I finished month 1 of Insanity today. I still have a month left but need to buy my next program so I was hoping to get opinions. My original plan was to finish Insanity, train for a half marathon, then do CLX. I am no longer doing the half marathon as planned (at least at this time) so I want to move on to other workouts.

I thought I had my heart set on CLX but reading about other programs has me curious. I want to do them all (and I think I eventually will!) but need to pick one (or maybe two) for now.

I LOVE cardio. Love, love, love it. Don't like the weights so much, but need to do it. My goal is to lose weight and tighten my body (core and arms, mostly.) Any suggestions for me as to which way to lean? Or even something different?

I have done several rounds of CLX and love the rotation. I have also done parts of P90X, but I like Chalene's personality better and I find that I am more likely to stick with the rotation. If you don't really like weights much, CLX is probably the better choice for you. Just a caution though...you're going to need to invest in good bands or a range of weights in order to really do the program.

I've just started Turbo Fire and am really liking the videos. If you are coming off of Insanity, Turbo Fire will probably be a good choice. Turbo Jam will probably seem a bit too easy for you. Basically Turbo Fire is amped up Turbo Jam.

Hope this helps.

Ah, thanks for the insight! Turbo Jam looks so freaking fun, but I don't want too easy. I forgot to mention that P90X does NOT appeal to me at all.

I have a decent beginner set of weights, just need to add 1 or 2 to make it a great set. (I have 3, 5, and 8 lb.)

Turbo Fire is just as fun as Turbo Jam just more intense. I think that would probably be the better option for you. Now that I've gone through most of the Turbo Fire workouts I'm starting to get the moves down better and it's even more fun.

Did I see on another thread that you are doing a Turbo Fire/CLX hybrid?? How is that going?

I am doing a CLX/Turbo Fire hybrid. Basically, I am doing the cardio from Turbo Fire according to the plan and then CLX 3x a week. I deleted the sculpting options from Turbo Fire, but other than that pretty much what's in the book. I bought the advanced DVDs so it is the 20 week program. I will repeat CLX almost twice.

I'm attaching a pdf of my tentative hybrid calendar. I know that there is one that comes with Turbo Fire, but I modified just a bit.

One more thing...I never liked the cardio that came with CLX so I didn't include that.

Turbo Fire is fun too, and more intense than Turbo Jam.

I definitely would advise getting more weights--the 3s, 5s and 8s won't be nearly heavy enough to get the best benefit from the program. I'm almost through with the Burn Circuit on CLX and I'm using 8s, 10s, 12s, 15s, 20s, and 25s. And I wasn't doing any serious weight training before CLX (I was doing programs of the low-weight, high-rep variety). I think many people (especially women) underestimate how strong they really are.

I was never big on weight training either, but this program really has me re-thinking my views on it. It's very empowering to be able to lift heavy and I feel so strong. The heavy weights also give a slight cardio benefit, so it's really intense (in a good way!). I'm liking it so much that I'm planning on moving on to The New Rules of Lifting for Women after I finish CLX.

Good luck!

I am going to strongly agree with BluCypressLily in regard to needing heavier weights. I had never really done free weights before CLX and I was shocked at how heavy I could lift. During the Push Phase (the heaviest you'll lift) I started using a weighted vest. I have carpal tunnel and it is rough on my wrists to lift more than about 25 pounds. The weighted vest was not only a more cost effective option, but it was nice on my wrists. I use everything from 5 to 25 pound weights. I found the Reebok adjustable weights on Craigslist for about half price and they have served me well. Someday I'll invest in the SelectTechs.

I have just finished my first full week of CLX and Turbo Fire. It has been a great workout week. I haven't felt this strong in a while. I am loving Turbo Fire and it is a great compliment to CLX. It is challenging, but for some reason I will do just about anything Chalene puts in front of me.

Wow, that heavy?!! The few times I work out with weights, I use the 8s for biceps, squats, etc. 5s for chest and 3s for triceps. I was thinking I'd add 10s and 12s or 12s and 15s and be fine. I will get some bigger weights.

Thanks for your schedule! It's awesome. I purchases CLX last night and will wait until I get paid next week to order Turbo Fire.

Yes that heavy! You'll be surprised at how much weight you can move, especially with your lower body.

You have to remember too that the sets are low reps and its done almost superset style...where you work one body part (like biceps) for a set then another (triceps) for a set and so on. You usually end up working the same body part for 3 sets total, but they're not consecutive, and the reps are low so you're able to lift much heavier than you normally would if you were doing high rep sets one on top of the other. Plus, even though you end up working the same muscle for 3 sets, it's not 3 sets of the same exercise--I think this helps me a lot mentally (it took me awhile to notice that, yes, i really did do 3 sets of posterior flies, rows, etc. She's tricky!)...for example, throughout the course of the workout you'll end up doing 3 different types of, say, chest exercises but they're not one set after another and they're different moves (you'll do a set of chest presses, then later a set of pushups, then later on a set of chest flies). Does that make sense?

Also, if you're able to use 8s for bicep curls, you can go way heavier than that on a squat...think about how big your glutes and hamstrings are compared to your biceps

Great tip on the weighted vest! I was going to try adding weight plates to my backpack for the squats, but I didn't think of a vest!

Well this just makes me excited to do weights & CLX! I know I can go way heavier on my quads/glutes...I just don't.

I never used to either...but when I tried it, I LOVED it. It's a great feeling!

LMAO! I just found an old blog entry of mine from when I saw a personal trainer. I thought it was hilarious and it's about when she made me use heavy weights. Here it is:

I hate her, I hate her, I hate her.

First she had me do lunges across the room, holding 25 pounds of weight in my hands. Got all the way across the room and back. Not bad. Then she made me do it again. Okay, I did it. Then she made me do it a third time. My heart rate was definitely coming up and my legs were a little wobbly afterward.

Since I am having a breast reduction, she wanted to build up my back muscles. None of them were *too* bad. 3 sets of 12 on each exercise.

Then I did the ever dreaded triceps. She grabbed a 17.5 pound weight and showed me what to do, then she put said 17.5 weight in my hands. I tried to give it back! I told her that at home, I use like a 5 pound weight. She said that was getting me nowhere (true, but still!) I did the first set of 12 then for the second set she switched me out for a 7.5 pound weight. I got through the second set but I petered out on the third set. I also did bicep work, shoulder presses, and chest fly.

Okay, have you ever used a decline bench? She said it was my new best friend. I laid on it with my head near the floor and my legs up higher. She put that 7.5 pound weight on my chest and told me to sit up. Couldn't do it. I tried so hard I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head, but my body wouldn't budge. She removed the weight and told me to try again. I did ONE measly sit up that way, and believe me, it wasn't pretty! Then she said to me, "Honey, you can run til Jesus comes, but you are never gonna have a flat tummy because your core is weak!" She had me do 3 sets of 12 crunches in that position (which was pretty darn hard!) and I'm supposed to work up to 5 full sits ups on the decline bench.

Tomorrow I am supposed to do elliptical/treadmill for 30 minutes then see her again on Thursday.