Mary J. Blige Makes Power Moves With Celebrity Fitness Trainer Mark Jenkins in New DVD

ESSENCE.COM Dec, 16, 2009

View photos of celebrities who have trained with Mark Jenkins »

If you’ve been wondering who’s responsible for Mary J. Blige’s heavenly transformation, meet her secret weapon-Mark Jenkins. Not only is the celebrity fitness trainer solid as a rock, but the New York native and navy vet has whipped some of our most beloved starlets and hunks into shape. D’Angelo, LL Cool J, Beyonce, Brandy, Eve, Busta Rhymes and more have all benefited from Jenkins’s astute body assessments and hardcore workouts. In February 2009, couch potatoes can step up their game from the comfort of their homes with Jenkins and Blige.

“In 2001, I was introduced to Mark Jenkins. When I first hooked up with him, I was out of shape and overweight,” said MJB. “He woke up muscles I really didn’t know existed. The fat was knocked off immediately, and he let me know that it was really and truly all about the nutrition, eating six meals a day. My legs, my abs, my arms…they look incredible. Thanks to Mark Jenkins, I’m in the best shape of my life. I am happy!”

After seven years of flexing her muscles with Jenkins, the Queen of Hip-hop Soul is sharing health and fitness tips as well as butt-kicking exercise routines with her fans. Jenkins and Blige will deliver a breakdown of their power moves through demonstration and discussion. The as-yet-untitled DVD, which will be approximately an hour-formatted program, will be formatted as a day in the life of the songstress and will include jump rope exercises, stretching and weight training with a Swiss ball and dumbbells. The packaging will include a jump rope, a copy of Jenkins’s best-selling book “The Jump Off (Harper Collins),” as well as a DVD guest appearance from MJB’s personal chef preparing a few of her favorite recipes.

“The best part about this video is that you will get my perspective as a trainer and Mary’s point of view as the trainee,” said Jenkins, the spokesperson for O Water, a revitalized vitamin water supplement available in formulas like wildberry and peach. “You will get to see how early MJB goes to sleep and all the things she has to do throughout the course of a day, even trying to reschedule training sessions that she missed.