Inspiring Success Story From ChaLean Extreme
Check out this video to see some inspiring results from the ChaLean Extreme in home fitness program. ChaLean Extreme is one of my favorite Beachbody workouts.
Turbo Jam vs. Turbo Fire Review – Chalene Johnson Turns Up the Heat with HIIT
Turbo Jam fans will not be disappointed with Chalene Johnson’s new Turbo Fire. Think it is just another Turbo Jam program? Think again. Chalene Johnson really turns up the heat in Turbo Fire with the science of HIIT (high intensity interval training).
Chalene created Turbo Jam with the intention of making workouts fun. With a total of seven fat-burning workouts ranging from twenty to fifty minutes, she choreographs eleven signature moves she calls the Elite 11 to dance music.
Turbo Jam is a combination of kickboxing and body-sculpting. It comes complete with a fitness and nutrition guide, exercise flash cards, weighted gloves and one of the most upbeat, motivational trainers in the fitness industry.
I had a little difficulty with Turbo Jam though because it is dancy. I am not too coordinated with dance. Sometimes, I found my focus on how to do a move and keep up with the class rather than on form and burning calories. If you love dancing, Turbo Jam is probably the program for you. If you are like me, Turbo Fire promises to deliver an butt-kicking cardio workoug.
Turbo Fire incorporates the science of high intensity interval training. Chalene puts you in an aerobics class atmosphere. Her personality alone would “bring the party” but Chalene created the music mixes for this program that will keep you pushes harder.
HIIT classes are shorter in length than traditional cardio workouts. According to research, high intensity interval training burns up to 9 times more calories than classic cardio workouts such as running on a treadmill. That is because your body is called on to exert as much energy as possible in a very short period. A short recovery period follows before another high intensity cardio interval is done.
I will not go into detail about what is included in the Turbo Fire program (see previous Turbo Fire posts), but I will say that you are getting an incredible program compared to what comes with Turbo Jam. By the way, did I mention that Turbo Fire is not dancy?
Expect to see some kickboxing moves (that girl loves boxing) and some exercises that have a hint of the Elite 11, but it will not be a choreographed dance sequence. There will be new moves in Turbo Fire and some cardio drills similar to those in Chalene Extreme.
While Turbo Jam is a program suited for those just starting out, Turbo Fire is more like an advanced cardio program. It can be used by all fitness levels thanks to the use of an exercise modifier in every class; however, it is designed to take your cardio workouts to an athlete’s level. For this reason, P90X and ChaLean Extreme owners will want to add Turbo Fire to their Beachbody workouts as a way to increase their cardio routines and create a hybrid program substituting Turbo Fire in on cardio days.
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Lifted Heavy Today – ChaLean Extreme
I lifted heavy today working out with Beachbody’s Chalene Johnson and her awesome Push Circuit 3 strength training routine from ChaLean Extreme. As with all of Chalene’s weight lifting routines in this program, Push Circuit 3 consisted of nine different exercises along with some breakdown sets.
This workout targeted the legs, chest, and back. My back muscles are screaming right now as I write this post. Chalene constantly pushes you to lift heavy enough during this phase to fail between six and eight repetitions. That sounds easy, huh? Well, Chalene’s reps are slower than any I have ever done working out in the gym.
Lifting weights slowly and with purpose causes you to do a few things. First, your mind is totally focused on the muscle that you are lifting. When you pull weights in a rowing exercise for instance, your mind is on the muscles flexing your shoulder blades together. In the past when I have used a pulley system or back machines for rowing, I thought about my hands gripping the weight, my arms pulling the resistence and depending on the rowing machine, I might have even used the momentum of my upper body to force the weight back. Ugh!
That brings to mind the second reason I have learned that lifting slowly is helpful. When you lift slowly, you visualize perfect form in your mind’s eye. You can be your own personal coach and ensure your back is straight and your shoulders are up throughout the pulling movement.
The third reason that just comes to mind without even thinking is your muscle fibers stay engaged (contracted) for a longer period of time. Chalene teaches you to hold at the top of a movement and not to let the weight come all the way to a rest at the bottom of the movement. That means the muscle you are exercising works harder because it stays engaged not only through a single rep but through the entire exercise.
There are many lifting techniques out there. There are numerous exercise programs, exercises, and trainers. Pick up a copy of Muscle and Fitness or Fitness Magazine and you cannot help but agree that the variety in fitness training keeps them publishing new material month after month.
I like Tony Horton’s famous words in P90X. He said that we should keep mixing it up to create muscle confusion. When our muscles adapt to their current workload, they need something to change to continue to get stronger. In ChaLean Extreme, Chalene teaches that “muscle burns fat”. She wants you to go heavy to keep the workload changing as your muscles get stronger.
I love both P90X and ChaLean Extreme. They are so alike and so different. I saw results with Tony Horton. I am seeing results with Chalene Johnson. Muscle does burn fat. Muscle confusion is important. Keep pressing play!
Cardio Confusion: Mason’s Choice
I decided I wanted something different for cardio today, so I pulled out my new dvd – Cardio Confusion: Mason’s Choice. This is a anther great thirty minute One on One workout from Tony Horton’s gym.
Graduates of P90X will recognize a lot of the exercises. Subscribers of One on One will also see a few familiar moves. This whole workout is based on taking what you know and mixing it up with a non-stop random selection of cardio exercises performed at 30-60 second intervals. Mason literally pulls the next exercise out of a hat and Tony does whatever is pulled.
The nice thing about this cardio session is you get to work your whole body but with enough variety that you do not get bored. I think this idea was actually born with the success of P90X Kenpo X. Most Xers really like Kenpo. Maybe this is because it is over before you realize that you are actually working out and not just playing around. Cardio Confusion is somewhat like that. You will know you are working out, but you will not know what is coming in thirty seconds. That makes it fun.
The Tony Horton One on One workout dvds can be ordered individually or as a set. Each workout is roughly thirty minutes which is about half the length of P90X workouts. Tony and Mason put out a new workout each month, so there is always something new…something to look forward to arriving in your mailbox. You might even want to think about subscribing to the One on One series which will automatically send you the newest release each month.
I am currently working with ChaLean Extreme as my primary program. When I want to throw in an extra workout or substitute a cardio workout, I often turn to my Tony Horton One on One collection. Graduates of P90X who continue to use P90X as their primary program do the same thing. It allows them to work out with Tony’s intensity and bizarre sense of humor while bringing an extra challenge and a lot a variety to their living room gym.
Do you need equipment? You do not need any special equipment for Cardio Confusion: Mason’s Choice. Most of the One on One series does not call for equipment other than a pull up bar. Yes, Tony does still make you attempt (I am honest here) pull ups in some of them. By the way, I know you may be wondering who is Mason…he is the camera guy who keeps Tony Horton company while taping Tony’s personal workout.
10 Minute Trainer Cardio
My workout tonight consisted of a combination of Chalene Johnson and Tony Horton, two of my favorite Beachbody trainers. I started off with the ChaLean Extreme Burn Circuit 3 workout and followed it with Tony’s 10 Minute Trainer Cardio session.
I had really thought about doing some Brazil Butt Lift tonight but I guess I had forgotten how much the Burn Circuit 3 works your legs and butt. My lower body was wiped by the time I completed the ChaLean Extreme session. I was feeling pretty good though, so I turned to my 10 Minute Trainer series. This was one of Tony Horton’s programs in the years prior to P90X.
The basic 10 Minute Trainer series includes five workouts: Total Body, Lower Body, Abs, Cardio, and Yoga Flex. I knew Lower Body and Total Body were out! These ten minute workouts are good to have in your video collection for a many reasons. Here are some of my reasons:
1. You can use the 10 minute workouts individually if you are short on time. This is me in the morning before work! I like to do a little something to wake up, but I do not like doing a full workout in the morning.
2. You can use the workouts together to form a stand alone program to reach your fitness goals. In other words, you can do more than one workout in a day. Do them together or break them up throughout the day.
3. You can use a specific ten minute workout to supplement another workout which is what I did tonight.
4. If you are not feeling well physically or just can not seem to get yourself motivated, you can use a ten minute workout to brighten your attitude and promote well-being.
The girl in the Cardio workout uses a band fastened to a door to give her resistence in her running, jumping, and lunging moves. That looks like something interesting to try some time in the future, but I was a able to get a good cardio workout just using my own body’s resistence.
If you are not familiar with the 10 Minute Trainer series, it makes a good starter program for those new to fitness. I say this because each routine has a “trainer” track where Tony Horton talks a lot about form and how each exercise should be performed.
When you are not a novice any longer, keep the 10 Minute Trainer in your library. I think you will be surprised at how effective these workouts can be even though they are only ten minutes in length. Hey, we are talking about Tony Horton afterall. He would not dare let you out of the gym with a little sweat equity!
