The Charge

When bitching about mowing the lawn doesn't burn enough calories.

The Case

For this fitness DVD, your host is Sharyn Pak, a personal trainer, writer and cable TV program host. I've never seen her show Bringing Fitness to You! but I'm sure it's terrific. Or not. I'm not sure. I've never seen it.

Anyway, she developed the Chubby Hubby Workout as a way to interest the guys out there to burn some calories and maybe dispense with the old spare tire. Her intent was to craft a simple, entertaining DVD by utilizing workouts based on sports movements that men might enjoy. This is all stuff she goes over in the intro, prior to the workout.

Helping her out is her brave husband, Larry, the titular "chubby hubby" and a dude who's packing on a little extra weight himself. (The abuse this guy must have to endure at work from his buddies must be excruciating: "Hey Chubby Hubby, go get me last year's annual report!" "Yo, Chubby Hubby, can I borrow three bucks for lunch?" "Chubster, you leave your wife yet?")

Once the intro ends, it's time for the actual workout, a 43-minute routine set to horrendous music. The necessary equipment: a basketball, soccer ball, baseball, softball, football, baseball bat, and dumbbells. It's just Larry up there (working out in his recreation room?), in front of the camera, gyrating and flexing and stretching and pivoting all over the place.

My take? Though I didn't go through the routine myself (this is a volunteer gig, remember?), it appeared to be an effective calories-burner. The downside: you will look like a complete fool doing it. I get why they wanted to incorporate the sports motions and the balls and stuff, but the obvious question I kept asking myself was: why not just play those damn sports? Then you'll burn like quadruple the calories and not have to pretend you're throwing a baseball by yourself in your basement. Plus, you can make some new friends! Still, not every chubby hubby has the time or the ability to play real sports and this might be the only way for him to get his groove on.

Two big things do suck about the disc. One, there is no chapter selection. No matter the workout, being able to skip through different parts of the routine is a must-have. Scanning is tedious and annoying. And, two, that music. Sharyn must have scoured the royalty-free music bin, because the tracks she pinned to this disc are unholy.

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