Workout: One-On-One Training With Jackie
Exercise Video
Host: Jackie Warner
Lionsgate Home Video
Release date: May 20, 2008

Anyone who’s a fan of Bravo‘s reality series Work Out will really enjoy working out along with Jackie Warner in her new exercise DVD, Workout: One-On-One Training With Jackie.

On the television show, we see the perfectly buff fitness trainer, along with her team of personal trainers, at her Sky Sport & Spa gym in Beverly Hills. While the series focuses a lot on the drama in her personal like and amongst her staff, it’s obvious how seriously Jackie takes her career and the well-being of her clients. A typical session with Jackie costs about $400, but on this economically DVD, you get three 20-minute fat-burning segments that target each portion of your body: Upper Body, Lower Body, and Core.

“Don’t stop till you drop,” is one of Jackie’s most common phrases, and she means it. Each of the three segments consists of a quick warm-up, then 2 to 3 consecutive weight exercises followed up by a short cardio portion. The weights to cardio routine is completed about four times, concluding with a quick stretch/cool down. Once you complete the Upper Body, you have the option to follow the same type of routine for the Lower Body, and also for the Core (abs).

Along with Jackie on this new DVD are four of her trainers — Rebecca, Jesse, Agostina, and Renessa, all of whom appear on Season 3 of the series, which is airing now. The warm ups and cool downs are done as a group, but to replicate the personal training experience, Jackie works one-on-one with each trainer to focus on a specific body parts. Each set of repetitions is done for one minute, until you “feel the burn,” basically, until you feel muscle fatigue. Only the Core portion is done as a group, which is good because there’s nothing more boring than watching something train someone doing sit ups.

The DVD menu has an Introduction from Jackie explaining the three different segments. She says all you need for this routine is hand weights — though she doesn’t specify what size weights to use, so it’s up to you to determine what to begin with and how to progress. Also, she doesn’t mention this, but there are plenty of floor exercises, which would necessitate a workout mat or, at the very least, a towel.

The menu also gives you the option to choose a combination of the three segments, but I wouldn’t recommend that until you’re ready to really exercise, because Jackie is all about killing you with exercise. Though the description of the DVD says that there’s modifications for beginners, I don’t think those with little exercise experience will be able to follow this DVD at all. Also, many exercises that include full-body weight workouts fail to mention that you should not do consecutive weight workouts on the same muscle groups (for example, if you do bicep curls one day, skip it the next day). If you check the DVD bonus features (which I’m sure the average person won’t on an exercise DVD), there’s a “Workout Recommendations” feature. It’s one simple page of text that “recommends” you break up these workouts or do the whole hour three times per week. You’d have to really read into that to understand the why.

The DVD arrived in the mail the other day and I immediately ran to get my workout clothes on. I love doing upper-body weights, so I decided to do the Upper Body segment first. Since I’m used to lifting light weights (10 lbs. and under), that portion wasn’t too difficult for me, except for maybe the push-ups. I can’t do them, never could, but since I do know a lot of different exercises already, I was able to modify by doing them against the wall. The cardio portion proved a bit more difficult, not because it was too intense, but because it consisted of light jumping. Now, I’m gonna be straight with you, and I’m sure a lot of women can sympathize: I cannot jump, not without wearing five sports bras. There hasn’t been a jumping jack or a jumping of rope in my life since I was 13, ok, so as much as I really love running and jumping with the gleeful abandon of childhood play, it just ain’t happening. So, again, I modified, and got an awesome 20-minute upper-body workout.

But, had I not known what to do on my own, I’d have been completely lost with this routine, and totally frustrated, hence why I do not recommend this for beginners — and I came to this conclusion before I even got to the other body portions!

Onto the lower body. Geez, I HATE lower-body workouts. I’ve been skimping on them for years, since I have strong legs (for all those years of dancing school, he he). I guess I figured I should concentrate on other areas (which should be my abs, but that never happens). So, when it comes to lunges and squats (ack) Jackie’s routine will totally kick your ass. I tried doing some of it, but had to stop at times (I was still tired from the upper body workout), but I feel like after I do it a few times or just on “lower-body only” days, it will be fine (hard, but at least doable).

Then there’s the final work out, Core, the abdominal portion of the DVD. I completely dread this. I did not do even one second of this part of the workout. I did watch it all, though. There’s lots of holding yourself up on your arms and elbows (oh no), along with many variations of crunches. At least in this part of the workout, Jackie does give you the beginner modifications, so had I been motivated to pull out the exercise mat and get on the ground, I probably could have completed this segment. One day.

If this DVD is too easy for you, well, I definitely don’t want to be your friend, but aside from that, Jackie happily lets you know how to increase the intensity, whether it’s by raising the weight amounts or extending the movements.

I’ll admit, I’m a bit of a lazy exerciser. I do just enough to elevate my heart rate and I typically do the same workouts day in and day out, which loses its effectiveness over time. That’s why I gladly signed on to review this DVD, hoping to find something new to add to my routine. I’ve been working out for years, and while I’m no expert, I’ve done enough research to know that Jackie’s type of exercise works. (And it’s too days later, and my arms are still killing me — but you gotta work through the pain!) So, if you’re like me, and you have some exercise experience and you’re looking for a new cardio/weights combo workout that’s quick and effective, Workout: One-On-One Training With Jackie would be a great addition to your exercise regime.

DVD Bonus Features

• Workout Recommendations: a one-page text with a message to beginners on when to do the workouts and how you should work up to the full routine if necessary.
• Quick Diet Tips From Jackie: More simple text, this time it’s five quick tips for beginners on how to improve your diet.
• Trailers: Commericals for other exercise DVDs: Two The Biggest Loser, which show the trainers from the NBC show, along with previous Biggest Loser contestants; and Denise Austin’s Burn Fat Fast Cardio Blast.
• Credits: DVD credits.