Initial Impressions: Bob’s Workout (where he doesn’t actually work out)

I know, I probably should do the Yoga workout next, but I did Bob’s workout instead.  For those of you who have read my previous reviews of Bob’s Body Rev Cardio Conditioning and Pure Burn Super Strength (he really should think of short titles), you know that I’m beginning to think highly of Bob Harper.  Since I bought the set from his website, I was privvy to receiving (erm, paying) for Bob’s special workout: Bob’s Workout (nice short title there!).  The workout is split in two, and it’s description on the cover is completely misleading.  That aside, if you like circuit workouts, its a really nice one to put in your collection.

How is the workout set up? The workout is split in two.  Billed as Bob’s personal workout, the DVD is only available through purchase at http://www.mytrainerbob.com.  Bob claims that this workout is what he personally does at the gym.  Presumably, it is one of many workouts, but the man is clearly in love with cardio and clearly in love with corporating weights with his cardio so this workouts seems to be right up his alley (again, it being HIS workout and all).  Split into two workouts, each segments is around 25 minutes with each section having a warmup and cooldown.  He, again, is the personal trainer telling his minions Stephanie and Zach what he would have done.  Ok, I’ll be honest: my head sort of exploded.  Seriously, you can’t be seen doing a workout once through the entire time?  It’s YOUR freaking workout!  And it’s  good workout, so why not?  My favorite, favorite Youtube clip of him is when one of his trainers is directing him on how to do a series of tough exercise moves:

Seriously, I would totally pay for a DVD where that dude works Bob for a little over an hour. Just for entertainment purposes!

What’s the first part of the workout? I think the first part is the hardest actually.  On the cover, it’s described as “extreme core based upper body training.”  You know, at first I couldn’t tell you what exactly made it upper body, but after doing it a couple times I think I understand it.  The reason why this workout is so hard for me is that a good chunk of the moves requires core strength I don’t possess.  Because I can’t do all the moves, I can’t sweat as much as Stephanie who really is working it.  Handwalks and burpees are ever present as well as kettlebell swings (with an actual kettlebell this time).  When the plank rows on the elevated step came, that’s when I realized, oh crap, I’m going to fall!  (I truly need to work on doing more pushups.)  There are lower body moves likes lunges which he turns into a jumping lunge at one point (love those!) so it’s not like ALL your cardio comes from your upperbody, just the majority of it.  And I did my first Turkish get up ever because of this workout…and I loved it!  Very challenging, very fun.

What are your gripes about the first part? Since there are no modifiers, I had to be left to my own creative devices to think of things to help me with my lack of core strength.  That’s fine, but Bob has to realize that some people may need a bridge between doing pushups on your knees to an elevated plank row.  Stephanie, who I love just for her funny facial expressions, can’t count at all either (or it was edited badly).  I missed the original Inside Out set, all the great production value, THE COUNTDOWN BAR, and the name of the exercise.  And it is NOT 30 minutes.  It’s more like 25 minutes.  Given how I love the fact that Bob’s other workouts all clock in a little over 60 minutes, I find this to be critical.  Great on a day when you’re short on time, but still not thirty minutes.  That said, I really hope at one point I can do the workout in its entirety without any modifications.

What’s the second part to the workout? This workout was a breeze for me even after immediately doing the first one, with the exception of the plyo pushups.  Ok, maybe not a breeze, but I can do everything and not look as if I am dying like a certain victim on the screen.  Since there are more squats involved and more weights, I assume that’s where the “advanced core based lower body training” comes from.  A jumprope, a step, dumbbells, and kettelbells are used for this workout, but you can modify most any of that (I did have all the equipment except for the two kettlebells and honestly the one time where he uses both at the same time, dumbbells are just as effective.  Like the first workout, there are “stations” and you rotate through them in a circuit fashion.  Cardio is infused as much as possible here, thanks to Bob, and I was sweating and grinning the whole time.  Between the two, I like this one more only because I can really sink my teeth into everything and push quite hard, which is the advantage of doing a workout when you can get 95% of the moves.

What didn’t you like about this part of the workout? OMG, Zach needs to train harder.  I applaud him for really going at it, but if he’s not faking it, he needed to train more before filming.  Because he was sucking wind, the first time I did the workout, I didn’t know what to do for over a minute because we actually had to wait while he keeled over gasping for air.  And Bob just stood there and grinned.  I get it, you’re his personal trainer but you’re making a workout DVD, so focus on the AUDIENCE not the PROP.  I have since learned to just keep on adding sets while Zach was dying.  The same complaints I had in the first apply (production issues mostly), but of course, the fact that its under 30 minutes again.  When I want a circuit workout in 50 minutes, I do grab this one now so it does work, I just think its sloppy to say its an hour.  And the last gripe actually was something Bob said — he stated at one point that in the 30 minutes, Zach burned about 450-500 calories.  WTF?  How??!?  I wear my HRM and that’s about how much I burn in the ENTIRE workout…maybe.  And don’t say its because Zach is using heavier weights — I am using weights appropriate for the number of reps and form and they’re plenty heavy!  If someone can explain to me how the math works out that way, I’m super curious; but in the meantime, I’m calling bullpucky on Bob.

Would you recommend buying the DVD? This is a tough call — it is a good circuit workout, and I do like it a lot, but the only way to get it is through http://www.mytrainerbob.com as it is not available retail anywhere else.  It’s sold there for $14.99, and no, I don’t recommend it at that price.  If you buy the total set at a discount and get free shipping like I did, I would say go for it.  I do like the workout, and I find myself reaching for it more often than not,  but don’t pay more than $9-10 for the individual DVD.