Personal Training with Jackie: Crunch-Free Xtreme Abs Review

by Natalie Belford

Personal Training with Jackie: Crunch-Free Xtreme Abs

Retail Price: $14.98

I’m a bit of a fitness nut, but I hate doing crunches. Always have, always will. So when I heard about the Personal Training with Jackie: Crunch-Free Xtreme Abs DVD I was pretty excited. This DVD lets me work out my abs without leaving the house. The DVD has two fifteen minute workouts designed to strengthen abdominal muscles. One workout is a standing routine and the other features a floor routine. Each one works your abs hard without making use of crunches. In this video crunches are considered a waste of time. What could be better?

Pros:

Focuses on Abs: The abdominal muscles are notoriously hard to shape, especially the love handle area. This DVD focuses on this hard to tone part exclusively. I know that as long as I’m doing this video my abs are getting the work out they deserve and I’m not wasting time on wasted movement.

Short Workout Time: Each workout is only fifteen minutes. This is great for my busy schedule. It’s easy to get in a quick workout before work, then come home and do something different in the evening. I can get a complete workout for my abs without having to block of a huge portion of my day.

Intense Workouts: Just because the workouts are short doesn’t mean they won’t put you through your paces. Like I said, I’m a bit of a fitness nut, but I was definitely feeling the burn after just one of those fifteen minute sections. There are lots of options to customize the workout to your fitness level. Now that I’ve done it for a couple weeks I think I’ll add some weights to make it more challenging.
Standing and Floor Routines: If you hate getting down on a mat to work out, you have other options. Working your abs while standing is definitely a different experience, but I’ve definitely been seeing results without having to hit the floor.

Cons:

No Cardio: If you’re looking to lose weight this DVD alone won’t be enough to do it. It doesn’t include any cardio portions, which means there’s not a lot of calorie burning opportunities. This is okay though. Since the workouts are so short it’s really easy to just pop in another DVD afterwards to get some cardio in.

Floor Section Might Be Too Difficult For a Beginner: If you haven’t been exercising for a while you might find the floor section a little too challenging right off the bat. The combinations of planks will really take a lot out of you (I know they did for me). However, the standing portion is much more approachable for those who want to ease into things, so it’s not difficult to get your strength built a bit before you dive into the tougher stuff.

If you’re like me and hate doing crunches, you’ll love this video. After doing these workouts three times a week for a few weeks I have definitely noticed more definition in my stomach. Jackie’s instructions are clear and easy to follow and the workouts are short enough that they don’t require a huge time commitment. I’m looking forward to continuing with this DVD and seeing how much my waistline changes!

Click here to get Personal Training with Jackie: Crunch-Free Xtreme Abs from Amazon.com