Review: Jay Johnson's Boot Camp Fitness: Ultimate Body Vol. 1

Y'all. The trainer for the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders just kicked my ass, but in a good way! My New Years Resolution is to get back into shape and lose the 16 pounds I've gained.

The Jay Johnson Boot Camp Fitness DVD I ordered arrived yesterday and I was so excited to try it today. "Boot Camp" workouts are a pretty big deal here, but due to my work schedule, there's really no way for me to join a class and still have time to get ready for work.

I already liked what I had seen of Jay on DCC and figured I'd give this a try. Note: the DVD was $15 when I ordered it, and know it's down to $11.50, which is a hell of a deal.

I couldn't find a detailed review online, so I thought I'd just do one myself.

Things you need to know: Jay is chit-chatty, and military. And hard-core. And his wife is the hot blonde on the cover with him. She helps lead as well.

You really don't need any equipment for this, and although some of the demonstrators do use hand weights from time to time, those of us trying to get back in shape certainly don't need them to get a good workout. Jay does want you to download his guide (I'll insert the address later, but I'm too sore to get up from this chair right now) and learn the moves before you begin, but I didn't do this and it wasn't that big of a deal. If you are fairly coordinated, you can pick it up.

The workout is divided into five sections, and there's a countdown bar at the bottom of the screen to let you know how much time is left in each section, which is GENIUS. Gave me something to look forward to.

First section: Prep. 4:45. Basically some warm up cardio-type moves. No stretching.

Second section: Abs. Around 12:00. I love that they did abs first. I always get worn out and since abs are at the end of most DVD workouts, I tend to turn off the DVD and skip that part. No chance of that here.

Third section: Legs. Around 14:00. Holy hell, this is rough. Jay does his exercises in "cadences". Like 1 2 3, 1, 1 2 3, 2, 1 2 3, 3, and he does five of them. Then he gives you 30 seconds to do as many of that move as you can. It's a little crazy up there on the screen with 4 people going at their own pace, but I just picked the super-ab-cut lady and followed her during the free-for-alls.

Fourth section: Cardio. Around 14:00. He does what he calls a "pyramid workout" and does the cadence thing again. With the first exercise, you do 20 of the cadences. 10 second break, and then you do 19 of the next exercise. 1o second break again and you do 18 and so on until you get to 10 and that's your last one.

Fifth section: Recovery. 4:00. Here he does stretches and chit chats some more.

I think Jay and I are going to be good friends. I really think this workout is going to shape me up. But it's not for the faint of heart- be ready to really work out.