Season 3 of "Work Out" Brings More Drama, Romance

To Warner, training isn't just therapy; it also provides structure and guidance on how to live. In that sense, it's almost like a religion, but one that doesn't control the behavior of the unconverted.

"I grew up as a Baptist, so I know," she said. "Part of your job on earth as a converted Christian is to spread the word. And that's my job [as a trainer] too; I'm doing it in my way, but the biggest difference is that I am not criticizing or making policies for people that aren't athletic." Laughing, she added, "That's kind of what makes my way the better way."

The show's second season certainly rose above the status quo for reality TV. Viewers enjoyed moments such as openly gay trainer Jesse Brune's training session and lunch with a client who is an anti-war, pro-gays-in-the-military Marine veteran. Viewers' hearts went out to a client who talked about the connection between her weight gain and her father's suicide. And they mourned the unexpected and tragic death of Doug Blasdell, one of the more beloved trainers at Sky Sport.

Bravo showed great sensitivity in the depiction of Blasdell's sudden death from kidney failure. For a show with characters who appear to be at the pinnacle of health, the death of one of the trainers was shocking for everyone involved, from the producers to the audience.

"You know, this is a show about a gym, and Jackie and her trainers," said Cohen. "This was a really sudden, shocking thing. And the only way to portray it was as a sudden, shocking thing. … We depicted it in a way that we knew would be truthful to the fans and what happened, but also respectful of Doug's wishes. We respected Doug's privacy."

That meant excluding any reference to the cancer Blasdell had battled for the two years prior to his death, and refraining from filming any of his experience in the hospital, his funeral or the immediate aftermath of his death. The final episode of the second season, which showed the trainers taking a group bike ride to the beach to honor him, was shot after a monthlong break. The break gave all the Sky Sport trainers a chance to grieve privately, away from the intrusive eye of a national audience.

That privacy, however, is the exception, not the rule, on the show. Reality TV is about bringing out dirty secrets and suppressed emotions, and Work Out offers personal exposure in the extreme in Season 3. The season opens with Warner snuggling in bed with her new live-in girlfriend, Brianna. From that moment on, the cameras don't shy away from the subjects' emotional and relationship turmoil.

Brianna and Jackie

The fallout from Cardon and Warner's relationship also gets plenty of screen time, particularly Cardon's struggle with being relegated back to friend status. Cardon admitted that her jealousy of Warner's relationship with Brianna this season was portrayed accurately.

"I do not want to be discarded as a friend and a confidante, all the things that I was with Jackie," Cardon said. "The lack of attention she would give me is where I had my problem. And that becomes a big problem in the upcoming season, because I tend to act out when I'm not being acknowledged."

She laughed and added, "And then I become very venomous and spiteful, and it's all kinds of ugly."