I was really skeptical about the ChaLEAN Extreme at first. I didn't think lifting heavy weights would be a good thing for me to do seeing that I needed to get smaller, not bigger. I always thought heavier weights would make you get bulky, which it does, but for some reason, this program doesn't make you get bulky. My friend used it and got skinny! You are lifting weights that you wouldn't normally choose, just a little heavier than what you are comfortable with. But I guess the philosophy makes sense. The more muscle you have, the more fat you will burn because your metabolism goes up. I didn't quite understand it but it does work. I lost a good amount of fat. My weight didn't go down as much as I originally hoped, but I gained lean muscle which weighs more than fat. I saw on the extreme body blog that it is better to measure your results, like if you are trying to get rid of fat, with a body fat tester. Especially if you are doing a lot of weight training. So I lost about 10% body fat. So I went from 25% down to 15%. I'm not exactly supermodel skinny but I did make a huge change in the way I look. So the workouts are all about slow and controlled motions with heavy weights. I did have to push pause a few times in the beginning weeks so I could finish up the rep, but I eventually go to the point where I could keep up. I started with the bands, and they are actually harder believe it or not! Not just the resistance, but positioning the bands just right was a little difficult and also made me have to push the pause button a few times. But eventually I wimped out and got dumbbells but they were probably just as hard because you had to use more muscle to control them and prevent them from toppling over. Anyway! Bands or dumbbells, I don't know. Both work and both have their own challenges. Age: 26 Height: 5'2” (always been big boned, not fat, but thicker than others my height. Solid.) Start weight: 150 Start body fat percentage: 25% End weight: 130 End body fat percentage: 15%