Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Weight Gain? Explained!

I just started Chalean Extreme for the second time.  I am not going to review the program yet, but I will say ALWAYS WEAR SHOES when doing this workout.  The last time I attempted this program I ended up with a stress fracture in my foot. Not only was I forced to wear a giant black boot brace, even while trying on wedding gowns, but also I was unable to wear high heels for 8 months!! The Horror!  Anyhow, this workout is very high impact and very intense.  It's not titled 'Extreme' for nothing!

More on the workout later, but the real reason I am posting is to share with everyone an article written by Charlene Johnson, the creator for Chalean Extreme, regarding initial workout weight gain.  I have been counting my calories and weighing my food down to the gram and have not seen the scale budge this past week.  In fact, I lost a pound and then promptly gained it back once I started this new program.  I was feeling discouraged, and found this article which really helped keep me motivated to keep pressing on.  I recommend this reading to anyone that may have experienced weight gain when working out.

http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=why_the_scale_goes_up_when_you_start_a_new_workout_plan&SPShared=TRUE

Chalean Extreme - Workout DVD


Why the Scale Goes Up When You Start a New Workout Plan

By Chalene Johnson

Probably the most common question I get when I release a new exercise program is, "Help! I'm gaining weight! Am I doing something wrong?" This is a common phenomenon with any new exercise program, such as Turbo Kick, Turbo Jam, Hip Hop Hustle, or others! It's especially common (and temporary) with intense strength training programs like ChaLEAN Extreme or Tony Horton's P90X.

The motivation to start a new exercise program is almost always to lose weight. However, what most personal trainers know--and most at-home exercisers do not--is that a new exercise program often can cause an immediate (and temporary) increase on the scale. (Notice I didn't say weight gain! I'll explain.) This common increase in the scale is also the reason why perhaps millions of people start and then quickly quit their resolution to get fit.

The temporary weight gain explained:
When someone starts a new exercise program, they often experience muscle soreness. The more intense and "unfamiliar" the program, the more intense the muscle soreness. This soreness is most prevalent 24 to 48 hours after each workout. In the first few weeks of a new program, soreness is the body trying to "protect and defend" the effected or targeted tissue. Exercise physiologists refer to this as delayed-onset muscle soreness, or DOMS.

This type of soreness is thought to be caused by tissue breakdown or microscopic tears in muscle tissue. When this happens, the body protects the tissue. The muscle becomes inflamed and slightly swollen due to fluid retention. This temporary retention of fluid can result in a 3- to 4-pound weight gain within a few weeks of a new program. Keep in mind that muscle soreness is not necessarily a reflection of how hard you worked. In fact, some people feel no signs of muscle soreness, yet will experience the muscle protection mechanisms of water retention and slight swelling.

Most people are motivated enough to put up with this temporary muscle soreness. Yet, many, especially those who really need immediate weight loss to keep them motivated, become discouraged and quit!

When I worked with a group of 70 test participants during the development stages of ChaLEAN Extreme, this happened. Who was the most upset and discouraged? You guessed it... the women! I'm happy to report absolutely for every single woman (and man) in our group, the weight increase was temporary and never lasted more than two weeks before they started to see a major drop in the scale. However, these people had the advantage of working with someone who was able to explain to them why this was happening and assure them the weight would come off if they stuck to the nutrition plan and stayed true to the program.

If you follow a multi-phase exercise plan, such as ChaLEAN Extreme, keep in mind that when you start each phase, your body will be "in shock" again. Don't be surprised or discouraged if you experience a temporary gain on the scale the first week of each phase.

My own personal example of this is running 10Ks. I don't do it very often, maybe once or twice a year. Even though I run on a regular basis, when you run a race, you push much harder. It's natural for me to be insanely sore the next day. It’s also very common for me to see the scale jump 4 pounds the next day from forcing fluids post race and the resulting DOMS. Even though I know the cause of it, it's still a bummer. We're all human and hard work should mean results. Hard work equals results, but our bodies are amazing machines and they know how to protect us from hurting ourselves. Soreness forces you to give those muscles a break. Ultimately you will lose the weight and you will change your metabolism in the process.

The key is understanding that this is a normal and temporary and stick with the program!

When to be concerned:
If you experience a significant weight gain (exceeding 5 pounds) that does not begin to decrease rapidly after the second week, guess what it is? I'll give you one hint... you put it in your mouth and chew it. You know it! Your food (or calorie-laden beverages). News flash, friends… exercise doesn't make you gain weight. Consuming more food than you burn makes you gain weight!

So if after two weeks you are not losing weight and have gained weight that's not coming off, it's time to take a close and honest look at your food intake.

Moral of the story:
Be patient young grass hopper. You'll be lean and mean in no time!





Thursday, July 29, 2010

Kendra's Knockout Workout

Be A Knockout with Kendra
I tried Be A Knockout with Kendra for the first time last night.  I was pretty skeptical at first, but after viewing the preview of it on Amazon I thought it looked upbeat and fun.  It was delivered on Tuesday, so I decided to try it out last night.

Overall, the workout was great.  It left me feeling sweaty, tired, and motivated to do more!  The DVD comes with 6 sports themed segments.  I think each segment is around 5-6 minutes in length, plus there is a warm-up and cool down.  You can choose to 'create your own' workout and mix and match segments, or you can 'play all' and do the complete workout.  I chose the complete workout option.

The warm-up was pretty easy and Kendra and the trainer laugh and joke most of the time.  The first segment was kickboxing and it was very easy.  Very low energy puches and kicks and not much cardio other than the 'base move', which is jogging in place.  I was beginning to be skeptical, but by the time I got through the 3rd segment I wanted to turn the DVD off.  No, not because I was bored... because I wasn't sure I could make it through another segment.

Though I , unfortunately, can't say I am the most fit person out there.. this workout defininitely was uncomfortable towards the end.  It pushed my cardio and strength to the next level.

Basically, if you can get past the fact that Kendra is in this workout and don't mind her forced comments or smile... this is a really effective and fun sports themed workout.

Here is a summary of my review:

Pro's:

  • Lots of options for workouts with the chaptered index and 'create your own' feature
  • Total workout is less than 40 mins for all segments
  • Good cardio conditioning
  • Ok strength conditioning using own body weight
  • Fun sports related drills
Con's:

  • Slow pace in the warm-up and kickbox segments
  • Kendra does a 'silly' base move (ie some type of booty shake) during each segment
  • Kendra says " If I can do it, you can do it!" (insert fake smile) over and over and over and over
  • Other general 'Kendra-isms'

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

KettleWorx - Works!

If you're looking for mind-blowing weight loss results, KettleWorkx is not for you. 


 However, if you're looking to lose inches and increase strength, KettleWorkx really works!



I just completed the 6 week body transformation of KettleWorx.  Overall, the program took me about 8 weeks to complete on my 'real life' workout schedule.  According to the schedule I did 3 workouts a week, alternating days.  Some days I couldn't fit in my workouts and on a slower more moderate schedule, I still felt great results in 8 weeks.  

I bought the KettleWorkx program from their website using a coupon I found on Retail Me Not.  I shopped around and also found the program on Amazon.  but it was actually cheaper from the original website, plus you receive a free kettlebell with your order and the Ultimate Body Sculpting Collection.  This was a big bonus because kettlebells can be extremely expensive on their own and the Ultimate Body program was an additional $60 on Amazon.  Plus, even from the KettleWorx website I received my order in only a few days.

When my package arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to receive 9 DVDs in individual packaging, and a 5lb kettlebell.  Other workout programs that I have bought say they come with '9 DVDs' but in reality come with 3 DVDs with 3 workouts on each.  For some reason I feel like I am getting more for my money if I physically get more DVDs.

The 9 DVDs included the following:

6 Week Transformation

  • Cardio - 6 workouts (20mins)
  • Core - 6 workouts (20mins)
  • Resistance - 6 workouts (20mins)
Bonus Workouts
  • Fast Abs - 3 workouts (10mins)
  • Fast Fat Burn 
Ultimate Body Sculpting Collection
  • Legs & Things
  • Butt & Hips
  • Arms & Shoulders
  • Chest & Back
As mentioned before, I also received a 5lb kettlebell and an e-book on how to use the program.  In my opinion, the e-book was pretty much useless you have no experience exercising.  You can learn how to use the program to the same degree from the website or infomercial.

How the program works:

It is simple: Do one workout each from Cardio, Core, and Resistance each week, and make sure to leave 'rest days' in between workouts. The program does not recommend using the Ultimate Body Sculpting package during the 6 week transformation program, but if you need more of a challenge you can add those work outs into your routine after two weeks.

I only used the Cardio, Core, and Resistance workouts and followed the schedule of rotating between the three videos each week.  In the beginning, these workouts are pretty challenging.  Each 20 minute workout made me feel and sweat like I was working out for an hour.  Even my husband, who works out religiously, got a great workout from only using an 8lb kettlebell at first! Every workout contains the core elements of cardio, core, and resistance. Over the course of 6 weeks I did not lose any additional weight (mind you, I was just coming off of a 30lb weight loss), and in fact, I gained about 5lbs.  However, my clothes fit better and my measurements improved.  My strength also substantially increased. In the beginning of the program, I could only do about 7 cross-over push ups on my knees.  By the end of the program I was able to do 2 sets of 10 push ups on my toes.  Remember, I was only using a 5lb kettlebell the whole time!  Also, I noticed increased definition in my arms and legs.  I can see the muscles better in my arms, especially the biceps and shoulders, and my legs look longer and leaner.  My husband felt that the workouts were good too, but he felt he didn't see as drastic of results.  He did notice a an increase in definition in his calves and a lift in his butt.  I felt overall he looked longer and leaner too, which almost seems impossible for someone 6'3" and 175lbs.  Again, I wouldn't recommend this product to someone who is looking to lose weight, but if you're looking to gain strength and some definition in a short amount of time, this program should work for you.

Also, the program can be a little tedious.  I was happy to start something new for a while after I was done.  It should also be noted that a couple of things about the videos can be annoying. Such as, the same warm-up and cool-down are used in each workout, and all of the workouts consist of pasted together video clips with looped instructions.  So, the videos are not continuous workouts, they are segmented in to exercises with small breaks between each exercise for the new clip to start.  There are different people demonstrating each exercise, and the same clips can be used in Cardio Wk 1 as in Core Wk 4, which can get boring and old fast.  This might sound confusing, so if you would like more detail about this just leave me a comment.  This was probably my husband's biggest complaint about the workouts.  However, in general it didn't bother me too much.

My summary of my overall opinion is below.

The Pro's:

  • A Working Woman's Dream! - Workouts are around 25 minutes including warm up and cool down. 
  • Noticeable Increase in Strength
  • Clothes will fit better 
  • Noticeable Increase in Toning and Definition 
  • Challenging Workouts
  • Variety of Exercises overall
The Con's:

  • No substantial weight loss
  • Same warm-up and cool down in each workout
  • Workouts 'clipped' and 'pasted' together with looped instruction
  • Only small changes in types of exercises until 4th week
  • Can get tedious and boring at times
  • You don't feel like you 'know' the instructor or demonstrators
  • May need to buy another kettlebell to increase results... can be expensive