My Experience with ChaLEAN Extreme
Let me start off by saying that I think Chalene Johnson is by far one of the best motivators out there, ESPECIALLY for women. I find her energy and positivity to be so contagious, and those qualities always shine through in her workout. Chalene Johnson started me into this crazy world of Beachbody through her book PUSH, and through that book I learned about Turbo Jam, which led me to become a coach and discover other great Beachbody products - but I've always wanted to try ChaLEAN Extreme.
I am a P90X graduate and I loved that program. I thought it didn't get any better than that - and then it did. ChaLEAN helps you with your lifting, with the first phase focusing on burning through the fat, and rightfully called The Burn Phase. These workouts get you lifting weights with beginners ranging from 3lb-5lb, intermediate from 5lb-10lb, and advanced at 8lb-12lb. I started out with 5lb weights, but it wasn't long before I was seeing my strength increase and my weights go up.
I have lifted before. Before ChaLEAN, before P90X, even before Power90..there was Nicki in the Gym. I would lift, and lift, and my form was probably hideous, and I could never get over 10lbs! I would get firmer, but there would be no definition in the muscle. I thought I knew what I was doing, I pretended to know what would work, but the fact is I didn't! I loved Burn Phase because it goes through the basics of the form for each exercise, starts out with exercises that work multiple muscle groups at a time, and has your target reps between 10-12. The goal is to literally, feel the burn (and you do!!) ChaLEAN's workout calendar plans this in just a way that you never feel like it's "too much" from one day to the next. Throwing in ab workouts, it gives you a total body conditioning routine throughout the week and has you working out 5 days, with your pass days being Sundays and Tuesdays. She takes the work out of guessing. She knows what it takes to get amazing shoulders, great lady-like biceps, CRAAZY calf muscles, and the body that we women want. She knows how to get you to lift, without bulking up.
I am loving this program, and look forward to telling you ALL about Phase 2: Push Phase :)
Phase 2 is knocked out of the park! Woo WooOO! And I loved it even more than Phase 1!
Phase 2 was properly named the "Push" phase because you really push your muscular strength and endurance to a whole new level. When I first started this program, bicep curls were done with 8lbs; now I'm up to 20lbs (what what!) The same goes for my legs: I started at 10 lbs with my lunges, etc. and capped at 25lbs. My triceps, the area that I always claimed to be my weakest, I can now work with 12 lbs (prior this was 5lbs or 3lbs..told you I was weak) and my push ups....how many would you like me to do? Seriously? I went from HATING push ups to LOOOVING them. When I see push ups are part of my daily workout, I get stoked. People have even taken notice of me at the gym, and the one security guard was making fun of the men because I was curling more than they were with the dumbbells, and my push up form was better than theirs. Booya.
I'll be honest- I didn't really follow the meal plan this time around. A lot has been going on with Grad school, etc. and sometimes it was hard to stay on track. I also noticed that certain areas of my body actually added a few inches due to muscle mass (maybe like 2 1/2 total around my body which is NOTHING) but the lean phase is supposed to lean you down, so I am really looking forward to that. My body fat dropped from around 18% to 14%, so that is also awesome. Not to mention..I GET WAFFLES IN THE MORNING! Love me some waffles! The goal with the Lean Phase is to follow it as is, diet included. I'm also going to be running with it maybe 3 times a week because I need to get my mileage up and start getting used to distance again for my half marathon. I can't WAIT to report back in because this program is SO awesome!!
PUSH PHASE
Phase 2 is knocked out of the park! Woo WooOO! And I loved it even more than Phase 1!
Phase 2 was properly named the "Push" phase because you really push your muscular strength and endurance to a whole new level. When I first started this program, bicep curls were done with 8lbs; now I'm up to 20lbs (what what!) The same goes for my legs: I started at 10 lbs with my lunges, etc. and capped at 25lbs. My triceps, the area that I always claimed to be my weakest, I can now work with 12 lbs (prior this was 5lbs or 3lbs..told you I was weak) and my push ups....how many would you like me to do? Seriously? I went from HATING push ups to LOOOVING them. When I see push ups are part of my daily workout, I get stoked. People have even taken notice of me at the gym, and the one security guard was making fun of the men because I was curling more than they were with the dumbbells, and my push up form was better than theirs. Booya.
I'll be honest- I didn't really follow the meal plan this time around. A lot has been going on with Grad school, etc. and sometimes it was hard to stay on track. I also noticed that certain areas of my body actually added a few inches due to muscle mass (maybe like 2 1/2 total around my body which is NOTHING) but the lean phase is supposed to lean you down, so I am really looking forward to that. My body fat dropped from around 18% to 14%, so that is also awesome. Not to mention..I GET WAFFLES IN THE MORNING! Love me some waffles! The goal with the Lean Phase is to follow it as is, diet included. I'm also going to be running with it maybe 3 times a week because I need to get my mileage up and start getting used to distance again for my half marathon. I can't WAIT to report back in because this program is SO awesome!!
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