You better work it –
‘Work Out’ with Jackie Warner

By Matt Kailey

She’s the queen of the workout scene, with a rock-hard body and a red-hot show that we just can’t get enough of – and 2008 is the year of Jackie Warner. Not only is her hit reality show, Work Out, just beginning it’s third season – with more drama than ever before, but Warner is introducing a new line of exercise wear, new health products and a brand new killer exercise DVD. I caught up with Warner by phone at her Sky Sport Spa to get all the latest dish and dirt – and to get some workout tips of my own.Matt Kailey: I just watched – and tried out – your new DVD this weekend. Now I’m not in the best of shape, but I do work out, and that thing had me panting and puffing. What advice do you have for a middle-aged guy trying to get in decent shape?

Jackie Warner: I think what you need to do is go ahead and perform every exercise, just in general – the basics – but do it with perfect form. And either get my DVD and do it at home or get Muscle and Fitness magazine – there’s really no excuse – and perform each exercise, but with good, nice, slow form. And just lower your weights and then increase as you go. Weight training is still the best way to get in shape. I can’t stress that more. It really speeds up your metabolism and changes your body shape, whereas cardio does not change your body shape much.

MK: Your DVD is customizable – viewers can choose to do all the workouts or individual workouts. What do you recommend as far as a workout schedule?

JW: I created the DVD to be sort of a one-on-one personal training session. And that’s why the focus is there on form. I feel like I really teach people a thing or two about how to do each exercise. And there’s a way to advance it. We show modifiers, meaning that if you can’t do the regular version of the exercise, you can modify it and do the easier version. I have one trainer modifying throughout the entire DVD, which I think is really important, so that everyone feels included. And we show you the advanced version, which is really just using weights.

MK: The third season of your show, Work Out, just started up. Any drama? What can viewers expect?

JW: There’s a lot of smack talkin’ about me, I noticed, which is funny. I think the other trainers really talk a lot about me, which formulates a sort of opinion of me which is pretty incorrect, and I was pretty surprised about that. But it’s all in good fun. We’re doing a show, so you kind of have to let those things go. But I think that that creates a lot of drama. Some of the old relationships I’ve had with employees kind of come to a head. Relationships that I’ve had with employees that I didn’t really care for come to a head. You’re going to see that, so there’s some big surprises. … You see my relationship and the trials and tribulations I go through with that. It’s difficult to have a relationship and a reality show – let’s put it that way. That’s a hint for ya (laughs).

MK: I was going to ask you about your girlfriend, too.

JW: It’s very, very difficult, because it’s an odd situation to be in. I don’t know many couples that thrive under the eye of the camera.

MK: And you’ve got some new products you’re introducing also.

JW: I do. I’ve got my shake and my bar. … I’ve got the DVD coming out. The clothing line is completely retooled and very hot this season. I’ve got a workout calendar coming out, so a lot of products. And SkyLab, of course, my life-change camp – the real one is finally happening May 31 to June 7 here in Northern California, exactly the place that we shot, which is beautiful, so people can sign up for that. Go to jackiewarner.com for any information – it’s all there.

MK: I saw that SkyLab on your Web site. That looks like a fabulous program.

JW: I’m so excited about that, because that’s what I live for – these kinds of events – and so I’m very, very psyched to get to that.

MK: This is a question from our assistant art director: Is it a prerequisite that all your trainers have to be freakin’ hot?

JW: Obviously I’m a businessperson, so I think sales – we’re already selling our self in a sense, in the best sense of the word. And a trainer’s a walking billboard. You should want to aspire to have the body, the physique, the overall attitude, the passion that a trainer does. So I hire based on that. They don’t have to be frickin’ hot. I’ve got 35 trainers here. But I think attractive people with positive attitudes, yes – and the body to match.

MK: Another one from our assistant art director: Your trainer Renessa is straight, but in the previews for the show, it looks like she’s coming on to you. Does she maybe swing both ways?

JW: No, I think she’s like any other woman, when she gets a little alcohol in her and she thinks another woman’s attractive, she acts on it. I think that women have a lot of freedom in that sense in our society. She was very flirtatious, very flirtatious, but all in good fun and nothing happened between us whatsoever.

MK: Our publisher wants to know: What is the best way to lose belly fat specifically?

JW: The best way, honestly, is to do what I call power circuit training, so you work upper body and lower body with weights and body resistance – no rest, no stop. So you might do some modified pushups, then you jump up and do leg squats. Then you jump down and do pushups, leg squats, jump down and do pushups, leg squats – you get it? So you’re constantly moving, you’re constantly working upper body, lower body. If you do that for 30 to 40 minutes, you’re going to lose a lot of weight. And that’s the only way to lose belly fat. Actually, crunches are a waste of time for people who have belly fat, because you build muscle underneath the fat. You’re not burning the fat at all. You cannot spot train.

MK: And you should do that routine every day?

JW: No, you can do it three to five times a week, three to four, I’d say, to get results. It’s not as intensive as you think. A lot of people think they have to overdo it, and they really don’t.

MK: Your mom – apparently she wants you to be with a guy.

JW: I think she would prefer it if I was straight, yes (laughs). I hate to say it, but most moms would. That’s just kind of a given. She’s a religious person, so, yes, she would prefer that I was straight. I think she knows by now that that’s not going to happen, so she accepts and loves me for who I am, so our relationship is very, very solid right now.

MK: Your body is your living. Do you ever get to pig out?

JW: I do. What I do is I eat very clean. I cut sugar out Monday through Friday and then I allow myself a big cheat meal on Saturday and a big cheat meal on Sunday. And that cheat meal may be just drinks with my friends, or it could be a movie with a couple candy bars or candy, or it could be a big brunch. I pick my poison – literally. Now, very clearly, all the studies show that deprivation doesn’t work. You will not succeed if you deprive yourself. So Monday through Friday, you break the sugar addiction. It takes five days. And if you cut that sugar out Monday through Friday, you will decrease your need for it on Saturday and Sunday, so you’re less gluttonous on your cheat meals. That’s the key.

MK: How long did it take you to get in the shape you’re in now?

JW: I’m in much better shape now than I was during the show. I was falling in love during the show, I was nesting, I chose to sleep in and just relax a little bit after 10 years of hard-core training – Lisa, my office manager, told me I was fat – I let myself get soft and rest, and that’s fine. For me, as an athlete, sometimes you have to do that for yourself. But now I’m in pretty hard-core, intense shape. I’m doing Fitness Rx, the cover, in less than a couple of weeks, and, man, my body is going to be in the best shape of its life, trust me. I will be in great shape for that cover. I’m training about six days a week now, very intensely.

MK: And you’re training aerobics, weights, the whole bit?

JW: Primarily weights, but I’ll throw some spinning or boxing in there a couple times a week, too. I don’t like to run on the treadmill.

MK: And if you’re trying to build muscle, do you recommend working the entire body three times a week or isolating certain body parts?

JW: If you’re really trying to build muscle, you should definitely isolate body parts and work two to three muscle groups per time, three to four times a week.

MK: What else would you like to say?

JW: Do you have my tips sheet? It’s very, very helpful for your readers. I’ll give you an example – non-fat products are really bad for you and they’re loaded with sugar, so you shouldn’t eat fat free. It would be better if you ate low-fat or actual fat products. It’s not about fat at all – it’s not making America fat, only sugar and calories are. You only need to look at calories and sugar. I moved from fat-free milk in my coffees and such – it has 14 grams of sugar per little serving, 14 grams in fat-free milk, in skim milk. That’s almost as much as a candy bar, and it’s 140 calories, something like that. Guess what Half-and-Half has – 14 calories and one gram of sugar. What’s the better choice? Always drink Half-and-Half in your coffee. And if it says ‘No Sugar Added,’ that does not mean it doesn’t have sugar, it means it doesn’t have additional sucrose, which is table sugar, but it has plenty of sugar usually. So all these diet foods that are saying ‘No Sugar Added,’ ignore it. Look at the sugar content on the back. People come from all over the country and the world to grocery shop with me.

MK: My friend says, ‘I can drink as much soda as I want, because it doesn’t have any fat in it.’

JW: That’s ridiculous. He’s getting fatter. He’ll get fat. He’s gonna get big as a house. It is just not true, I promise. Don’t even look at fat. Look at sugar and calories.

MK: What else in your new season?

JW: I think we covered it all – mom comes to visit, employees that have been getting under my skin really get under my skin and you’re going to see the results of that. I think you get what I’m saying. The relationship was absolutely horrific under the eye of the camera, because it was a brand-new relationship, by the way. We started dating a month before. It was really, really rough – she did not enjoy it at all. And I do not sleep with all my employees. That is a total myth perpetrated by others. So there you have it!

Watch Season Three of Work Out on Bravo. For more information on the show or on any of Jackie Warner’s products and services, go to www.jackiewarner.com.