The ChaLean Extreme Way
Today was my tenth day of doing the Chalean Extreme workout routine, and so far this is the most blood pumping workout there is so far. The Disc is called Burn Intervals, it is about 45 minutes long, so it is the longest workout I have done yet. It really does push your heart rate up. You pretty much switch from doing a cadio exercise to a light weight exercise, but even though you are doing light weight, you do tons of reps. The key with this workout is to get your heart rate up with the cardio exercises and then build muscles endurance with the weight lifting. I know it sounds kind of easy but after awhile your legs get tired from all the squats, lunges and plyometrics, and then your arms and shoulders get tired because you are doing about 30 plus reps every time you pick up the weights.
This workout is definitely different from the burn circuit workouts, with the burn circuit workouts, you focus more on heavier weights and slow reps, but with the Burn Interval workout, you do more lighter weight but faster reps. There are some slow lifting in this workout, but most the time you are going at a steady pace. Again, like all of the Burn Circuit discs, you will be doing a full body workout with Burn Intervals. You will focus on the legs, abs, and upper body.
You would think that after doing a 45 minute workout, you would be done after it was finished, but not on these day. After the Burn Interval workout, you will do the Ab burner routine. It is about 8 more minutes of ab workouts. I have done a lot of ab workouts. I have done ab routines at the gym, and I have also done the ab workout of P90x. The P90x ab workout is definitely the hardest I have ever done, but I found it to be to difficult and painful for my tailbone. So it was hard to complete it. That is why I like this Chalean Extreme routine, I get a great workout with my abs but I do not experience the pain in my tailbone when I do these exercises, so I can focus purely on my abs.
My diet – Last night my friend from out of town came to visit, so a group of us went out to dinner. But I think I did pretty well. We had Thai food, but I had a lean Steak with cabbage and grilled vegetables, the only thing I did bad on was having Crab Rangoons. This morning I had Unflavored Oatmeal and blueberries, I plan on having a protein drink in a few minutes, and then lunch. So far it has been a good morning.
Workouts, but not with ChaLean Extreme
So I did workouts over the weekend and on Monday but none of them were with Chalean Extreme. I am STILL waiting for my television to be fixed, but it is all good. I had Softball practice on Saturday and Sunday, but since I usually do not get a good workout at practice, I decided to go early and workout. On Saturday I did something that I have not done since I played football…I ran lines. For people who do not know what that is, it is when you start from one endzone and run to the 20 yard line and run back and then to the 40 yard line and run back and so on until you do the full 100 yard dash. It gets super tiring, because you are sprinting the whole time. I also ran a couple laps around the track before that to get warmed up. After running lines, I rested for a little bit, and then ran the hundred yard dash as fast as I could twice. It really was a great workout, all together it was only about 20 minutes, but it was nice to get back outside and do some sprinting.
I also worked out on Monday with Jeff, and we did another upper body workout focusing on the chest and triceps. I had to make sure that I was careful that I did not hurt my arm worse, so I took it pretty easy. For the chest we did Dumbbell presses, a upper body press, and a cable press. For the triceps, we did triceps extensions on the cables, s dips, and something else…I can’t remember what it’s called. After that we then focused on are stomachs and then did some push ups on a stability ball. I even ran for about a mile before Jeff got there, so overall it was a great workout.
Now I will explain the picture, Sunday I rode a motorbike for the first time, it was called a pit bike. The experience was fun, although I let the clutch out to fast the first time I tried and almost dragged my face across the earth. Tuesday, was my second time ever riding a pit bike, and my friends spent all day build a jump that they were going off on. When I got there they asked me if I wanted to try the jump, and I was like YEAH sounds like fun. Well, I got on the bike and let out the clutch, so far everything was smooth. I was riding around getting used to the feel, I lined up to the jump and was going to just take a test run to get the feel of it. But half way I just decided to go for it. No one ever told me that you have to stand up a little bit when you go off the jump. So when I went off the jump I was sitting down, which caused my front tire to head downwards straight into the ground, I hit the very top of my front tire and almost completely flipped over the handlebars, but I pulled it off. I was about as close as you can get to flipping without flipping. It was exciting, and they got it on video. It is pretty hilarious.
I Pulled My Bicep
So I’m praying it is not to bad, but I hurt my right bicep yesterday at the gym. Hopefully by the time I get my bulb replacment in the mail, my right bicep will be feeling better, so I can continue my Chalean Extreme workout. A few post ago I wrote about how I did around 70 push-ups, and some pull-ups, after my last set of push ups, my biceps kind of tightened up a little bit. I really did not think to much of it, but I rested the next two days and did not do any arm workouts. Yesterday, I was meeting up with my friend Jeff to work out back and biceps, and we always start off the workout by doing as many pull ups as possible. Well I jumped up to the bar and did only one pull up and my right bicep just felt like it tore, but I thought maybe it just needs to be worked a little bit, so I did one more pull up and it hurt even worse. So I am not exactly sure what I did, but I know when something is not right. I do not think I injured my bicep, but I did hurt it. I did not finish the back and biceps workout, instead I went and ran for and stair climbed for 20 minutes, then we focused on our abs.
I am a little nervous, because I have never had my arm hurt like this before, but I am icing it and putting heat on it to see if I can nurse it back to health. Tomorrow, I have Softball practice and that will be a nice litte test to see if it feels better, or if I can even play.
New Shake for my Chalean Extreme Workout
I just received a new nutritional shake that I am going to start taking one meal a day. It is a meal replacement shake. It is called Shakeology and it is serious stuff, I do not think there is anything quite like it. I already made an 8oz. glass out of it and it tasted pretty good. I have the Chocolate kind, but there is also a Greenberry Flavor. I am going to start taking it regularly, to help me stay energized and focus throughout my Chalene Extreme workout and all of my other workouts. Why is it supposed to be so good, well, let me tell you.
Shakeology contains:
- Protein and Essential Amino Acids
- Prebiotics and Digestive Enzymes
- Antioxidants and Phytonutrients
- 23 Vitamins and Minerals
It also contains some very unique ingredients like Acai and Goji Berries, Camu-Camu, Quinoa, Wheat Grass, Maca Root, and Sacha Inchi. Crazy huh?
This shake will help you maintain a healthy body weight, boost your immune system, and protect your long term health by providing you with healthy energy. Shakeology also has Digestive Enzymes that will help you with staying regular. You will lose weight, feel full, lower your cholesterol and absorb more nutrients.
Shakeology is Gluten free and caffeine free, has NO refined sugars or artificial sweeteners, and provides health-supporting chlorophylls, polyphenols, prebotics, and proanthocyanins.
So….There are a lot of big words that I do not understand, but I will be trying this out and telling you how it makes me feel, and any results that I do or do not get from it. Hopefully it helps me with my Abs Diet and my Chalean extreme workout.
Starting ChaLean Extreme Soon…again
So if you have been following my blog posts, than you have read that I was doing the Chalean extreme workout and then was interrupted when my television stopped working. But there is good news, I ordered a new replacement bulb today, so hopefully by next week Ben and I can get back into the workout. The Chalean Extreme workout was going well, until the TV breakage. I have been pretty busy the last few days, so I have not been able to workout like I normally do, but last night I got a little workout in before I went to bed. I did a series of abdominal workouts, where I focused on my upper abs, lower abs and obliques. I also did 70 push ups, and no, I did not do them all at once, I did a set of 30…20…20. I got the Abs Diet book yesterday in the mail, so I started doing the workouts that it shows in the book. I also started reading the book and so far I really enjoy his style of writing. It is very motivating and it is nice to know the importance on why I need to lose the weight around my midsection. Did you know? That the average American has over 30 billion fat cells, and each cell can expand up to 1000 times it’s size, and once it reaches its physical limit it can split into two. So you get more fat cells, and they don’t ever go away!! So it makes it even harder to get into shape. I also found out what I was doing wrong in my diet, I thought it would be okay to give myself one day a week where I can splurge, the Abs Diet book calls that cheating. So for the next six weeks I will be 100% dedicated to my diet.
ChaLean Extreme: In Waiting
So I finally got a hold of the television repair people and faxed in all the proper paper work for them to come out or send me a new bulb for my LCD rear projection television. This whole process has been annoying, but it has not been the end of the world. I still get a lot of workouts in, although it is not ChaLean Extreme. My whole purpose to doing ChaLean Extreme is so I can write reviews and tell people about my progress or lack there of. Soon I will get the problem resolved and everything will be back to normal, but until then, I am gonna keep on doing workouts at the gym and hikes. Besides, I have to do some type of workout or else I will go crazy!! If I go to long without working out then I lose my edge, my motivation, and it is harder for me to start back up. So remaining active is not an option for me.
As far as the diet is going, this is my fifth day on the Men’s health Abs diet. I think I am doing it right, that is why I ordered the book, to make sure that I am doing this diet correctly. But I feel great, my body feels healthy, and I feel energized. I am excited to see some of the results I get in the first week. It is the weekend so I will not be posting until Monday, I am going on a four mile hike this afternoon with a friend, and tomorrow I am probably just going to take it easy. I have a friends birthday and we are going to this extremely nice italian restaurant. In my diet I do allow myself to splurge a little one day a week. I hope that is okay with the Abs Diet book.
ChaLean Extreme: Day 8 – Getting Extreme!!
Well we had to rest days over the weekend from our ChaLean extreme workout, so our bodies are all healed up and ready to go. Over the weekend I did not workout , I did not even go to LA Fitness to do any running, and I ate terrible. It was my sister’s birthday so I went out a few times for lunch and dinner and had cake and ice cream. I am the type of person that if I screw up in a day with my eating then I eat bad the rest of the day. But today marks the day that I start eating healthier again, so I can maximize my results from this workout. I decided not to follow the ChaLean Extreme nutrition guide that they provided for me, instead I will be doing The Abs Diet from Men’s Health. This diet includes 12 power foods. 1. Almonds and other nuts 2. Beans and other Legumes 3. Spinach, greens 4. Dairy, fat-free milk, yogurt and cheese 5. Instant oatmeal – unflavored and unsweetened 6. Eggs 7. Turkey and other lean meats – lean beef, chicken and fish 8. Peanut Butter, all natural and sugar free 9. olive oil 10. Whole grain breads 11. Extra protein powder 12. Raspberries and other berries. So wish me luck, this is probably going to be the hardest diet I have ever had to stick with. I get one day a week to splurge, I am actually more nervous about this than I am about the workout.
Today we did the Chalean Extreme Burn Circuit 1 disc again for the second time. If you remember in my first post about this workout I mentioned that I felt like the workout was to easy because I did not have heavy enough weights. Well, this time I had heavier weights and the workout went a lot better, but I do feel like this is the easier workout of the three Burn Circuits. What I do love about this ChaLean Extreme Workout, is that they have some great Ab workouts with dumbbells. You really get to focus on your obliques and if you do the exercise correctly than you can really feel your obliques getting a good workout. I really do like how you usually work out multiple body parts at a time. So if you are doing deltoid workouts then at the same time you are in a lounge working out your legs, or if you are doing a bench press, they have you working out your lower abs at the same time. That was one thing the P90x workout was great with too, was working out more than one section at a time.
Tonight I am going to LA Fitness to workout with Jeff, we are going to do a Chest workout and then run for a couple miles. But I will writing more about that tomorrow. And remember to check out Ben’s Chalean Extreme workout blog.
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.
