Ahem, "review" of Regis Philbin, My Personal Workout

[Deanna]

I found this in a cheapo store yesterday. Being the good little vidiot that I am, I thought it might make for good video viewing fodder for upcoming VF parties .

Ok, let's see, where to begin? Stuck to the outside of the shrinkwrap is a sticker that says "The Final Answer to Fitness". On the back cover it states "Anyone can do this workout, except David Letterman".

Regis discusses how he was a very thin child and shows us many photos from his childhood to prove that fact.

He discusses the evolution of his workout routines. He spent most of his life lifting, but since his blocked arteries, he's added walking to his routine. He introduces a fitness expert named Stu Mittleman who shows us all how to walk with proper form. Regis: "how do I look Stu? Do I look good?" Stu: "You look fabulous!".

Then we visit Kathie Lee at home where she's walking on her treadmill. Regis: "she's the foremost expert on the treadmill". While there, Kathie manages to plug Carnival Cruise Lines and mentions Cody numerous times. As Regis is leaving Kathie says "He's the greatest! He's the KING!!".

Then we're on to Regis' own home gym where his wife Joy is using her stairmaster. After this, we visit with Michael Gelman on his exercise bike. This scene is clearly done in a studio.

This whole section of the video takes 16 minutes. In each and every case, watching TV while exercising is mentioned as being crucial to their workouts.

Then we move to Regis' actual workout. The scenes shift from indoors to various NYC locations (some with great footage of the WTC ). It's got a "feel" to it as if they're trying to copy those Cindy Crawford videos in the way they jump around from site to site.

He introduces his personal trainer (Debbie White) and says "not bad, huh? Do I know how to pick 'em?"

Watching the workout from warm-up to cooldown was almost painful. His form was so, so awful!! On each and every exercise, he snapped his elbows (locked them) so horribly, I could feel it myself. I won't go into further detail of his form, just know that whatever exercise you can think of, he did it in the most awful way you can imagine. It would make a good demonstration of what NOT to do while exercising.

Just in case anyone wants to know, he does: push-ups, flies, bench press, standing reverse flies, one-arm rows, bent over 2-arm rows, front raises, lateral raises, militaries, bi curls, kickbacks, alternating bi curls (he calls them hammers, but they're not), skull crushers, concentration curls, tri dips (oh, the form he had on these!!), lunges, "half" squats, abs.

"I'll bet David Letterman can't do this, I KNOW he can't"

"I can't guarantee you'll get your own morning show, but if you ever meet Kathie Lee, you'll be strong enough to handle it".

Well, all in all, it wasn't as humorous as I had hoped. Certainly not on a par with Zsa Zsa's video, but then again, what is? If it wasn't for his horrible form, it really wouldn't be all that bad of a video. I'd hate to imagine someone buying this hoping to shape up with Regis and hurting themselves in the process.

[Elyse]

I too once bought this tape. I paid $1.00 at a bargain store. I want my dollar back. This is the worst exercise video ever made.
My final answer is the video stinks.

[susan p]

Deanna, I hope you can make it to the get-together weekend after next so you can bring Regis! I don't have many hall of shame videos to share.

[germaine]

I thought it sounded hilarious I was laughing the whole time I was reading your "review", especially when Regis said he spent most of his life lifting? I don't think so. I think his poor form was probably a ruse(sp?) too. IT sounds like they made the video just for fun to me(or at least I hope for their sake LOL)

[Deanna]

The sad truth is, from what I can tell from the video, he had every intention of making a serious exercise video. I wondered about his "lifetime of weight lifting" too. His personal trainer is right there in the room throughout the video too. She wasn't correcting his form or helping at all really--only handing him dumbbells. Maybe he learned the wrong way years ago, and no one has ever had the nerve to correct him? You got me. It was pathetic.

[FitBoop]

LOL, Deanna, thanks for posting this because I got a kick out of it, too.

What I did notice, however, on HGTV, is that Joy is in absolutely fantastic shape and looks gorgeous. She obviously works out and her arms are cut. She's got to be well in her 60's, and I find her so inspirational. Regis, on the other hand, is another story...

[Barb L]

Thanks, Deanna, for a morning chuckle. I could just picture this video! Yuck!!

[sarahgoes]

You know what is so sad about Regis showing bad form in the video? I watched the show a little over the summer, and he had an elbow injury and had to have surgery. Possibly from the long term effects of locking his elbows when lifting? Ouch, yikes, just imagining that hurts.

[SuzanneM]

(Barb, I deleted your post)

I can't believe the trainer was standing right there while he snapped his elbows. OUCH!

Ah, the things we do in the name of being a vidiot.

[Pratima]

Got it as part of a lot of tapes on ebay. Kept all the others, took this one to Goodwill! The used bookstore wouldn't even take it. I didn't even open it, so I'm sort of glad I got to find out (painlessly) what was on it! Thanks Deanna for being the guinea pig!