Lindsey and Marcy both wrote excellent reviews so I just wanted to add a bit of my own opinion. First, I watched her first Bravo show Work Out a few years ago and didn't come away with a good impression of Jackie or her gym. I realize it's a reality show and things are distorted to make good TV but her business ended up looking unprofessional as a result.

I mention this because when I saw this DVD in the store, I was like "Ehhhh." But it was on sale and Jackie does have a rocking physique so I decided to try it. If you have doubts, rest assured this is a real, tough and effective workout. Jackie splits her time working out and adjusting two other female exercisers, who are both in amazing shape. She gives excellent form tips. I really like it when an DVD instructor tells one of their students stuff like "Squat lower" because that reminds me to do that too.

One of the participants also demonstrates a lower intensity version of the moves without weights which is nice for those who are starting out or need to modify due to injuries.

Jackie doesn't waste a moment of time with setup or chatter before an exercise--she just launches from one to the other with very little preamble or rest. Maybe you won't have this problem but I have to keep the remote handy because I frequently am catching my breath (a full minute of this torturous military press/pushup combo is tough stuff yall) or I just need to dither around and swap my weights out. This is entirely preferable to a workout that has TOO much talk between exercises.

Very effective for 30 minutes (my DVD player says its 34--I won't even try to be cool and tell you sometimes I check to see how much time I have left.) My arms feel weak when this is over-good stuff. All of the moves are compound too (e.g. a squat combined with concentration curls) so it's very efficient. I can't say it enough-she is very knowledgeable on form and she stages the exercises on the vigorous side but not on the "So fast I'm going to injure myself trying to keep up" side. She's occasionally too chatty with her two students but that's a minor complaint.

If you are concerned about the impact level (I have torn knee cartilage so I always worry about that), there is a small amount of jogging in place in the warmup. Nothing that can't be easily modified. The workout proper is all low impact. Lots of squats and lunges and some balancing moves. As the other reviewers also have said, this thing blasts your deltoids.

I liked this enough to order her Express Abs too.

Instructor Comments:
Friendly but no nonsense and very knowledgeable about form. She mixes classics up in new ways. I definitely want to pick up more of her workouts.

vanessakm