Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I just finished my first day of the JNL workouts, but I thought I'd give my overall impressions of this set, and then update my review as I use the system over the course of the next eight weeks. So far, I feel like this is an excellent set, and I know that by consistently doing it, I'll get some good results. As a bit of background, I consider myself an advanced at-home exerciser. I have a workout collection of about 300 DVDs, and have used systems by Insanity, Cathe Freidrich, Brazil Butt Lift, Peak Fit Challenge, and others. I first heard about JNL Fusion on the Video Fitness forum, where folks were raving about how fun this set is and about how it gets results. One member over there, for instance, said that she lost about an inch on each thigh after just a month of doing JNL Fusion -- and that pushed me over the edge to order this! The Basic set comes with the following workouts/items: * Watch Me First DVD (overview of the system and the key moves)-- 9 mins * Upper Body DVD -- contains Shoulder Shredder (34 mins; shoulders and triceps) and Ballistic Back (40 mins; glutes and back) * Lower Body DVD -- contains Fusion Lower Body (29 mins) and Lean Legs (30 mins) * Crazy Cardio Circuit -- 32 mins * Bicep Builder (focuses on biceps and chest) -- 30 mins * TKO Fat Blast --30 mins * Upper Body Transformer -- 36 mins * Speed and Agility --19 mins * 10 Minute Total Body -- 10 mins * Fusion Stretch -- 25 mins * Kiss My Abs Express -- 5 mins * Total Body Transformer (bonus disk)-- 32 mins * Kiss My Abs (bonus disk)-- Ab Shredder (9 mins) and Complete Core (9 mins) The last two DVDs mentioned in the above list are part of the Advanced Package, but they were included in my Basic set, along with a letter saying that they had run out of the Basic set, and so were including these as bonuses. I thought that that was great of them to do! In addition to the DVDs, you also get the following documentation in the Basic set: * 14 Day Extreme Rapid Makeover Guide -- an extreme meal plan to lose weight quickly for upcoming events * Workout Calendar -- contains the eight-week rotation * JNL Fusion Fitness Guide -- contains a breakdown/overview of all the DVDs, an overview of the basic moves that are frequently used in the workouts, and a general diet plan The Fusion Fitness Guide is useful, but I was very much surprised by all the grammatical errors and typos in it, many of which could have been caught by running spell check. (As a quick example, in one sentence, they talk about the "paln" and in another they say to refer to "page xx," having forgotten to put the actual page number in.) Despite that, the Guide gives a good overview of what's to come. (UPDATE ON 5-29-13: In my update below, I mention that I re-ordered this set, and that it now comes with a booklet that is free of these mistakes.) Essentially, the JNL Fusion system follows a two-week pattern: you do six days' worth of workouts for week 1, six different workouts for week 2, and then you cycle back to week 1. Since I get bored easily (hence my large fitness DVD collection), I like the variety of this system. Within each workout, you alternate between 30 seconds of a weight move, followed by 30 seconds of a cardio move that tends to work the same body part, and you repeat that set for a total of three times, which counts as one cycle. I was really surprised by how hard each cycle was! I was dripping with sweat during the Shoulder Shredder workout, and had been planning on tacking on another workout, but was pretty exhausted after just doing that workout. Since the workouts are also so short, you can easily add on more cardio or double up on the days. Someone on Video Fitness, for instance, said that she does two JNL workouts back-to-back three days a week, so that on her other workout days she's doing other workouts, and she's still been getting great results with JNL. To do each workout, you'll need a few sets of weights or a resistance band. A jump rope or cordless jump rope is optional. The idea of not having to pull out a bunch of equipment to do these workouts is a definite bonus in my eyes. Also, when you do the system, you have a few options as far as how you lift the weights. In the Guide, Jennifer Nicole explains that you can lighter weights with more reps if you want to lose fat and tone up, or you can use heavier weights with fewer reps if you want to build muscle. At the front of the "stage," there are also two main exercisers to follow, one who shows more low-impact modifications, and one who shows higher-intensity moves. In the background are about eight exercisers; Jennifer Nicole walks around and gives them form pointers or calls one of them at a time up front to show a move. I had seen clips on the website ahead of time and knew this -- and I had also been worried that this format would seem too chaotic to me (I blame my personality type for liking things orderly and symmetrical!), but it wasn't distracting at all. There are two big negatives that are the reason why I'm not giving this five stars. One is that there is no warm-up or cool down in any of the workouts; I would rather have had each workout be a few minutes longer and have had these included so I didn't have to do them on my own. The second is that JNL keeps pushing her company's products (resistance band, timer [which you don't even need since the DVD keeps time for you], and shakes), which I found annoying. The last thing I would suggest is that if you order this set off of the BodyFX website (as I did, since the shipping ended up being cheaper there than from Amazon), be very careful about ordering. I thought I had only hit the "submit" button once and I did only receive *one* email order confirmation, but a few days later, I received *two* emails saying that my *two* orders had shipped. I tried contacting BodyFX's customer service, and they said that since both sets had already shipped, I would have to pay for the return shipping on one set on my own. While I understand that there was some user error on my part in that I probably did hit the "submit" button twice, what really irked me was that I only received *one* order confirmation email. If I had received two, I would have contacted them right away to cancel the second order. Overall, I feel like their customer service leaves something to be desired because of my experience; there is obviously a problem on their end, too, if I only received one email confirmation. I didn't downgrade the number of stars I gave because of this, but did want to mention it so that no one runs into the same problem I did. That being said, this is a great system, and I will update my review as the weeks go by with more information about my results. UPDATE ON 9/4/12: I've only been using this for a few days, and have been really sore every day, so I know it's doing good things to my body! I had thought that thirty minutes wouldn't be long enough of a workout for me, but JNL really packs a punch into the thirty minutes, so I feel really exhausted by the time I'm done. This system is actually what I was hoping Insanity would be more like -- intense plyo drills, but with weight-lifting. When I did Insanity a few years ago when it first came out, my results were minimal since I really need weight-lifting to spike my metabolism. The JNL Fusion set provides both, and I really like it so far. JNL is encouraging, and the workouts really fly by. Also, I had mentioned that JNL pushes her products in the workouts a bit too much, but I've found that she does it more in some videos than in others. UPDATE ON 9/16/12: After using the JNL Fusion set for just over two weeks, I've lost about two inches overall and stayed the same weight, which indicates that I'm dropping body fat and retaining or developing muscle. After doing all of the workouts at least once, I can say that this program really excels in its strength workouts; the circuits really pack a punch, and the 30-second intervals really keep your heart rate high. The cardio workouts are already starting to feel a bit repetitious to me since doing the same type of workout every day can be monotonous, so as I move forward the next few weeks with this, I'll be adding in other forms of interval cardio just to keep things interesting. Also, in some of the workouts, there are really long breaks where JNL is talking to the background exercisers and pulling a new one forward to demonstrate a move. (The TKO Fat Blast one is the worst in this regard, which is odd since it's supposed to be a cardio workout.) When these breaks are too long and I don't feel like I need them, I just start back in on the next exercise. I've also been using my rebounder to do some of the cardio moves, and it works well. It's a way to help alleviate some of the stress of too many plyo moves. Overall, I'm still really liking this system and feel that it is very unique. I'll keep updating my review as I use it more. UPDATE ON 12/3/12: While I was getting good results from this set, I ended up returning it before the 60-day trial period was up. Jennifer has an motivating personality, but the repetitious nature of the workouts (where practically every workout was a circuit) and the constant chatter started getting to me. I'm currently doing Michelle Doizois' Peak Fit System Complete Collection, which I like much better. While it doesn't use the same 30/30 circuit format, it uses the same method of metabolic training, and there is a complete warm-up and cool down for each PF workout. I've also used it before, and have gotten great results, as I am now, too. While the JNL system is great, just be aware of its limitations. UPDATE ON 5/29/13: Silly person that I am, I ended up re-ordering this since I wanted something that would deliver quick results before an upcoming vacation and I heard from an online friend that there is a "music louder" option that allows you to barely hear the voices in each workout. What I noticed right away is that the booklet that comes with the newer editions have all the typos and grammatical mistakes fixed. It also no longer comes with the bonus workouts, which is a bit of a disappointment since the Total Body Transformer workout is supposed to be used every other week with the recommended rotation. I'm re-starting this system tomorrow, and will post results as I go! UPDATE ON 6/21/13: I've been using the JNL workouts again for the last three weeks, and have lost several inches and some weight. My eating hasn't been the best lately, but I've still been seeing good results. I may start mixing in other workouts just to keep from getting bored or burnt out with these, but I still think that it's a great set that gives good overall results for your entire body! UPDATE ON 8/9/13: For the last five weeks, I've been doing Shaun T's new Shaun T's FOCUS T25 DVD Workout set, and it made me realize how great the JNL workouts are for posture. I have a bad tendency to hunch/slouch, and all the weight work in JNL was very corrective for me; it really improved my posture. Now that I'm doing something else, I've found that my posture is getting bad again. Just wanted to add this bit of info to my review! :-) UPDATE ON 11-17-13: I'm about to start my third week of a third JNL rotation, and am once again at how quickly this delivers results! To prevent boredom, I'm doing some of Sylwia Weisenberg's Tonique on the cardio days, but otherwise my pants are getting looser and my body is gaining more definition. Although the workouts are only around thirty minutes each, they are tough and effective. UPDATE ON 6-6-14: Just as an FYI, this past weekend, Jennifer Nicole Lee posted something on her Facebook page about how she just signed a deal with Beachbody. From what she said, it sounds like they're either going to create a new JNL set with brand-new workouts or re-film/re-package this same series. It's probably at least a year out, but I wanted to let anyone know in case you've been thinking of ordering this set; it might be worth holding off on it since I'm hoping that a re-filming of it means that there will be less whooping and hollering. :-)