Coach Elise | Canadian Beachbody Coach

ChaLEAN Extreme Review: Who Should Do It?

A lot of people have asked me about the ChaLEAN Extreme home workout program, what it’s all about, and how intense it is. From what I gather, the ones who ask me about it want to know if it’s something they might like and are capable of physically doing.

Now that I’ve done completed the full 90 days of the program and I’ve written three separate detailed reviews for the Burn Phase, Push Phase, and Lean Phase, I thought it would be a good idea to take what I know and break down the decision makers for anyone who is thinking about trying the program out for themselves.

ChaLEAN Extreme is NOT for you if you’re going to make excuses.

The workout program is 90 days long. That’s three months. And it’s five workouts a week, 30 to 45 minutes per workout. If you already know you don’t have it in you to make that kind of commitment, then I wouldn’t even bother.

Sorry, but you won’t get the best results if you do Burn Circuit 1, take four days off, then do Burn Circuit 2, then Burn Intervals, then swap out a workout for some running instead, and then take another three days off with a cupcake binge-fest right in the middle. ChaLEAN Extreme is designed to get people results, but I can’t stress enough the importance of following the workout schedule calendar as closely as possible.

If you can’t set your alarm to get up in the morning and do the workouts as scheduled, or at least schedule in some other uninterrupted time when you can workout during the day, then life will eventually get in the way. By not fully committing, you’re hugely discounting the power of this program.

Excuses and a half-assed commitment are one thing, but I understand  If you need daily motivation, then I can help you with that through online coaching. Contact me about it. 

ChaLEAN Extreme is NOT for you if you don’t want to lift weights.

This is a body-sculpting, HEAVY weight lifting program. I know a lot of people hate that and would rather stick to their long runs and crazy Zumba classes. Trust me, I used to be one of them!

But muscle is one of the most important building blocks of health and youth. You could cardio yourself to death every day and feel great afterward, but it will never rev up your metabolism or give you that toned look like strength training does.

I’ve been a cardio addict in the past, and what I learned is that more is never better. I was trying to lose weight, and because our bodies quickly adapt to intense cardio, going harder only sends the body into stress-induced hormonal chaos. In my case, my body switched from burning fat to burning muscle, and as a result my metabolism got damaged.

Women especially need to lift heavy weights. As we get older, our muscle mass disappears if we don’t work them. Which means a lower metabolism. Which means you can’t eat as much as you used to without gaining weight. Which probably explains the weight gain a lot of people experience later on in life.

ChaLEAN Extreme IS for you if…

you want to lose weight and shed fat

you want a lean, hard body

you want an alternative to cardio-based programs

you are a woman interested in strength training but are afraid of bulking up

you are at any starting fitness level

How intense is it? Is it really hard?

When I show people what’s involved in ChaLEAN Extreme, they often get back to me with a “wow, that looks intense” type of reply. Some of them assume they already have to be in kickass shape to do it.

The reality is that anyone, regardless of fitness level, can get started with ChaLEAN Extreme. (Of course, talk to your doctor about any health concerns or issues.)

In all the workouts, there is a modifier who performs all the moves for beginners. For most, that means lighter weights and lower impact stuff.

You can make the workouts as intense or as easy as you want. That’s the beauty of it. It’s that versatile!

So, don’t be intimidated by the ripped women who are flawlessly lifting five times as much weight as you can handle without even breaking a sweat. It’s not about competing with the women in the workout videos, it’s about focusing on yourself!

My only two criticisms about ChaLEAN Extreme…

Alright, so now that I’ve talked endlessly about how great this program and glorified it to no end, because it really is one of my favourites, I want to be realistic by pointing out a couple of things about it that bug me.

First and foremost, there’s the nutrition plan. This program comes with a detailed eating guide complete with recipes ideas and everything, and overall I think it’s great… BUT the one thing that screwed me up a bit was the way the calculation was laid out to determine a good daily calorie budget for fat loss.

For me, it ended up being 1,400 calories. That’s WAY too low for me. I can barely live on 1,600 calories a day and I eat on average 2,000 to 2,400 calories on workout days.

After doing some research online, I discovered I wasn't the only one who felt this way. A lot of other women felt the calorie calculation in the nutrition guide gave daily calorie budgets that were just too low — especially when working out!

Chalene says it in the workout videos herself… you can’t STARVE your way through this. You have to eat, and you’ll probably be hungrier because your metabolism keeps working up to 48 hours after working out because it has to repair your poor broken down muscles.

I would personally look into another method of calculating your daily calorie budget, or ask your doctor or nutritionist about it. I can’t imagine lifting so heavy and only eating 1,200 to 1,400 calories a day.

The only other little irk I have is in regards to some of the editing in the workout videos. It’s not too much of a big deal anymore now that I know most of the videos by heart, but there are several exercises where the editing cuts out short and the people performing the moves skip a rep or never end up getting to 12 reps.

So here I am, pushing hard to get to my 12th rep, but all of a sudden Chalene says “okay that’s your 10th rep!” but I’m still on the 9th rep… because I guess they edited out a rep or two. It just kinda throws me off a bit.

Anyway, it’s an occurrence in quite a few of the workout videos. I usually know where it happens and I’m able to go just a tad bit faster or finish a tad bit later but I still manage to get all m reps in. 

Besides the calorie calculation and the few editing flaws, everything else is awesome. I could seen myself doing this program for years and years and years, because nothing else works my muscles quite as good.

Additional Support from Me

Are you interested in losing weight or toning up your muscles with ChaLEAN Extreme? I love to work with people who are interested in completing this program.

If you don’t have a coach already, please feel free to contact me via email or Facebook and ask to join one of my online challenge groups that I coach. I’ll work with you on a daily basis and provide additional tips, tricks and strategies you can use to maximize your results as you work through ChaLEAN Extreme.

Burn Phase Review

Push Phase Review

ChaLEAN Extreme Review & Results: Lean Phase

Well, anyone who can make it through four weeks of the Burn Phase and then four weeks of the Push Phase in Chalene Extreme is a real trooper. Honestly, the first time I did this program I only got to the end of the Push Phase before I fell off the wagon.

The third and final Lean phase, however, is without a doubt the hardest and most intense phase of the entire program. A lot of people have told me that this is the phase where they really start seeing the results, and after completing the final four weeks of it, I can totally understand why!

If you didn’t read my reviews for the first two phases, you can read the Burn Phase review here and the Push Phase review here.

Lean Phase Review

The Burn Phase focuses on compound exercises with 10 to 12 reps while the Push Phase focuses on separate exercises with heavier 6 to 8 reps. The Lean Phase goes back to a lot of what’s involved in the Burn Phase — compound exercises and 10 to 12 reps — but these ones are supercharged with core strength moves and extreme sets after EACH and EVERY exercise! Yikes!

Lean Circuit 1 (45 minutes): Out of all the circuit workouts in this entire program, THIS one is the hardest, in my opinion. It’s biceps, triceps and lots of lunges. And it’s a bit of a longer workout because there are extreme sets at the end of every 10 to 12 reps. You get to work your hamstrings here with the thigh toner, AND do bicep curls at the same time! I’m always a little scared when I pop the DVD in to do this one, but it’s always so worth it when I’m done.

The moves in this workout include:

Single-calf raise with a bicep curl

Tricep pushups

Split lunge with bicep curl

Stationary runner’s lunge with double tricep extensions

Bicep curl with hamstring curl (with thigh toner)

Plank with single-tricep extension

Reverse lunge with double-arm bicep curl

Supine tricep

Sumo squat calf raise with bicep curl

Lean Circuit 2 (40 minutes): Your smaller shoulder muscles will be dying after this workout! The big focus is on your lateral and deltoid muscles as well as all areas of the legs. Like Lean Circuit 1, there’s a weird plank move thrown in there that really forces you to engage the core. By the time I have to do the reverse lunges with lateral raises, my arms are almost dead. The big thing I have to remember is to avoid getting lazy with form and keep those elbows up!

The moves in this workout include:

Sumo squat with anterior delt lift

Double-arm row with a single-leg lift (with thigh toner)

Single hamstring curl with lateral raise

Runner’s lunge with double-arm row

Lateral raise with abduction (with thigh toner)

Plank with single-arm row

Reverse lunge with lateral raise

Posterior deltoid raise with leg lift

Squat with double-arm anterior delt lift

Lean Circuit 3 (40 minutes): This workout is all about the chest, shoulders and legs… with some crazy core stuff. Right after you do these cray overhead presses while kneeling and doing crunches, you move on to doing pushups with side planks. And don’t get me started on the chest stuff. By the time I reach the last chest exercise, I’m almost in tears. Don’t be fooled by the moves where you’re lying on your back… it’s not a break, it’s chest torture time!

The moves in this workout include:

Squat with cross-body chop

Reverse lunge and Arnold press

Chest fly with hip lift

Kneeling overhead press with centre crunch

Pushup side plank

Dead lift frontal press

Traveling pushups

Chest fly with abduction

Army crawl

Again, the only thing that really changes in the Lean Phase are the swapping out of the Push Phase circuits for the Lean Phase circuits. The schedule still has you doing Burn Intervals on the fourth day of your workout week, but with Extreme Abs as a switch from Ab Burner. On the sixth day of your week, you still do Burn It Off! and Recharge.

There are also additional ChaLEAN Extreme workouts you can purchase separately to mix things up a little, and in the Lean Phase you can do that by swapping out Burn Intervals and Burn It Off! for others, like Get Lean Intervals and Fat Burn Challenge. I bought the upgrade, and I'll review these add-on workouts in a future post.

A Typical Week in the Lean Phase

Monday: Lean Circuit 1 Tuesday: Rest Wednesday: Lean Circuit 2 Thursday: Burn Intervals & Extreme Abs Friday: Lean Circuit 3 Saturday: Burn It Off! & Recharge Sunday: Rest

My Personal Lean Phase Review & Results

Not surprisingly, this is the mother of all ChaLEAN Extreme phases. THIS is the one you need to work up to, which is why you need to spend two months in the Burn and Push phases.

I was happy to see this phase shift back to the compound exercises, but I was blown away by the core component and the extreme sets with each and every move. The Lean circuits are the most exhausting, overall, to complete.

There’s a lot going on in each compound exercise, especially when the thigh toner is involved or you’re needing to activate your core. It’s a lot to focus on. I find that I need to go a bit lighter on the weights just to make sure I’m maintaining proper form and isolating the muscle rather than wasting my time and effort.

I would say it takes a good two or three weeks to get used to doing the moves properly in this phase. I struggled a lot at first, and most likely wasn’t performing the moves properly in the beginning.

The soreness I experienced the day after doing theses circuits in this phase was unbelievable. It blows the soreness out of the water from the other phases. Just when you think you’re all lean and strong after two months of consistent lifting, you get destroyed again. (It’s a good thing, though!)

My results were fantastic in the Lean phase. I’ve never had as much definition in my muscles as I do now, not even after completing P90X. (I plan on writing a comparison post between CLX and P90X sometime soon, too.)

I have to admit, though, that the Lean circuits scare me a bit. They’re THAT intense. Even if I do nothing but sit on my butt and watch TV or browse Tumblr, if I complete a Lean circuit and know I gave it my best, I can go to bed feeling like I had a very productive day. Weird, right?

Additional Support from Me

Are you interested in losing weight or toning up your muscles with ChaLEAN Extreme? I love to work with people who are interested in completing this program.

If you don’t have a coach already, please feel free to contact me via email or Facebook and ask to join one of my online challenge groups that I coach. I’ll work with you on a daily basis and provide additional tips, tricks and strategies you can use to maximize your results as you work through ChaLEAN Extreme.

Burn Phase Review

ChaLEAN Extreme Review & Results: Push Phase

After making it through four intense weeks of workout program ChaLEAN Extreme, it was time for me to move on from the Burn Phase to the Push Phase. I was a little nervous, because I thought the Burn Phase was really challenging and the “Push” title made it sound like things would get even harder!

If you didn’t read my review for the Burn Phase in ChaLEAN Extreme yet, you can find it here. The Burn Phase is the first phase you start with and follow for roughly 30 days. After that, you move on to the Push Phase and follow it for another 30 days. (And after the Push Phase comes the final phase — the Lean Phase.)

Push Phase Review

The Push Phase is to be completed during the fifth week through to the eighth week of the twelve-week (or 90-day) ChaLEAN Extreme home workout program. This phase really switches things up from the Burn Phase by taking the compound exercises out and forcing you to lift even heavier. By focusing on just one muscle area at a time, you can REALLY go heavy, and you are encouraged to fail at just 6 to 8 reps.

Push Circuit 1 (35 minutes): This circuit workout focuses on biceps, triceps, and the booty. Unlike in the Burn Phase, you’ll do upper body moves and lower body moves separate from one another. Chalene encourages you to go very heavy, because you’re trying to fail by the 6th to 8th rep as opposed to the 10th to 12th rep. I love the squats in this one. So many squats! When you pick up heavy weights and use exceptional form by driving your heels into the ground, your booty will thank you.

The moves in this workout include:

Standard bicep curl

Standard squat

Single-arm bent over tricep extension

V-press bicep curl

Single-leg squat

Overhead tricep extension

Hammer curl

Heel squat

Standard push-ups

Push Circuit 2 (38 minutes): In this workout, it’s all about the shoulders and legs — booty, quads and hamstrings. This one absolutely kills my shoulders (in a good way). The single-leg dead lifts in this workout will really test your balance and core strength too. I can’t believe how sore I can be the next day just by standing on one leg and slowly lowering my upper body while maintaing a flat back. Out of all the Push Circuit workouts, I’d say this one is the most challenging.

The moves in this workout include:

Single overhead press

Single-leg reverse fly

Standing reverse fly

Standing Arnold press

Single-leg dead lifts

Bent over lat raise

Frontal shoulder press

Single-leg tap lunge

Lateral delt raise

Push Circuit 3 (32 minutes): For some reason, I always expect this one is going to be the easiest in the Push phase, but I’m usually wrong. Even though it’s a couple minutes shorter than the others and you’re lying down on your back to target the chest, it’s still crazy hard with the heavy weights and extreme sets. This workout focuses a lot on the chest, back and inner thighs. Get ready to do lots of rows in this workout!

The moves in this workout include:

Sumo squat

Single-arm row

Chest fly

Bowler lunge

Double-arm bent over row

Bench press

Single-leg sumo squat

Reverse-grip bent over row

Long-arm pullover

The Push Phase weekly schedule is set up identically to the Burn Phase, except of course you swap out Burn Circuits 1, 2, and 3 for Push Circuits 1, 2, and 3. So, you’re still doing Burn Intervals and Ab Burner on the fourth day of your workout week as well as Burn It Off! and Recharge on the sixth day of the week for your cardio and flexibility.

A Typical Week in the Push Phase

Monday: Push Circuit 1 Tuesday: Rest Wednesday: Push Circuit 2 Thursday: Burn Intervals & Ab Burner Friday: Push Circuit 3 Saturday: Burn It Off! & Recharge Sunday: Rest

My Personal Push Phase Review & Results

When I first started the Push Phase, I have to admit I was kind of disappointed that it didn’t involve compound exercises. I thought I’d burn a lot less calories by just working one part of my body at a time.

It took me a while to get used to it, but once I put massive focus into really isolating the muscle groups in all the moves and trying to match Chalene’s heavy weights on almost all the moves, then the big calorie burns came!

Because you have to go so heavy to fail by the 6th to 8th rep, it makes up for the fact that you’re not doing compound exercises at 10 to 12 reps. My heart rate sky rocketed even faster than in the Burn Phase and I still find myself out of breath with the exercises in this phase.

The Push Phase also provides a nice break from trying to work two muscle groups at the same time. In my experience, trying to do lunges and overhead presses can be tricky! I’m not the best at multitasking, so focusing on just one muscle group makes it easier to check for proper form.

The soreness also came back after I switched from the Burn Phase to the Push Phase. In the Burn Phase, you feel the most pain the first week and then you start to feel less and less pain throughout the four weeks… until you switch to the Push Phase! Your body gets all confused all over again with the heavier weights and extreme sets, so the soreness returns.

And even though you’re supposed to lift heavier in this phase, the shorter 6 to 8 reps are also a nice change from the 10 to 12 reps. It’s all about variety, and the phase switch really offers some nice changes not only to challenge your muscles, but to help avoid boredom from doing the same types of workouts over and over again.

In terms of my results, the biggest thing I noticed was my strength improvement here, and I think that was largely due to being able to focus on one area at a time and go insanely heavy. Inches lost slowed down a bit, but that’s a regular thing that often happens to me after I lose a few initial inches or pounds kind of quick.

Overall, I think the Push Phase might be my favourite of the three phases. Each phase is unique and great in its own way, but there’s something about the super heavy and slow lifting in this phase that I just absolutely love.

Additional Support from Me

Are you interested in losing weight or toning up your muscles with ChaLEAN Extreme? I love to work with people who are interested in completing this program.

If you don’t have a coach already, please feel free to contact me via email or Facebook and ask to join one of my online challenge groups that I coach. I’ll work with you on a daily basis and provide additional tips, tricks and strategies you can use to maximize your results as you work through ChaLEAN Extreme.

Burn Phase Review

ChaLEAN Extreme Review & Results: Burn Phase

I decided that I really wanted to write a personal review of the home DVD workout program ChaLEAN Extreme by Beachbody. It's one of my all-time favourite workout programs, and I completed the full 90 days of it couple weeks ago without falling off track at all, so I’m excited to share what I learned and what results I got.

First of all, what is ChaLEAN Extreme?

ChaLEAN Extreme (or CLX for short) is a home DVD workout program that’s 90 days long, broken up into three phases, which change every 30 days. The main focus of the program is heavy strength training in circuits to build (or maintain) lean muscle for an overall tighter and toned look. There are a couple cardio and flexibility workouts also worked into the program for variety and to support the strength training focus.

Workouts are about 30 to 45 minutes long, five days a week. The program comes as DVD set along with a couple introduction DVDs to help you get started, and a bonus workout too. You also get a workout calendar, nutrition guide, resistance band and thigh toner.

You are supposed to use heavy weights in this program (ranging from 5 to 30+ pounds) but there is always a girl who shows modifications with lighter weights and easier moves for people just starting out. And if you don’t have any weights to work with, there is always another girl showing you how to get the same effect using just the resistance band.

Burn Phase Review

The first 30-day phase of CLX is called the Burn Phase. In this phase, circuits are focused on combining both upper and lower body moves at the same time. For each compound exercise, you are to complete a total of 10 to 12 and reach failure by then.

Burn Circuit 1 (36 minutes): Upper body exercises in this workout focus on the chest and smaller shoulder muscles, so get ready to do a lot of pushups and flies. And while you work those areas, you’re also doing squats, lunges or dead lifts. Yikes! There’s also a slow squat move with a core rotation while holding a heavy weight — one of my favourite moves in the whole program that really gets my heart rate up and hurts so good!

The moves in this workout include:

Sumo squat with a hip lift

Lunge with posterior fly

Pushup with leg lift

Dead lift with posterior fly

Lunge with core rotation

Bench press with leg lowering

Squat with a side bend

Forward leaning lunge with posterior fly

Chest fly with a hip lift

Burn Circuit 2 (38 minutes): This circuit workout focuses on working your biceps and triceps for the upper body moves and combines them with squats, lunges and dead lifts similar to Burn Circuit 1 to work the lower body at the same time. The dead lifts are killer in this workout, and if you go heavy enough and do them slowly, you will be feeling it tomorrow in the backs of your legs. And the fact that they’re combined with rows and double rows makes them all the more effective at sculpting your body.

The moves in this workout include:

Sumo squat with bicep curl

Lunge with one-arm tricep extension

Dead lift row

Sumo squat with overhead tricep extension

Dead lift with double row

Bowler’s lunge with single-arm row

Bicep curls with abductor balance

Forward leaning lunge with double row

Triple threat pushups

Burn Circuit 3 (35 minutes): Now you get to do huge work on your shoulders here, combined with some good inner thigh and calf moves for the lower body. My shoulders are usually screaming pretty good after this workout, and yours will too if you pick the appropriate weights. Some of the calf moves will also test your balance.

The moves in this workout include:

Sumo squat with overhead press

Lunge with calf raise

Squat with lateral raise

Lunge with frontal press

Squat with calf raise

Sumo squat with delta raise

Squat with double overhead press

Lunge with lateral raise

Sumo squat with calf raise

The three circuit workouts are spread out throughout the week with a few other workouts spread in between them. 

Burn Intervals is about 45 minutes long and involves the combination of short bursts of high intensity cardio with fast and light weight lifting (about 5 pounds) during rest periods. You are to follow that workout with 10 minutes of core exercises in the Ab Burner workout, which are all mostly done lying flat on your back.

Burn It Off! is about 27 minutes long and involves short bursts of high intensity cardio with just a short rest period in the middle of the workout. After that, you’re supposed to do the 21-minute long Recharge workout as way to cool down and improve your flexibility. which consists of slow and relaxing yoga poses and stretching holds.

A Typical Week in the Burn Phase

Monday: Burn Circuit 1 Tuesday: Rest Wednesday: Burn Circuit 2 Thursday: Burn Intervals & Ab Burner Friday: Burn Circuit 3 Saturday: Burn It Off! & Recharge Sunday: Rest

My Personal Burn Phase Review & Results

I love the Burn Phase for the compound exercises. When I struggle to make 10 reps, I know I’m working with the maximum amount of weight.

I really struggled with my breathing when I first started, so I had to pause the DVD and take longer rests between the moves to catch my breath. The cardiovascular effect is incredible.

As I kept at it, my breathing really improved. My heart rate still gets way up there and I sweat buckets, but I’m able to move on more quickly between the moves without needing to pause for a rest or having to pant like crazy.

The following day after each circuit workout, I could feel the pain in all my muscles that were worked. It was sometimes hard to keep working out when sore.

I definitely improved week over week, which I noticed by the definition in my muscles and the disappearing soreness as my body adapted to grow stronger. Burn Intervals is probably my favourite cardio workout now, because I love the rest periods with the light weights.

In terms of my results, I wanted to focus more on muscle building rather than weight loss, and although you can definitely bring down your body fat percentage doing these workouts, I didn’t pay much attention to what the scale said. Instead, I looked more at how toned my body appeared, how many inches I lost, and how much easier it got to lift such heavy weights.

In the Burn Phase, I lost a couple inches from all of my problem areas, which include my waist, hips and thighs. I also noticed a shifting difference in my arms -- shoulders, biceps, and triceps -- as muscle definition took the place of flab. By the fourth week, I was lifting as heavy weights as Chalene was.

If you complete the four weeks of this phase, you will be so surprised at how much stronger you’ll be by day 30. And if you stick to a lean and clean eating plan, you’ll lose a lot of inches too.

Additional Support from Me

Are you interested in losing weight or toning up your muscles with ChaLEAN Extreme? I love to work with people who are interested in completing this program.

If you don't have a coach already, please feel free to contact me via email or Facebook and ask to join one of my online challenge groups that I coach. I’ll work with you on a daily basis and provide additional tips, tricks and strategies you can use to maximize your results as you work through ChaLEAN Extreme.

Push Phase Review