Are you looking to finally lose weight and tone up? If so, you need to check out ChaLean Extreme! This workout schedule was created by Chalene Johnson, the creator of Turbo Fire. It blends lifting heavy and lighter weights through a 90-day program, which is perfect for those who want to see results quickly. So, if you're ready to start seeing changes in your body, follow along with this guide!
What Is Chalean Extreme?
ChaLEAN Extreme is one of my favorite strength-training programs, and Chalene Johnson is recognized for her cardio exercises. The three phases of the 90-day program are designed to help you achieve your maximum goals.
She varies the reps each month for every exercise, focusing on getting as strong as you can. Month 1 and 3 focus on moderately heavy lifts of 8-12 repetitions, while month 2 focuses on the heaviest weights from 6-8 reps.
Her mantra is that Muscle Burns Fat And Boosts Your Metabolism. Which is true and has been proven many times over. Megan Davies one of Beachbdoys newest super trainers also came out with a program specifically for this call MBF or Muscle Burns Fat. Also Muscle Burns Fat Advanced both of which are 3 weeks each.
In a recent interview, Chalene claims that you can reduce up to 60% of your body fat with the program for three months. This is pretty high of course, but with strict dieting and sticking to the program this is doable. Don't believe so I suggest only going as far as someone named David Goggins one of the greatest books on pushing your limits.
ChaLean Extreme Phases
Burn Phase
In the first phase of ChaLEAN Extreme, you'll learn how to avoid wasting time on endless and repetitive weight-lifting routines. Your aim is to push your muscles to “failure” in 10 to 12 reps.
With great form, you'll discover how to lift more weight than you ever believed possible. In each “combination” exercise in the Burn Phase, you are training both your upper and lower bodies. Get ready to observe new muscle definition develop right before your eyes!
Push Phase
In this phase of ChaLEAN Extreme, you'll push your muscles to the limit and attempt to “fail” between 6 and 8 reps. This is when the “Lift Slowly and Lift Heavily” motto really makes sense.
You'll concentrate on training one body part at a time to truly build your strength. These 30 days are designed to help you develop strong, lean muscle mass that will change your physique into a lean, efficient fighting machine!
Lean Phase
The Lean Phase requires you to work your upper body and lower body while also challenging your core with dynamic exercises that not only test your strength but also your balance.
The Lean Phase is when you'll truly notice lots of fat loss! Don't be shocked when you look in the mirror and notice your brand-new, sculpted biceps, chiseled triceps, long lean legs, and flat firm abs.
Length Of ChaLEAN Extreme Workouts
Burn Basics, 22 minutes
Burn Circuit 1, 36 minutes
Burn Circuit 2, 38 minutes
Burn Circuit 3, 32 minutes
Push Circuit 1, 33 minutes
Push Circuit 2, 35 minutes
Push Circuit 3, 35 minutes
Lean Circuit 1, 45 minutes
Lean Circuit 2, 39 minutes
Lean Circuit 3, 38 minutes
Burn It Off, 27 minutes
Recharge, 21 minutes
Burn Intervals, 46 minutes
Ab Burner, 10 minutes
Extreme Abs, 16 minutes
ChaLEAN Extreme Bonus Workouts
- Get Lean Intervals- 41 min. sub for Burn Interval
- Fat Burn Challenge- 32 min. sub for Burn it Off
- I’ve got abs- 15 min. sub for ab burner or extreme abs
ChaLEAN Extreme Calendar
Method Behind The Madness
Chalene Johnson knows her stuff and there is always science behind what she does and teaches. Below is a look behind the scenes on why you should stick to the program as much as you can.
Lean Phasing
People tend to get used to performing the same activities, such as a 3-mile run, going for a stroll around the neighborhood, or using their favorite fitness video. It's true that it's simple to repeat the same exercise over and over. The issue is that you reach a plateau and no longer see improvements.
Lean Phasing is the hero that saves the day! Simply stated, Lean Phasing is built on a muscular-toning fitness principle known as “periodization.” Periodization has long been a respected training method simply meaning “mix it up” or “continual challenge.”
The “constant challenge” impact of periodization in the ChaLEAN Extreme program is achieved between various body parts and weight categories to keep a “constant challenge” effect on your muscles.
You'll notice that each circuit routine focuses on a different body part as you go through it. You could work your abs and back one day, while your biceps and triceps the next.
You not only have to work your muscles, but you also need to give them time to recuperate so they can repair and grow.
That's how you get muscle, and “Muscle Burns Fat!” To build muscle consistently, workouts should be varied in terms of intensity and focus on particular muscles. This is precisely what periodization in the ChaLEAN Extreme program does.
Breakdown Set
After you've reached muscular failure in all of the strength circuits, Chalene will tell you, “Let's go extreme,” or “Let's get into the Extreme Zone,” immediately after. She is talking about a key concept known among experts as “breakdown training.”
This is a tried and true method that encourages you to complete up to three more “last” reps with total muscle tension at a low speed (at an exaggerated, torturous, and wonderfully excessive rate), which eliminates the element of momentum.
You'll have ten seconds to recuperate between successive failures with a particular exercise. After your muscles have had time to recover, you may return to lifting the same fatigued muscles in three efforts or less.
Why? Because breakdown sets stimulate lean-muscle growth. You are enhancing your training and conditioning by recruiting additional muscle fibers deep within the muscle itself.
You're tearing down muscle and rebuilding it—stronger, leaner, and more powerful.
Fail To Win
The idea that you must endure and push yourself to the point of failure before achieving success with the ChaLEAN Extreme program is a common misconception. It implies that your brain orders your muscles to execute a strength exercise, but they will not respond one more time after reaching exhaustion.
This is proof that you've worked a muscle group to the point of exhaustion. You'll aim to fail on your 10th to 12th repetition (or 6-8 reps) of a strength exercise at some point during the Push Period.
To achieve this, you must choose a weight that is difficult enough to ensure that you will genuinely fail on your 10th, 11th, or 12th rep. If you've made a mistake and picked up a weight that's too light, write it down on your worksheet so you don't make the same error again.
I'm so grateful to Chalene and her Beachbody team for their thorough research with real individuals just like you. It was new to them as well, but they embraced the idea of “failure” and were rewarded with incredible results that far exceeded their expectations.
What's the most effective approach to slim down and build muscle? The secret is one simple fact: Muscle Burns Fat!
ChaLEAN FIt Test
There is also a fit test that simply determines your capabilities and areas you need to improve.
The Equipment Needed For this Fit Test:
- A stopwatch
- Free weights, in a general range of 5 to 20 pounds* or resistance bands
- A 12-inch ruler
- A wall
- A towel
- A pen or pencil
The Moves Will Consist Of:
- Pushups
- Crunches
- Squats
- Forearm Plank
- Overhead Shoulder Press
- Bicep Curl
- Sit And Reach
Chalene Johnson pours her heart and soul into these programs and it shows. There is literally a 94 page PDF including that you can go through that shows all the moves, the fit test, the calendars, stories, results, etc.
Results
Real Reviews From Users Of ChaLEAN Extreme
We didn't want you to only take our word for it so we scoured the internet to find other users that have gone through the program with their thoughts. This information was curated from several websites, forums and Facebook Groups.
Real User Reviews
- Jennifer – I absolutely love ChaLean extreme and don’t think it gets enough credit lol. I got such great results with the program (sorry I don’t think I have any pics). I did it for the first time at the beginning of the year and plan on doing it again in late winter/early spring. There are a few cardio workouts but nothing to crazy
- Katie – I didn’t particularly like Chalean extreme. I love the trainer, I’m not sure what it was about it. I didn’t really like liift either. But, I am kinda liking body beast, I’m in my 2nd week.
- Crystal – I love ChaLean and had great success with her programs. Her strength interval workout is my fav cardio
- Peyton – Love love love! I actually really enjoyed the cardio days, especially the exercises with the band. I feel like I was always working on the areas that I want to see results in the most and she gives great explanations on form. Strength intervals is incredible. This program does not get enough credit. I’m doing turbofire right now, but I will probably do CLX again before I go on vacation
- Jessica – I'm in the middle of the 3rd phase of 80 day obsession. I tried Chalean Extreme but I became bored of that shortly into the 2nd phase.
- Jennifer –
LOVE Chalean Extreme!! Was my first lifting program “way back when,” and I’ve gone back to it several times since. She’s huge on form and on pushing your own personal limits. You’ll make a ton of progress through the whole thing and will emerge a bada$$ at the end.One caveat: the outfits are…dated to say the least.
- Susan – ChaLean Extreme is great it was on of the first BB workouts I ever did. But I feel like it's for beginners. If you're bored with 80DO then you're definitely going to be bored with ChaLean Extreme.
- Shannon – Chalean Extreme was the first program I ever did. I almost finished it back 10 years ago. I had great results. But I feel like it got boring after month 1
- Barbara – It’s my favorite program & I return to it all the time. Focuses on weight lifting in a slow & concentrated manner. You really get good results.
- Christina – I think Chalene is the perfect program…very challenging. I did it so often now I can’t think of going back but it’s good!
Final Thoughts
If you want to lose weight and tone up at home, the ChaLean Extreme workout schedule is a great place to start. This article has provided information on why this program may be more effective than other programs in terms of breaking down muscle fibers with low-speed reps, as well as how it can help you find your niche in fitness.
The breakdown set also provides a little insight into what makes Chalene Johnson's Beachbody programs so popular among her fans—she doesn't push herself too hard or focus on failure, but instead focuses on doing things right from day one. Try out these tips for yourself by downloading the free PDF guide!
This workout program has it all and everything you need to get great results. Try it once and you will not regret it.
ChaLEAN Extreme FAQS
Who is it for?
While its name suggests otherwise, ChaLEAN Extreme is actually an introductory/intermediate fitness program. This means it’s easy enough—if you modify—for almost anyone to do, but also hard enough for those who have a fitness base and are just out of shape to get great benefits from. It’s a periodizational program that ramps up and becomes very hard by the end, so it can accommodate a wide range of fitness levels.
What equipment does it require?
Weights and/or resistance bands. An exercise mat is a nice option but not necessary. A thigh toner band comes with the program.
Will lifting weights make me bulky?
Not at all. While it is possible for very heavy weight training to create a lot of mass, it’s impossible in the scope of ChaLEAN Extreme. Weight training in this program is used to induce a metabolic shift to help you lose fat quicker.
Is this a good program if I want to lose weight?
Yes. While the program is designed to help you lose weight, it’s actually very versatile. Depending upon how you utilize the nutrition plan you can lose weight, gain weight, or just get toned and fit.
How does this compare to P90X?
It’s much easier than P90X, and far more user-friendly to someone new to exercise. Don’t think that means easy, however. Most people get all they can handle with ChaLEAN Extreme.
Do I need to add extra cardio in addition to this program?
Not at all. Not only do you have cardio workouts alternating with your resistance workouts, the resistance training is done circuit-style, often with a balance element, so that you’re training your heart daily.
I missed a week due to vacation/work travel/sickness. Where do I start from today?
Missing a few days is no big deal. Just jump back into your program where you left off. After about five or six days off, your body is fully recovered and very strong, and you actually have the ability to hurt yourself by breaking down your fast-twitch muscle fibers. This can make you too sore to work out for over a week. If you’ve missed more than five days, start slow on your first day back, maybe doing a third to a half of your normal workout and ramp up little by little, taking about a week to get back to where you left off.
What’s the perfect next step?
The ChaLEAN Extreme/TurboFire hybrid, that comes in your kit, is a popular next program but, basically, you’re probably fit enough to be ready for almost anything in the Beachbody catalog. Whatever you decide, take a week (or two, three, four) to enjoy your results, which you can keep with maintenance workouts.
What is maintenance work?
It’s much harder to get into shape than it is to maintain that shape once you get there. You can generally maintain a level pretty close to peak fitness with about half the volume of your program. To maintain, you can utilize many different forms of training but the easiest is often 3–4 days per week of the program you just finished. It will decline slowly over time, but you’ll probably start another program or activity to pick up the slack after awhile.