Get Ripped 1000

I'm glad I recently found this one in a box in my basement. Turns out I didn't trade it after all! Good thing. I'm really enjoying this workout. It is a nice length and gets it all done. I like the short bursts of cardio that get your heart rate up, but don't kill you. No plyo moves here-- just getting quickly on and off the step. The strength is mostly combination moves or compound movements. Plus, Jari invites you to her "pushup party"! What is more appealing than that? Well, lots of things really, but you'll get over it. Seventy push ups (even broken up, and even on my knees) is a bit much, but I would have to say the pulsing squats and lunges off the step and the anterior shoulder raises with squats and lunges off the step are the hardest of the strength moves. I guess you could say that Jari gives short shrift to triceps, but I usually sub in skull crushers and close grip dumbbell presses in the penultimate strength segment rather than doing the chest exercises. Hey! I did do 70 push ups. The final strength segment is abs. I have to say, it is kind of a farce in the amount of reps performed for each exercise. You can definitely see that Jari is not all that big on working abs. That's all right with me though. I'm ready to be done at that point.

This workout has been broken down well, so I will just add a few tidbits. My first impression was it would have been nice to have premixes for strength only or cardio only. I was able to get exactly that because the chapter points are the cardio and strength segments. So, just go to chapters and skip either the cardio or the strength segments and voila!

I did strength only today and she always works legs and upper body at the same time, which is not my cuppa tea. Also, she works chest twice and sort of skimps on triceps. The back work is not at all challenging.

I'm not sure whether or not I will keep this one.

I’m reviewing this workout after previewing and doing it once.

General workout breakdown: Beth (toaster) and the other reviewers have already broken this down and described it well. I’ll just add that this runs 58 min., with about 4 min. at the beginning for a warm-up and about 4 min. at the end for a final stretch.

Level: I’d recommend this to intermediates + through mid-advanced exercisers with previous weight lifting experience and some preexisting cardio and muscular endurance. You can lighten your weights, not use a step, and/or follow the “beginners” modifications to make this more intermediate in intensity, or you can increase them and go all out on the cardio with a higher step for a mid-advanced workout. I was probably at the mid-intermediate level when I tried this, and let me tell you that it nearly did me in. I should have chosen the Cardio Modifications option!

Class: 2 women and 1 man join Jari. Often several different versions of the same exercise and/or at least one alternative are shown.

Music: mostly instrumental upbeat stuff with a driving beat.

Set: somewhat dark interior set with living room furniture off to one side and motivational words (e.g. “results”) on one wall and pictures of muscled body parts on another.

Production: clear picture and sound. The camera angles are usually helpful rather than distracting.

Equipment: Jari presents options both for those using barbells with plates and dumbbells. She and most of her crew use a full-sized step with 2 risers, but you can lower the step height or do without if you want. You may want to have an exercise mat handy, too, for the abs and stretch segments.

Space Requirements: enough space to move around your step while doing lunges off of it, and then space behind to do squats, lunges, etc. You should also be able to lie on the floor for abs, etc. You can probably get away with around 6"x 6"(assuming you’re not too tall).

DVD Notes: The main menu offers you these choices: Introduction; Full Workout; Full Workout, Cardio Modifications; Exercises (i.e. chapters - each weights and cardio segment is chaptered separately); Bonus Features (Motivational Tips, Science of Metabolism, Other Programs, and Previews); and Credits.

At the beginning of each segment, the screen tells you the Max and Average Calories / Minute, and then for each weights segment the weights used by each exercise flash on the screen, too.

Comments: I agree that it’s too bad Jari didn’t simplify the equipment directional changes, but that’s not to say you can’t do so yourself.

This DVD reminded me that I generally do not like cardio and weight circuit videos! I’ve also moved away from super high reps with super low weights, although this one is more adaptable than some of the other more recent Jaris to slightly heavier weights.

Ripped 1000 is instructor Jari Love's fourth DVD. In this workout, she combines some of the best aspects of her three previous releases plus adds a new twist, cardio intervals. Ripped 1000 follows the same basic principle as the original Get Ripped--ie, you will do a small series of exercises using a high number of repetitions and varied counts (4-4, 3-1, 2-2, etc.). From her second workout, Slim & Lean, Jari includes pulsing reps, and she also includes compound moves similar to those found in her third workout, Ripped to the Core. As I mentioned above, Ripped 1000 also adds cardio intervals using a step (but modifications are always shown without). All of this, and you get Jari's simple, no-nonsense instruction style as well.

The Main Menu on this DVD is as follows: Introduction--Full Workout--Full Workout (Cardio Modifications)--Exercises--Bonus Features--Credits. For the Full Workout with Cardio Modifications, an inset appears on screen showing an alternative option. The Exercises segment is basically a chapter breakdown showing the 20 total chapters: warm-up, 9 cardio segments, 9 strength segments (including abs), and cool-down. Here as with all of the Ripped DVDs, Jari works out with four background exercisers, each of whom shows varying equipment, modificiations, and weight loads (the latter of which are helpfully shown on screen at the start of every exercise).

As in her other workouts, Jari uses light weights for the warm-up and quickly moves through all of the major muscles of the body in the form of squats, side squats, dead lifts, bicep curls, and overhead presses. She then sets the weights down to do some warming up on the step, and she finishes with some stretches for a total of about 5 minutes. The workout itself alternates short cardio intervals (about 1.5 minutes each) with weight segments. For the cardio segments, Jari performs a single move, starting off slow, moving to a quick tempo, then going back to slow and ending with a stretch (there's no choreography to learn). Each weight segment ends with a stretch as well. Here is a general breakdown of the workout:

Warm-Up

Cardio 1 (stepovers with jacks)

Side Squat with Lunge Back

Cardio 2 (pulsing squat to skiers)

Stiff Leg Deadlift with Reverse Lunge

Cardio 3 (front toe taps)

Pulse Squat-Pulse Lunges

Cardio 4 (up-up down-down)

Push-Ups (70 declining reps--ie, 16-14-12-10-8-6-4)

Cardio 5 (up-up down-down, other leg)

Clean and Press

Cardio 6 (side taps to skier)

Wide Leg Squat with Biceps Curl

Cardio 7 (down-jack up-jack)

Triceps Extension with Leg Abduction (very unique balance move)

Cardio 8 (football runs)

Chest Press and Chest Flye

Cardio 9 (football runs, other leg)

Abs (lying to stand move with weight, straight leg hip raises, legs in and out, crunch with single leg squeeze, double leg lowers, brief bicycle)

Stretch (floor, standing, step)

The entire workout comes in at just under an hour. I'm a high intermediate exerciser, and I was able to follow Jari's weight loads for most of the moves. However, sometimes I had to modify the compound moves by doing the lower body only, and the only way I made it through the push-up sequence is by doing them on my knees and resting during the 6 reps. For the most part, however, the workout felt quite doable (for some reason, I found this one a bit easier than Ripped to the Core), so I was surprised that after doing it the first time, I was sore for days after!

I have heard several criticisms of this workout; here are my responses to each of them:

1) Not enough cardio. You are doing brief, high intensity cardio intervals here, not steady state cardio. My heart rate went up during the cardio and stayed up for the weight segments.

2) Too much stretching. Personally, I love all the stretching--I need those breaks! But if you really have a problem with it, you can easily continue the cardio for a bit longer than Jari does.

3) Not enough triceps work. No, there isn't as much as in Jari's other workouts, but my triceps feel it anyway! Try doing the triceps french press with one arm instead of two (as the male background exerciser does) and you should be fine.

4) You need to keep turning your step. Not really--just do the cardio facing the side and the weight work facing front.

One last thing: the name of this workout supposedly comes from the idea that you will burn 1000 calories while doing it. That seems a little far-fetched to me, but according to my HR moniotr, I'm generally burning close to 500, which I think is still pretty darn good for a 1-hour workout. Get Ripped is definitely an intermediate to advanced workout that will challenge most exercisers out there; highly recommended!

Okay, I did Ripped 1000 last night. Hmmm, I liked it okay, but I was a little flustered with the equipment changes. You really need to get your step out and set up and ready to go before you even start as the cardio comes up quickly. And it's placed vertical to the tv/screen sometimes and other times parallel...I finally decided that keeping it at an angle worked for me. I could do whatever they were doing and still see them I think due to the speed of some of the cardio steps, I would do them on a 4" step (no risers) rather than my customary 6". She has the same fast taps that Cathe does in Imax 2 and I finally figured those out (but can't do those on 6"!). Same with the football runs (which DH hollered about because you are doing impact and he is worried about the flooring...sigh). I didn't wear a heart rate monitor since I was really doing it as a preview (I rarely just watch them the first time), but I know my heart was racing during some of these cardio segments!!!

I appreciate the stretching in between each segment, but I am wondering if it may cause the heart rate to drop too fast/too much. Still stretching is something I need more of!!! It was getting quite late so I did skip the ab section and final cooldown and stretch...but your core gets quite a workout all through the workout, esp. during some of those cardio routines!

Jari has modifications always being shown...and each of the Rippers (Jari included) takes turns showing them. Love that!!! And as always, the weights are displayed to guide you.

I do think this one should be previewed before doing or if you are a jump-right-in-and-do-it previewer like me, at least realize that as you're struggling along A keeper? Oh my yes..I was thinking while doing this one that Jari and Laurie might have inspired me into doing a Ripped rotation (with Charlene Prickett cardio interspersed) this winter...she might have actually derailed my planned SS rotation!!!

I have always liked Jari Love's workouts, and this is an original and tough addition to the series. For almost an hour, you do weight segments interspersed with very short blasts of cardio. The cardio blasts are simple but tough, usually using the step (but somebody always shows floor-only modifications). Many of the cardio segments, i.e. the "football" drill on the step and the fast run up onto, then down off of, the step are repeated twice. Another includes jumping jacks on and off (straddling) the step, yet another is like the straddling fast toe taps that Cathe does in the IMAXes. There are also side to side lunges off the step and jump-rope. No cardio blast is more than maybe 2 minutes tops.

The weight leg segments are killer. In one, you do squats off the side of the step, then the back of the step -- then you add in front delt raises. In another, you do side abductors (standing on the step)with tricep french press. Non-step-utilizing segments include plie with bicep curls (LOTS of them)and the clean n press, which incorporates squats. Lots and lots of reps.

These segments are highly anaerobic! You also do a "pushup party" where Jari takes you through about 70 pushups, but done in decreasing sets (from 16 reps to 6 reps). There are also pulsing chest flies/chest presses, then a short ab workout.

Some of the music is recycled from Jari's older workouts, and some if it has been used in Cathe and other workouts.

Cons: They give you no warning about equipment changes for the next segment. I often had to pause in order to reposition the step (sometimes it's vertical, sometimes it's horizontal) or lay out my mat. I also did not ultimately feel as though my triceps got a good workout -- they are worked in combination with those abductors, so balance was more of an issue than working the muscle.