Jackie Warner ramps up the workout

Good news, fans of the Bravo show "Workout" -- Jackie's back!

We're talking, of course, about Jackie Warner, personal trainer extraordinaire, owner of the exclusive Sky Sport & Spa gym in Beverly Hills, and star of her own reality show.

We spoke with Warner for a few minutes by phone recently while she was in New York promoting the third season of the show that kicked off this week, along with the many other things she's got going on.

She kindly teased some highlights from this season, mentioning "faster pacing," "a lot more emotional," "I'm in a relationship," "you're going to see my mom again," and "some of the trainers who were problematic become more problematic this season." Excellent.

But enough with the gossip -- we wondered if Warner thought that having her trainers bare their emotional selves on national television helped or hurt the image people have of the profession.

"I think in areas where people aren't used to being able to hire trainers, the trainers look almost god-like," she says. "They're beautiful, and there seems to be a little bit of star quality." For the rest of us jaded souls, "You see their flaws, and you see them as very human."

We're still stuck on the fact that there are places in this country where you can't find a trainer. What's next -- towns where you can't get Starbucks?

Warner also promises that this season we'll witness more of the Sisyphean struggle to lose weight and get in shape and see more client-trainer interaction: "We see how they deal with each other, and it's not always good, it's not always the right fit. Some (clients) end up responding wonderfully, and some can't overcome their demons and addiction to food."

When Warner isn't filming she's a whirling dervish, designing a line of men's and women's workout wear, coming out with a new workout DVD (also available soon via ExerciseTV), and opening a gym in Hollywood. This one will feature classes, such as group cycling paired with resistance training, and maybe Japanese sword fighting. "I don't want things too shticky," she says. "I'm not into pole dancing or running on the treadmill in high heels."

Warner still trains clients for the hourly fee of -- are you sitting down? -- $400 an hour. "I get you started on a life change, and empower you to make it happen," she says. "I also give you tools. I'll find trainers in your area, call clubs for you. Of course I also give you a lot of tips and you learn a lot about nutrition. It's about making that spark go off in your head, so you are on a different life path."

Spark, shmark. We're not saying Warner isn't good at what she does, but for that kind of money we'd better end up with an exact replica of Eva Longoria Parker's body after an hour. Maybe we'll just sign up for the sword fighting.

"Workout" airs on Bravo on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. PT

Photo of Warner with client Deenie Castleberry by Vivan Zink

-Jeannine Stein

Comments

[Personal Trainer Scott White]

That's great people do need to realize more about personal training and the industry because there is a ton of bs and junk in the industry let's face it a personal trainer can become certified in practically a weekend, hell anyone can call themselves a personal trainer there is no legal requirements or degrees you must have, so be careful I know many trainers how charge a ton of money because they got tons of publicity and created a name and aren't more educated than most trainers in gyms with basic certifications.. It's great to see the industry progress and the knowledge expand to all of the people, because we don't need more infomercials selling us junk that doesn't work and people saying we need this supplement to get fit, we need good knowledge from people who gets results from the long term and to work on all levels of being from mental, emotional, physical, and chemical areas of peoples life and a great trainer is worth ever penny they charge..

Scott White
Personal Trainer

[ben]

Jackie is the worst manager on TV today. Unbelievable how she plays favorites, doesn't hear out other peoples' opinions, makes unqualified assumptions (usually wrong), and constantly mixes her personal/social life with her professional life. She's a classic workplace bully.