This is my review of the Chalean Extreme basic set. I am posting my review after doing the entire program. I am HIGH INTERMEDIATE.

ALL WORKOUTS:
1.Each exerciser will tell you what weight they are using. There is always someone using bands, and you can see how she puts the band on for each exercise. There is always one male exerciser as well. They tell you what weight/band they are using.
2.All workouts have 9 exercises that are done slow. Chelean doesn’t tell us the count, just says “slow” or “super slow.” She’ll do a couple of reps, then start walking around the room. The count is very inconsistent, varying anywhere from 2/2 to 8/8, and when she does triceps she tends to go much faster. Nobody knows the count, and the cast ends up going at different speeds. Very annoying. I try to find someone who’s actually keeping pace with the rep counter and follow them.

3.The whole series is one loooong ad for SelectTech weights. She mentions the brand name SelectTech many, many times in each workout. And there’s an ad for them after the workout. The product placement is annoying.
4.At the end of the program, I had no visible or measurable results. Except that I could lift heavier, but that is true for any lifting program that uses heavier weights and lower reps. I was aiming for the muscle to burn some of this fat, lol. I started out feeling like this program was weird, with the strange combo moves and almost obsessive compulsion Chalean has to work her shoulders. But hope springs eternal, and I did the program hoping for some miraculous change - that by being “different” the program would work “better” for me. It didn’t. No weight loss or inch loss. (The D**t part was in check during the program, too, so bad eating habits aren’t the issue.) I also didn’t think there was anything “extreme” about it, for an intermediate or advanced exerciser. Chalean’s comments seemed geared toward beginners. Such as when she says, “You don’t have to be afraid of heavy weights,” or “They don’t make you bulk.” An experienced person would know that already. And "If you do pushups you'll stop hating them and start loving them." What is she talking about?? An experienced exerciser already knows whether they love pushups or not. I do them all the time and still hate them, so she can't be talking to me. ;) One good thing about the program is, it's a change from fast paced programs or endless reps, both of which can keep you from going as heavy as you are really capable of.

Burn Circuit 1:

Emily B has done some great reviews, and explained things pretty well. (I have to agree with her about the rep counter, it is so small I spent the whole workout thinking “I wish there were a rep counter,” till I finally saw it!)

Chealean tells you that you’ll lift heavier than you ever thought you could, to fail in one set of 10-12 reps.
Each exercise is a combination of two different moves.
Sometimes she combines lower body and abs, which lets you lift heavier. But for abs she works mostly obliques. Unfortunately, a lot of lower body exercises are combined with a shoulder exercise. This workout was very shoulder-intense.

I was happy not to be doing endless reps and tempo variations. But telling you to lift heavy, then combining upper and lower body moves so that it is impossible to lift heavy, doesn’t make much sense. You only fail the upper body, never the lower. I give this workout 3 out of 5 stars.

Burn Intervals:

This is a cardio and weights interval workout, to be done on one of the “cardio days” each week. Chelean tells you to get your heart rate up as high as you can, then use the strength intervals as active recovery time. The focus for the weight work is muscle endurance: high rep low weight. The problem is, the cardio is not all that hard for me. If she wants me to get my heart rate up as high as it’ll go, she needs to pick some better cardio moves. Also, this workout has a weird song with coo coo clock sound effects; it was very strange and distracting. Finally, I feel like the cardio workouts should all be straight cardio, no weights. I give this workout 2 out of 5 stars. I wouldn’t even do this one as a standalone. It’s just not that good and doesn’t have a good flow.

Burn Circuit 2:

Each exercise in this workout is a combination of two moves, just like in Burn Circuit 1. Focus is lunges, back, triceps and biceps. You don’t have endless shoulder combinations like you did in Burn Circuit 1. Therefore, I was able to lift heavier. I felt these combo moves were more comparable and this is a much better workout than Burn Circuit 1. The music was better, too. Did I just hear Suck My Kiss? 4 out of 5 stars.

Burn Circuit 3:

This is another shoulder-intense workout. 5 of the 9 exercises work shoulders. 2 of the 9 exercises work the calf. Not a whole lot of variety. Raises, raises, raises! Nothing feels worked but the shoulders, and it just feels like a waste of time. 2 out of 5 stars.

Burn it Up:

It’s athletic moves, with a one-minute rest period in the middle of the workout. I didn’t find it very challenging. I’d rather do Jillian Michael’s BFBM.

Push Circuit 1:

No combination moves in this workout. It is easier to actually lift heavy as instructed in this phase. This first workout has squats, some biceps, and triceps. In this phase, you’ll aim to fail in one set of 6-8 reps. 4 out of 5 stars.

Push Circuit 2:

This workout is mostly shoulders, like Burn 3. Another poor use of time. 2 out of 5 stars.

Push Circuit 3:

This workout does legs, back, and chest. This one uses the heaviest weights of all. She does a lot of the exercises on one leg for “balance challenge.” If you don’t like balance work with heavy lifting, it’s easy to just do them on 2 legs. 4 out of 5 stars.

Lean Circuit 1:
This phase is very similar to the Burn phase. In fact, I don’t know why they even made it a separate phase. It is combination moves for 10-12 reps, with lots of balance challenges, lots of use of the thigh toner band, and it even has some of the exact same moves as the Burn phase. Lean Circuit 1 works bi’s and tri’s. 3 out of 5 stars, because she didn’t even work the biceps from different angles, like wide grip or hammer curl, just the same basic curl over and over (and over and over). She just says keep doing the curl in the position you feel strongest. It got boring.

Lean Circuit 2:
Another shoulder workout. There isn’t much else to say about it. 2 out of 5 stars.

Lean Circuit 3:
Some pushups and plank variations, with an emphasis on core work. The Arnold Press is used to work the shoulders (yes more shoulders). I liked the core work, 4 out of 5 stars.

Instructor Comments:
I actually really liked her as an instructor. She's upbeat and motivational. She got me through 3 months of workouts that I really didn't like. That's saying something. Her instructions were clear and she explained the exercises well. The only problem with her cueing was she didn't tell anyone the counts or speed of each exercise. She had someone counting when we'd do an exercise not facing the TV, which was greatly appreciated, but no other time.

PeakFitness