ChaLEAN Extreme Review , part 1

Alright!  My new workout finally came.  Very nice package.  The CD's, nutrition book and the guidebook come all nicely packaged in one small box.  The CD's are in a flip out case for easy, well organized storage.

So, after opening the box and finding the other toys, a body fat calipers and the resistance bands, I quickly skimmed the guidebook.  Ok, quickly is the understatement!  I pretty much went straight to the workout section to see which workout to do first!  

After seeing its Burn Circuit 1, I immediately popped it into my DVD player.  Ok, so I really did pass on the book and the how to's, the phasing stuff, and I skipped the Burn Basic CD.  Burn basic tells you the proper form of the moves.  There is also a Band Basic, so for those who want to use resistance bands, I would probably recommend this video first!  But, doing P90X and X+ I figured I couldn't be that far off my form, I just wanted to try it!

Now, my review of Burn Circuit 1!  First, its shorter then I thought.  It's about 45 minutes!  It starts off with a quick warm-up.  The warm ups seemed to be a good amount of squats.  I thought- no not another Debbie!  I just did Burn it Up this  morning, I hope its not all squats!  But, I pressed on.

I was thoroughly impressed with the moves in Burn Circuit 1.  I have done P90X and X+, the first few One on One CD's, a few of the Ten Minute Trainer, and a lot of the different Turbo Jam workouts.  I have to say, most of the moves in this workout were different then everything in all the other videos.  Why do I say that.  One of the first moves is a Sumo Squat with a Hip Lift.  You grab heavy weights, go into a pile stance, hold the weights on your shoulder, then slowly lower.  When you come up, you move the feet closer, then do this leg lift with a side crunch!  Keep doing 12 reps, each one moving really slow until you get to feel the burn!

Another move was a bench press and leg lower.  Here you take one of her turbo bands and tie it around your ankles.  You lay on the floor, legs up in the air with the bands around your ankle.  You grab the weights and do a bench press move.  As you are doing a bench press, you lower your legs while keeping resistance on the bands.  Can you talk about butt cramps!

Overall most of the moves focused on more then one body part.  So, in the above bench press/leg lower you worked the arms, legs, butt, abs (ok, that is were I was feeling it anyway!).  Each move went sloowwww and with heavy weights!  I definitely was challenged to use a heavier weight then I would have expected.  I think I was learning the moves and went lighter on the weights then I could have, but I'll know for next time.  The book does come with worksheets to track your weights and reps!

I know after my workout, I felt it in the abs, arms, legs!  So, I will give this a 2 thumbs up!    The music was in the background, and I was honestly to focused on the moves to really hear it.  I don't recall it being as loud as in Turbo Jam.  Also, this workout is no where near as dancy as Turbo Jam!  But, its serious, its about getting results!  And, instead of "Turbos" Chalene throws in a few moves to push it to the "extreme."

On a side note, the guide book provides pictures and a description of each of the moves to help you learn the moves.

I can't wait to try video 2!  I guess I also need to find time to read the guidebook, the nutritionguide, to watch the burn basic CD and to see what the video Healthy Eats & Kitchen Makeover is all about!

If you would like to see more of Chalean Extreme, check out this short video clip!  To order your copy, just click here!

Have any other questions, drop me an email at HeatherB@BeachbodyCoach.com.  Or, come back later for more updates!