Body Beautiful Boot Camp

I worked out with Jen for nearly two years so I feel like I can give a «full experience» review. I’ve witnessed her ups and downs. One minute she can be caring and supportive, then she goes for a few months being completely self-​interested. She is frequently 15 – 20 minutes late for classes. Her gym is messy and disorganized, and often there isn’t enough equipment for everyone.
I like her as a person, I really do. She isn’t good at running a business or being motivational. She seems to have a lot of personal issues that get in the way of her being success.
The classes themselves used to be a variety of yoga, Pilates, boxing, cardio, etc. when she started her new gym. Towards the end of my two years, she only focused on cardio and boxing so my body changes came to a stand-​still. My shoulders and arms ached constantly, and perhaps damaged a bit, from concentrating too much on one area.
She tried to sell me Juice Plus repeatedly. Which is snake oil.
I’ve given her thousands of dollars by now and yes, I did lose about 30 pounds, but in the end I put up with a lot of crap from her. It’s so unfair because she is one of the few boot camp trainers in the area that specifically focus on women and her class sizes are small.

TERRIBLE! Cancels classes and does not have the capability of running/​owning a business. She harasses you to buy BS products that have no legitimate scientific backing and are not approved by the FDA. Further she is incapable of keeping her scheduled class times. Avoid the frustration of dealing with her. She is pushy and so forgetful.

I do not recommend this boot camp. I purchased my 6 week package off Groupon. I really I actually enjoyed the class, I had Janelle as an instructor at the early morning Birmingham location. After the beginning of week three the Janelle text all the girls from class apologizing and stated the early morning Birmingham class was cancelled. She told us to talk to Jenn for further information, I called and text her a few times for either an alternative location information or a refund, but I never heard back from her.

Worst of the worst. She took my money and sold me on an option that would work with my schedule than moved studios, removed the shower and required me to drive across the street to her husbands studio to shower. Really??? At the time it was an all guys studio…
Not only that, she comes to class late or just misses it. Unplanned training– basically she just has you do things at her whim. She caters to her friends. It is the worst.
I asked for my money back because of the change in offerings and environment and she told me I should be ok with it. I paid for one thing, got something totally different.
Worst of the worst. Stay away.

I first tried Body Beautiful Boot Camp 8 years ago, before I got married. It was great meeting other like-​minded brides trying to get in shape before the big day. 7 years later, as a mom to a toddler, I joined a «regular» gym but my repetitive workouts quickly became too monotonous to continue. I signed up again for Jennifer’s class because I knew that every class would be a great, high-​energy workout, and she would hold me accountable for coming 3 days a week and giving it my best effort. It’s only my second week as part of my 6-​week boot camp, and I feel like I’ve already taken the much needed step toward improving my overall fitness. I especially love the new studio location– it’s totally decked out with full-​size punching bags, bosu balls, steps and ballet barres for everyone and the class sizes are small enough that no one can slack off. Jennifer is always there to make sure my form is correct! I’ve tried joining standard gyms with fitness classes, but so far I haven’t gotten as good a workout as I have here, maybe because it’s a friendly supportive environment with other women who have similar fitness goals. I’m sure when my 6 weeks are done, I’ll sign up again. My classmates who have been taking the boot camp classes for over a year are RIPPED!

I will start by clarifying that I am NOT rating the class or program– I am rating the orientation and giving reason as to why I decided not to move forward with this. I bought a Groupon for the six week slim down program which I thought would be great from all the info that was given. When I arrived at the orientation (where the classes would be held, in Troy) it wasn’t an official location. Just a run down dance center in a plaza. Jenn of course didn’t show up until 30 mins after the orientation started (that’s when it was supposed to end). In the meantime a woman named Janelle (very fit) took my measurements etc, tried to sell me on a contest that costed $, a juicer program, food program, and so on. She was very impersonal. She degraded the fact that I am on WW and said that it does not work, basically ONLY their way works– period. And she was to judge me every week on my food intake. Then Jenn comes in, mind you she looks NOTHING like she does on the website… AT ALL… Anyway, she was quite rude not letting me speak, interrupting me every time I tried, telling me once again that nothing works except what they do. She tried hard selling me on a million things making me feel extremely uncomfortable. Honestly, I felt attacked since I walked in the door by both of them. You could tell that if i didnt buy all that she was selling they were going to be harassing me about it constantly. she was already saying «everbodys doing it! everybodys doin it! Its up to you BUT ARE YOU GONNA DO IT??» very very uncomfortable and «in your face» aggressive. The whole thing seemed to be all about these other things i HAVE to buy and nothing much about the actual classes or program! There was also a Korean lady there who didn’t speak much English and they were completely insensitive to her. They had an «Im better than you» attitude and demeanor and it just wasn’t what I was looking for. I’m not and can’t say that the program doesn’t work– I don’t know if it does or doesn’t. I just know that the feeling I got when I walked in the door and met the two of them was not good and did not feel positive and definitely not motivational. So with that, I have decided on another fitness course and love it. Just my two cents. Could be for some, just not for me.

If I could, I’d give BBBC zero stars. Stay away. This was worse than simply a waste of money — it was a hoax by a scammer.
The owner promises you individualized attention. This simply did not happen, despite several requests. The owner promises to provide recipes and handouts on healthy eating. Did. Not. Happen. The owner promised weekly weigh-​ins, body measurements and coaching. Never happened.
You are given the idea that you will be in a class with people at a similar level of fitness. Not so — students at all levels are thrown in together. Every student is given the same activities, at the same pace. I saw several folks injured because of this approach.
«Classes» consisted of 60 minutes of running up the stairs of a public garage building and back down again. Over and over, until the class period was done. Did I mention that there was NO warm-​up or cool-​down, and no stretching?! Meanwhile, Jen — the owner — is talking on her cellphone. THE ENTIRE TIME. A woman in my class stumbled on the stairs and ripped open the skin on her shin. Jen is nowhere to be found.
One last thing, and probably the thing that was the worst among a lot of bad stuff. Part of what Jen advertises is a boot camp for «Big Beautiful» women, meaning women who want to lose weight, yet she was obviously scornful of the two women in my class who were there to lose weight. Completely unprofessional, not to mention mean.

I do not recommend Body By Jen to anyone. I signed up for Zumba classes with Jenn and have been extremely disappointed. I wish I would’ve read more online reviews first. She does not show up to classes and cancels classes. When you try to contact her via phone or email, she is completely unresponsive. When you do get to talk to her or get a response, she is rude. What a waste of my time, energy and money!

This was a nightmare from the start. Jen took forever returning emails but did answer my questions. Too bad she lied to me… I asked for the big and beautiful class (for new and very overweight) I told I was NOT going to buy this unless she had these classes open. Since I was a little shy to be around people who work out every day and are half my size. She told me «of course!» they were open and not just the regular classes. I also mentioned my health concerns of having a knee replacement and she told me to come in a half hour early the first day to discuss it with the trainer.
I also got a email in the afternoon the DAY BEFORE it started stating the location had changed! No phone call no warning! I book this over a month ago so she had time to inform us. The lack of professionalism took a new meaning when I arrived at this new location and the lady at the new location didn’t even know their was a bootcamp class there today because Jenn had never contacted her to let her know!
Once our trainer showed up a half hour later I asked about my health concerns and he had no idea what to do or how to help. The last straw was when he had us run a around a few blocks in the dark in the stret with no street lights. This wouldn’t have been bad but these girls all were in much better shape than me and ran twice as fast. After not seeing another person in sight while running the blocks I was almost hit by a car. I did not know we were going to do this and wore my normal black work out clothes and tried to stick to side of the road. I didn’t feel safe and was very shaken up. The trainer didn’t know how to answer the questions I asked. His standard response was «call Jenn.» She also refuses to give refunds for any reason. This who mess was because of her and she will take NO responsibility!
You can spend a LOT LESS MONEY and get MUCH better results!

I would be cautious when signing up with this company. They lost my measurements and I was disqualified from their contest. I would have probably won, but will never know. The concept and trainers are awesome, but the company is extremely disorganized and non-​responsive. I am certain that there are better bootcamps out there.

I can be a good workout, but you can get the same workout for much cheaper at any gym. The «bootcamp» part with the personalization and nutrition help that the web site promises are not there. Don’t bother.