good luck everyone in your last weeks! I found Lean pretty tough too (finished a few weeks ago, and am starting over w/a hybrid now)....but it is worth it!

I thought I was pretty bad *kitten* with my pushups until I got to Lean. I guess because of where they are located within the workout they are a zillion times harder than when done on their own. Not a big fan of this phase but I see where the shoulder work is necessary for me.

blue, I had a really hard time when I first started Lean too for that very same reason. You get used to it and better at it.

I thought I was pretty bad *kitten* with my pushups until I got to Lean. I guess because of where they are located within the workout they are a zillion times harder than when done on their own. Not a big fan of this phase but I see where the shoulder work is necessary for me.

totally agree w/this too! I'm in my 2nd round and no stranger to pushups, and thought I'd have no problem. In this phase they are definitely placed to hurt. I find my abilities vary alot depending on the day, and if I increase my weights, my pushups out course will suffer....so I try not to get too hung up on quantity and just make sure the form is perfect and I take it slow, since that's supposed to have the most benefit.

The Lean circuit is no easier the 2nd time around--definitely a challenge but it does work. I just started my 3rd week and feel that "leaning" happening.

Good luck everyone!

I almost wish I hadn't read this thread! :laugh: I'm in week 3 of Push.

Are you guys using the same weight levels that you used for Push? How many reps does she encourage in Lean? 6-8 or 10-12?

Oh, and if you haven't done the Lean Circuit yet, I found this review that gives a pretty detailed explanation of what to expect, including a list of the exercises in each workout:

http://www.videofitness.com/reviewsdb/disp_review.php?id=3203

Just finished my first lean workout. o.m.g. I don't think I'll be able to lift my arms tomorrow. I made it through - mostly on my knees, and definitely dropped weight on the exercises as I went (started with 10's on the biceps, finished with 7.5) wow.

I did Lean 1 on Monday and had to do the same -- knees and lower weights. And I *did* have a hard time lifting things the next day. To do so much bicep work, my front deltoids were killing me (the pushups I guess....). I went on and did Burn Intervals on Tuesday but had to take a full rest day last night because it still hurt even just to lift my coffee mug. They're much better this morning, but I'm a little wary of doing Lean 2 tonight with all of the deltoid and arm row exercises in it. I'm concerned it will only exacerbate it, but if I don't I'll get way off-schedule and I HATE that. Maybe I'll aim for reps of 8 tonight instead of 10-12. I may not reach failure on each exercise but I'm certain I'll reach it by the end of the whole routine!

I eased up on the weights today for Lean 2 also. only 5's on the lateral raises, when I was doing 10's in the push circuit... and I think if I was really using better form my 2.5 lb weights would have been fine for the last anterior delt exercise. I do need to think about form rather than weight - doing it right slowly is better than pushing through and paying for it with my back later.

Glad you mentioned this. I'll keep it in mind for next week. I decided to take the rest of this week off anyway as a diet/exercise break, so I'll restart on Monday. I'm thinking I may drop the weights on Lean1 a bit this week so that I don't have a repeat of this week with the deltoid soreness or just aim for 6-8 reps instead of 10-12, particularly since the weights I chose were so similar to the Push month. I can always increase the next week, and it's not like this is the last time I'll ever do these exercises.

I am so glad I read this thread before I did my first Lean Circuit last night - wow, I had a really hard time with some of the moves. I was concentrating on the bicep curls and forgetting the calf raises and was all sorts of confused - I got so used to the Push phase I think.

This thread is making me nervous! I did perfectly fine the first week of burn, and the second week, but the third week... I got through burn circuit 1 just fine, but I quit burn circuit 2 twice due to back pain. I quit burn circuit 3 because of shoulder pain.

I think I'm taking Chalene too literally on the "you'd be surprised at how strong you are!" stuff because when I upped my weights all hell broke loose on my body. I hope I can make it through this to do push and eventually lean. Great job everyone, keep it up!