Workout which was a 90 day workout, and that absolutely kicked my butt, so if Chalean Extreme is like P90x in any way I will be happy with it. I am doing this workout with my friend Ben, so it should be pretty fun, he hasn’t worked out in like 10 years, but if you read Ben’s blog he will say like 6 months, don’t believe the lies!!!.
Before I tell you about my workout today, let me tell you how ChaLean Extreme works. There are four phases, the Burn Phase, Push Phase, Lean Phase and Lean For Life Phase. Each phase is 30 days long and there are 2 rest days a week. The ChaLean Fitness Guide tells us to have our rest days on Tuesdays and Sundays, buuuutttt we are going to have our rest days on Saturdays and Sundays, because Ben and I won’t meet on the weekends. The First phase, which we started today is the Burn Phase. In this phase we are supposed to push our muscles to failure in 10 – 12 reps with each exercise. We both will probably do the Intermediate range which are weights any where between 20 – 30 pounds, if that is too easy than we will bump up the weight. Chalean Extreme’s philosophy is all about muscle burning fat. I still have some fat to burn so lets get it gone.
Today’s workout was kind of a test workout for us both, we really have no idea what we were getting into, so we kind of took it easy. But we really did not have a choice because the only weights I had were 15 and 10 pounds, so we really could not get the full affect of the workout. I used the 15′s and Ben used the 10′s, we definitely felt like wusses because Chalean was doing some of the same weight we were. So if we do not get heavier weights we will probably start using resistance bands. The workout was only around 35 minutes long, so length wise it was not to bad. The exercises were very different than anything I have ever done, so it was a little awkward at first making sure that we were doing the workouts properly. In my opinion, the workout was pretty easy, but…we needed heavier weights!! I am sure with heavier weights it would have been a great workout. So I can not really make a good evaluation of the workouts until we get heavier weights. Tomorrow we are going to do the Burn Circuit 2 disc, we will see how it goes.
