General OverviewIf you, like me, dragged your awkward, uncoordinated, slightly chubby 7th-grade self to cheerleading tryouts and didn’t make it, now’s your chance to, at the very least, work out like a cheerleader–or so this video says.
Join several real life Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders (who look confused every second of the workout) and their trainer Sergeant Jay Johnson (who, of course, wears camouflage pants) for what I regret to inform you is a pretty great workout.
Try as I might to give this video a terrible review, it’s actually not bad at all. I’ll even go so far as to say “I recommend it.” The most pleasant surprises came in the Special Features, which included a Total Arm Assault, Total Ab Assault (hard!), Intro to Yoga (very thorough) and detailed instructions for each workout move. Honestly, this video would almost be worth the price just for these extras.
The primary workouts include a warm up, low-impact routine, high-impact routine and cool down. I recommend using the low-impact routine as your warm up followed by the high-impact routine for a really thorough workout.
Equipment NeededThe cheerleaders use a mat and light weights, but I was fine on the floor and made due with a medicine ball. The easier modifications of each move excluded weights so if you’re a beginner don’t even worry about them. No pom-poms required.
EffectivenessI felt this workout for two days after I did it. That, my friends, is effective. Though the low-impact routine was a little too “low” for me, I found the high-impact routine to be very challenging–lots of lunges and squats. Prepare yourself for the little cardio blast at the beginning of each routine. It combines alternating high-knees and mountain climbers and left me completely out of breath. as long as you can continue challenging yourself with heavier weights, this video will continue to be of use to you as you improve.
Not to brag or anything, but I have a pretty strong core and can do a lot of really difficult ab exercises. I say this only because I found the Total Ab Assault to be very challenging and was annoyed to find the cheerleader who was demonstrating to be completely relaxed like she was sitting on the couch or something. So hopefully that puts it in perspective for you.
SafetyIf you have knee problems, you’ll struggle with all the lunges and squats in the high-impact routine, but they do offer modifications for everything so keep your eye on the “easy” girl (pun intended!).
Cast/InstructorSargeant Jay Johnson has a lot of trite motivational poster-worthy catch phrases that I found to actually be motivating at times. he just seems to be really genuinely excited about working out and I can appreciate that. You get 20 seconds of rest time after each move and this is when Jay does most of his filler talk. Pretty entertaining. But I can’t ignore that fact that he’s also laughable in his ridiculous camo get-up. You win some, you lose some.
Jay trains “in cadence,” meaning he starts the call and the girls chant back in response as they complete each move. It’s pretty annoying, but you may actually find yourself counting along.
I can’t remember exactly how many cheerleaders there were in the video (because I’m not a man), but there are three to focus on depending on your ability level–one easy (pun intended), one a little harder (that’s what she said) and one advanced.
MusicNothing exciting. just your standard workout music to provide a beat for the moves. sorry, there’s no cheering either.
SetThe video was filmed on the Dallas Cowboys field so if you care about football I trust you are just thrilled.
NegativesOther than Jay looking silly, occasionally talking silly and this being a silly cheerleader video, I found very little wrong with this workout.
ConclusionIf you’re looking for an effective body-weight workout that can be made more challenging with the addition of extra weight, this is a good one. if you hold a grudge against the cruel cheerleaders from your high school, I kindly ask that you avoid this video.
All jokes aside… Though they don’t get much credit for being a part of a “real sport,” cheerleaders are definitely real athletes and you’d do yourself a whole lot of good to try and workout like one.
Agree? Disagree? You can post your thoughts about this review on the DVD Talk forums.
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