Chalene Johnson is an exercise and fitness expert who began studying dance and martial arts at 3 years of age. While attending Michigan State University, she continued training in tae kwon do, dance, and aerobics.

In the early ’90′s, Chalene moved to California and created a group exercise class combining the hip feel of funk, sexy dance moves, and the power and strength of kickboxing. Soon after, Chalene began teaching other fitness instructors how to apply her unique brand of fitness.

In 1998, the incredibly popular Turbo Jam DVD workout was born. Powder Blue Productions (Chalene’s company) trains and certifies instructors to teach the Turbo Jam program and today it is featured at more than 2,000 health clubs and fitness chains worldwide. More recently, Chalene has introduced another home run with the wildly popular ChaLEAN Extreme DVD workout.

The WOWY (Work Out With You) Online Gym is a great way to keep your workouts on track. Simply log in before you work out, and join the hundreds of other members who are logged in and working out through WOWY at the exact same time.

With WOWY, you’re able to:

• Meet up with your friends in the online virtual gym for motivation and support
• Meet like-minded people and chat after workouts
• Stay motivated
• Share success stories with other WOWY users
• Have a chance to win daily prizes such as cash, iPods, cameras, and more

So, now that you know a little more about WOWY — let’s take a peek inside the member’s area.

The WOWY Workout Calendar

The WOWY Workout Calendar allows you to schedule and track your workouts. Simply click “Schedule a workout”, then click the desired date on the calendar. If you don’t have a workout planned yet but want to workout immediately, simply click “Workout now”.

You can also add information about previous workouts to WOWY by clicking “Add a completed workout”. While you won’t be able to qualify for daily prizes, it will still help you to track your workout progress.

Scheduling a WOWY Workout

Setting up your workouts in the WOWY Online Gym is quick and easy. Just select the workout program and routine from the drop-down menu, then click “Add routine”. If the program that you’re looking for doesn’t appear in the drop-down menu, click “Add it to your library” then “Continue”.

Select Workout Time, Frequency, and Buddies

Next, it’s time to add additional workout details. Simply select the time and frequency for the workout, and if you choose — invite workout buddies to join you.

Confirm that the Information is Correct

Next, simply confirm that the workout details you entered are correct. If you need to change anything, click “Edit” — if not, click “Save” and you’re finished!

The One-Click Workout Option

In a hurry? Just select the “One-click workout” option from your WOWY personal homepage, choose the program and routine, and click “Start now”.

The WOWY Cooldown Chat Room

After finishing your workout, you can chat with workout buddies and other WOWY users in the Cooldown Chat Room.

View Upcoming WOWY Workouts

Keeping track of your workouts in WOWY is super simple, and you’ll quickly be able to view future WOWY workouts by viewing the details saved in the “My workouts” area.

As you can see, Team Beachbody’s newly-redesigned WOWY Online Gym is an excellent free tool that you can begin using to track and monitor your workout progress. If you’re in the process of setting fitness or weight loss goals and want to make sure that you stay on track, or simply need a little bit of added accountability, go set up a free WOWY account and start tracking your fitness progress.

Beachbody’s Hip Hop Abs program has exploded in popularity and many are experiencing some pretty dramatic results. In this post, I’m going to cut through the marketing hype and look at exactly what is included with this workout system.

The Hip Hop Abs program consists of four training workouts:

1. Secrets to Flat Abs – Covers training techniques that target the upper and lower abs, as well as the obliques
2. Fat Burning Cardio – This workout combines high-intensity music with fun dance moves to burn calories quickly
3. Ab Sculpt – Focuses on additional ab exercises which help to carve that all-elusive, ripped six pack
4. Total Body Burn – A complete workout that combines cardio, body sculpting, and even more ab work

Hip Hop Abs also includes a step-by-step nutrition guide (your diet will play an extremely important role in whether you see results with this program), a 30 day workout calendar, and 24/7 support.

Last but not least, Beachbody also includes the following bonuses:

• Hips, Buns, and Thighs
• Results on the Run Diet Guide
• 6-Day SlimDown Plan
• Measurement Card and Tape Measure
• Learn to Dance
• Last Minute Abs Workout

If you’re currently using the Hip Hop Abs program, please post a comment with a brief review. I would love to hear how it’s working out for you so far…

Beachbody and Debbie Siebers have released a new home exercise program called Slim in 6. It is a 6 week program that combines cardio with light resistance exercises to help burn fat and reshape your body.

The Slim in 6 program uses 3 easy to follow workouts that focus on the abs, thighs, and backside:

1. Start It Up! – Provides an introduction to the basic Slim Training moves that are used to burn calories and tone your body
2. Ramp It Up! – Accelerates your results by helping you to increase the number of calories burned each day
3. Burn It Up! – Completes the body reshaping process with a more intense slimming and toning workout

A step-by-step nutrition guide is also provided that will show you exactly what you should be eating (and how much).

If you’re currently working out with the Slim in 6 program, please post a comment with a brief review. I would love to hear how it’s working out for you so far…

Debbie Siebers is no stranger to the health and fitness industry. She is a member of the AFAA (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America), and has been involved with personal training for over 20 years.

Debbie got her start in personal training with Body-by-Jake, and has also worked as a personal trainer at Powerhouse Gym, Crunch, Todd Tramp’s Body Sculpting Gym, and the Meridian Sports Club. She’s been featured on numerous health and fitness TV programs, including Body-by-Jake, Fitting It In, and more.

Most recently, Debbie has joined forces with Beachbody and created Slim in 6 — a 6 week program that will reshape your body and help you lose fat, gain energy, and build lean muscles.

Beachbody and Tony Horton have released a brand new home exercise program called 10 Minute Trainer. It is a workout designed for people who are extremely busy and may only have 10 minutes a day to devote to getting into shape.

The 10 Minute Trainer program is great for busy moms, professionals, and anyone else who finds that working out is too time consuming. It consists of various exercise routines and a diet and nutrition plan which are designed to help you lose weight quickly and naturally.

Tony Horton’s 10 Minute Trainer system uses a technique called “Super Stacking” and utilizes resistance bands for body toning and sculpting.

Instead of starting off with cardio and then targeting each muscle group individually, the workouts are stacked together. 10 Minute Trainer combines fat-burning cardio, total-body toning and sculpting, and abs workouts in one 10 minute routine.

If you’re currently working out with the 10 Minute Trainer system, please post a comment with a brief review. I would love to hear how it’s working out for you so far…

I started this blog as a way to keep myself accountable on my soon-to-begin journey of getting into shape. Here is a short list I’ve put together of additional things that I think will prove to be helpful along the way…

1. Don’t Compromise – The pitfall of many goal-oriented plans is compromising. Slowly moving the line that was set when you began will result in failure, so it’s extremely important to stay on track — even in the little things.
2. Set Your Own Goals – Everyone is an individual, therefore it’s important to set realistic goals for yourself. Don’t base your goals on what others think or have achieved as this typically results in disappointment and frustration.
3. Reward Yourself – Delay gratification until you’ve achieved what you set out to accomplish. Get into the habit of rewarding yourself whenever you accomplish short-term, intermediate, and long-term goals.

Over the past several years, I’ve been slowly putting on the pounds and it’s finally gotten to a point where enough is enough. My diet leaves a lot to be desired and I don’t exercise regularly, both are things that I can do something about and will greatly improve my overall health.

So, I’ve made up my mind to make some serious lifestyle changes.

I’m going to begin the P90X workout and diet program, so I purchased the course today and will start when it arrives. The P90X fitness program is the same one that is featured on TV infomercials, but I’ve done quite a bit of research on it and it seems excellent.

The P90X extreme home fitness training program consists of 12 DVD workouts which are designed to transform your body over a 90 day period of time. The 12 workouts are:

1. Chest and Back
2. Plyometrics
3. Shoulders and Arms
4. Yoga X
5. Legs and Back
6. Kenpo X
7. X Stretch
8. Core Synergistics
9. Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
10. Back and Biceps
11. Cardio X
12. Ab Ripper X

The P90X program also includes a fitness calendar which will help in keeping track of workout goals and progress, and a complete step-by-step nutrition program which is tailored to your individual needs.

Lastly, I’ll be picking up a few pieces of recommended exercise equipment over the next few days as I’m waiting for the program to arrive…

So why am I starting this blog? In a nutshell, I need the accountability! I’m hoping that this blog will build a little community of readers who will find that following my daily progress is both interesting and (hopefully) motivating. Losing weight and getting into shape isn’t easy, so hopefully this will be helpful.

So having said that, please bookmark my blog now and also subscribe to my RSS feed by clicking the big, orange RSS graphic in the right hand sidebar. Remember to check back each day for progress updates and I look forward to reading everyone’s comments along the way.

Stay tuned!