I did Chalean Extreme program at the begging of the year. The program is divided in 3 phases: burn, push and lean, each one with 30 days long.

Burn Phase:
In this month Chalene is focused on making your body stronger in order to achieve the lean results that are announced. 3 days a week you do strength training with heavy weights, 2 days are focused on cardio, one with abs and one with stretch. I really like the cardio videos, they are intervals which tend to burn lots of calories and they are not easy. The strength workouts are ok, not difficult. Videos are about 45 min aprox. abs and stretch are about 20 min.

Push Phase:
In this month Chalene focuses on heavy, really heavy weights. As in the previous month, 3 days are strength, 2 days are cardio. The cardios are the same as the last month, the strength changes its repetitions from 12 to 8 and they include an "extreme" section with 3 more reps. You have to really use heavy weights in this month, like 15 pounds or more. Strength dvds are about 35 min.

Lean Phase:
In this phase Chalene combines strong movements with weights on the arms with legs. As in the previous months 3 days are strength and 2 days are cardio. The cardio videos are also intervals but they are tougher than in the previous month. In the strength you're now carrying heavy weights with 12 reps and the "extreme" 3 extra reps. Strenght videos are 40 min.

I really loved the program, it makes you stronger, it's easy to follow and fun. Anyway, I didn't drop a kg of weight. Actually I gained weight from muscle building, which is fine. My body fat percentage stayed the same. I used weights from 8 lbs to 18 lbs (which I combined some dumbels with hand weights to achieve this heavy weight). I think I didn't lose the expected body fat percentage because I didn't do the program with the very heavy weights that Chalene use. But, I definitely, got stronger.

If you're doing Chalene Extreme you will need to have the heavy weights she uses (if you are a girl like me, you will need dumbels from 5 lbs to 30 lbs), if not, I will not recommend it. Also, keep in mind you will be doing tons of push-ups.

Instructor Comments:
I love Chalene! She's always happy and giving great tips. She makes doing exercise fun and keeps you motivated. In this program she explains the movements with enough detail so that you won't fail.

I discover Chalene from the Turbo Fire dvds and I loved her since then. She made me re-enter the workout world again (I had like 5 years without consistent workout). I have 2 years now working out at least 5 times a week :).

graiz