My Basement Gym

Today’s workout was Lean Circuit 3, and the last of the ChaLEAN Extreme circuit workouts that I hadn’t tried yet. Now that I’ve tried all of the circuit workouts, I’m planning to repeat the Burn Phase and Push Phase workouts in the order that they were designed to be used, since I liked them the best. Before I’m done using the circuit workouts from this series, I also plan to try the cardio, interval, stretch, and abs workouts from this series that I have not done yet.

Lean Circuit 3 is just under 39 minutes, with the usual four minute warm up and two and a half minute cool down. This workout focuses on the chest, shoulders, and includes some light leg work as well. I modified the chest work and used my stability ball instead of being on the floor and doing the leg work with it. That worked well for me. I think this was my favorite of the Lean Phase workouts, and as usual – I enjoyed the Arnold presses!

And the breakdown:

• Squat with cross chop
• Reverse lunge with Arnold press
• Chest fly with hip lift (pelvic tilt)
• Kneeling overhead press and weighted crunch
• Push up into a side plank
• Deadlift with frontal press
• Traveling pushups
• Chest fly with leg raise (optional resistance band around ankles)
• Army crawl

On Thursday, I was glad to return to the Push Phase of ChaLEAN Extreme , as the combination exercises in the Burn and Lean workouts are starting to get a bit old. But, since I don’t enjoy that type of exercise very much, that’s not much of a surprise, heh. This 35 minute workout focuses on the shoulders and legs, and I think it is my favorite of the Push Phase workouts.

I modified the standing shoulder work by sitting on my stability ball, so I could focus on my from instead of worrying about hitting the ceiling rafters. I was also happy to see the Arnold presses , as they have always been one of my favorite exercises. I also really felt the deadlifts, and was glad to be able to do just deadlifts instead of having an upper body exercise added on.

The exercises include:

• Standard Overhead Press
• Single Leg Lunge
• Reverse Fly
• Standing Arnold Press + 3 breakdown reps Arnold presses
• Single Leg Deadlift + 3 breakdown reps deadlifts
• Bent-Over Lateral Raise + 3 breakdown reps lateral raises
• Frontal Press (palms facing each other) + 3 breakdown reps presses
• Single Tap Lunges + 3 breakdown reps stationary lunges
• Lateral Deltoid Raise + 3 breakdown reps lateral raises

On Tuesday, I went for a quick half hour bike ride on the trail before doing my ChaLEAN Extreme workout. It was a nice day and a nice ride. It feels good to be enjoying my bike again, after such a long absence from it. Burn Circuit 2 was on deck, and this 38 minute workout hits the biceps, triceps, back, and legs.

For most of the ChaLEAN Extreme workouts, I don’t really notice the music, but I really liked the music in this workout – as well as Push Circuit 1. There were a lot of rows in this workout, and while the different grips were a nice touch, I would have liked to see a bit more variety. Also, I found the bowler’s lunge with a row kind of awkward, but then again I don’t enjoy most lunges, so that may have something to do with it.

And the breakdown:

• Sumo squat with biceps curls
• Single lunge with triceps extension
• Deadlift with row
• Sumo squat with triceps overhead extension
• Deadlift with reverse grip row
• Bowler’s lunge (similar to a curtsy lunge ) with single arm row
• Biceps curls with a side leg raise, with band around ankles + 3 breakdown reps of biceps curls
• Lunge with double row + 3 breakdown reps of rows
• Triple threat pushups, changing your hand and feet positions + 3 breakdown reps of triceps push ups

On Saturday, I finished up week 2 of my ChaLEAN Extreme rotation with a workout from the Lean Phase. Lean Circuit 1 is the longest of all of the workouts in this series, at just under 45 minutes. It has the same number of exercises as the other workouts, but many of them are done one arm at a time, adding a bit more time to the workout. In addition to dumbbells and a resistance band, Chalene also uses a chair for balance in many of the exercises in this workout.

This routine focuses on biceps, triceps, and legs. For me, the Lean Phase workouts provide more of a balance challenge than the other workouts in this series. And while I usually like balance work, I think the Lean Phase is my least favorite of the circuits. I find more of the exercises in the Lean Phase awkward than in the other workouts, and sometimes focusing on my balance takes away from focusing on my form. On the upside, I dislike push ups a bit less since starting ChaLEAN Extreme, since I’ve been doing them modified at an incline . I’ve been getting more out of them using this method, vs. modifying them on the knees – and I don’t dread them nearly as much, heh.

On to the exercises:

• Biceps curl with calf raise + 3 breakdown reps biceps curls
• Triceps pushups + 3 breakdown reps overhead triceps extension
• Split lunge with double biceps curl + 3 breakdown reps of squats
• Double triceps extension in a runner’s lunge + 3 breakdown reps triceps dips
• Biceps curl with hamstring curl + 3 breakdown reps biceps curls
• Plank with triceps extension + 3 breakdown reps triceps hover from triceps push up position
• Reverse lunge with double biceps curl + 3 breakdown reps squats
• Lying triceps overhead extension + 3 breakdown reps push ups
• Sumo squat raise with biceps curl + 3 breakdown reps biceps curls