Working Out with Jackie

Back in September Mizfit  reviewed a Jackie Warner workout DVD. I had never heard of Jackie Warner, but the DVD sounded like just what I’d been looking for.  I have strength training DVDs, but they are mostly full body workouts.

Yes, I like full body workouts. But sometimes I would like to be able to split it up over 2 or 3 days.

Yes, I could make my own workout plan. But I like working out with DVDs. So much easier to just pop in a disc and follow along, rather than having to think about it.

So, of course, I looked it up on amazon and discovered two DVDs. Eventually I even got around to ordering them. What’s more, I tried them out.  :)

 

The DVDs

Workout: One-On-One Training with Jackie  has 3 20 minute workouts – Upper Body, Lower Body and Core. Each workout is made up of segments where you do (usually) 3 strength moves for one minute at a time, followed by one minute of cardio. If I had to choose only one of these DVDs, I would choose this one because:

a) It has a specific warmup and stretch for each of the 3 workouts

b) It has a menu option that allows you to choose the workouts you want to do, which is nice if you want to do 2 of the 3 workouts.

Personal Training with Jackie: Power Circuit Training  has 3 15 minute circuits – again: upper, lower and core. These circuits are made up of segments where you do 3 strength moves for a minute each, then for the last minute you repeat those same strength moves for 20 seconds each.

This DVD does not have specific warmups & stretches – it uses the same one for each workout. On both of these DVDs I find the stretch routine to be really short, and if you’re cramming stretches for all 3 workouts into one minute, you’re really not getting much of a stretch (in my amateur opinion). Also, using the exact same warm up over and over could get a little boring. I’m just sayin’.

However, this DVD does include a 40 minute and a 15 minute total body circuit which is nice to have if you want to get in a full workout in a short amount of time. I did do the 40 minute routine, but have yet to try the 15 minute total body circuit.

My Experience with the Workouts

These are challenging workouts, but I think they are adaptable to many fitness levels. Jackie gives good instruction on form, and offers modifications in a lot of cases. And she mentions often that if you can’t do the full range of motion, just do what you can and keep moving. And of course you can make it more challenging by adding/upping your weights.

I do find that I have to use lighter weights than I would use in a traditional strength training session in order to keep going for 60 seconds. They move through their reps pretty fast sometimes too, and I don’t always keep up the same pace. But, as Jackie tells me to do, I keep going for the full minute.

The exception being core. I admit it, the core segments defeat me. Have mercy.

Also, they switch from one exercise to the next pretty quickly – which I guess is sorta the point – Keep moving! But sometimes I need to switch dumbbells and there’s not a lot of time to figure that out. But, hopefully that will get better as I get more familiar with the routines.

More on the stretch/cool down thing

I started out with the One-On-One Training DVD (the one with the 20 minute workouts). The first day I did upper body. A couple of days later I did lower body + core. After which I ended up walking funny for several days. That Lower Body workout was killer.

So, when I got to the Lower Body routine of the second DVD, I followed it up with a yoga session. Yay! I could walk afterward! It was a miracle.

Back to DVD #1, I did the Lower Body workout and followed it up with a slow & easy treadmill session. Again with the walking! Magical!

Hence, my complaint about the lacking-ness of the stretching segments on the DVDs. But, lesson learned; I make sure to get in a good cool down and/or stretch after the lower body workouts and I’m fine.

All in all, I’m pleased with these DVDs. They give me a workout option that I’d been wanting in my collection. The workouts go fast, you do not have time to get bored, and when you finish you know you’ve worked hard. What more can you ask from a workout DVD?

How’s the weather where you are?

We are currently on our way to being buried. We left work early because of the weather, and this is what it looked like when we got home.

 

It’s still snowing.

Dontcha wish you were here?