ChaLean Extreme & Turbo Fire

I've done both exercieses and I think they have different agendas.

ChaLean Extreme is circuit training to help build muscle so you can burn fat. What I like about it is that it isn't just lifting weights x amount of days a week. There are days where you do cardio and even some stretching so I am not bored and my body doesn't hate me (so much). I'm on Day 8 of CE and I can already feel the difference in my arms and legs.

TurboFire is just a high intensity cardio program, lots of fun, best sweat ever! I'm sure you'll tone your body while doing it if you add the hand weights but it doesn't serve the same purpose as CE. I hope ppl aren't comparing the two because you can't.

Just my two cents.

And congrats on your 29 lbs being *poof* gone!!!!

I'm on my second go-round of a CE and TF hybrid. I started TF first and loved it, but missed lifting weights. I switched to CE and loved the weight lifting, but felt I got a better cardio workout with TF.
I guess it really depends what your goal is. If you are more into building muscle I would go with CE. If you are looking to lower your body fat % and tone all over, I'd go with TF. My problem is that I want both, so that's why I'm doing both programs!
I lift weights every other day and do TF 2-3 a week as well.

Hi Deena - here is a completely different angle that you might not have considered - as we age, we lose muscle unless we do something about it. I've read multiple times - the most recent being on the Dr. Oz website - that it's a whopping 5% of muscle lost every decade after the age of 30. It becomes a problem for multiple reasons - the obvious one is that your metabolism drops because you no longer have as much muscle to support and muscle happens to require more calories to maintain, but you also risk losing bone density since you are no longer supporting as much muscle and, you set yourself up at higher risks of falling as you age because you no longer have the same strength and muscle coordination. I read some very sobering statistics recently, in a book called "Younger Next Year", written by Dr. Henry S. Lodge (these are quoted directly from the book):

There are one and a half million fractures each year from osteoporosis, the large majority of them occur in women.

You – yes you – have a 50 percent lifetime risk of breaking a bone from osteoporosis, and the vast majority of these fractures are caused by falls that you would have bounced right back up from in younger years.

Americans – mostly women – suffer 300,000 hip fractures every single year.

Hip fractures kill more women than breast cancer.

Twenty percent of women who fall down and break a hip die within a year.

And of those who survive, half will never live independently again.

Twenty-five percent of women who break a hip will end up in a nursing home.

Twenty-five percent will be at home, but dependent on a wheelchair or walker to get around the house, and dependent on someone else to get through each day.

There are a million spine fractures each year in the United States, and about a quarter million wrist fractures, most from osteoporosis.

Only half of spine or wrist fractures heal back to full function; the rest become lifetime disabilities.

Dr. Lodge recommends high aerobic activity 3-4 times per week, but what he also advocates, to counteract those horrible statistics that I just listed - is weight training.

Where am I going with all of this? I will be 49 next month. I do ChaLEAN Extreme - strictly for the weight training aspect. Lifting heavy builds your muscle, which increases your metabolism. Lifting heavy increases your bone density to help prevent osteoperosis. Lifting heavy increases you core strength and balance to help prevent falls. Lifting heavy is going to keep me strong for as long as possible. You can always sub in other cardio routines the other four days of the week, but for me, three days belong to CLX and my weight set!! How much does it help, you may wonder? At the age of 49, I can do squats with a 35 lb. dumb bell in each hand after only three rounds of CLX. (My first round, I lifted with less than half of that!) Do I look huge and bulky? Nope. I am also at least three sizes smaller than the other three women in my office who are the same age and don't lift weights!!

Just another perspective to think about - hope it helps!! Good luck which ever you choose!

Hi Deana - Saw that you chose CLX and wanted to invite you over to our thread:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/293721-chalean-extreme-group-starting-monday-5-23

There are some really great folks on this thread doing CLX and we're all in one stage of the program or another, so if you'd like to join us, we'd love to have you!!

Michelle