Although exercise digital video disk (DVD) sales have substantially increased over the past decade, little is known on the effectiveness of personal training vs. DVD exercises. The purpose of this study was to compare energy expenditures and heart rates of live and DVD vigorously intense exercise sessions. Twenty active and low-to-moderate fit, college-aged females completed 2 identical exercise sessions. Each exercise session consisted of 6 exercises; 1 session was completed with a personal trainer and the other with a DVD. A portable metabolic analyzer was used to measure oxygen consumption and record heart rate. Both energy expenditure (p < 0.001) and heart rate (p = 0.001) were significantly higher during the live exercise session as compared with the DVD exercise session. Rate of perceived exertion was significantly higher for the live exercise session compared with the DVD exercise session (p = 0.045). Finally, the majority (89%) of the participants reported that they preferred the live exercise session over the DVD exercise session. The results suggest that low-to-moderately fit college-aged females not only prefer exercise sessions with a personal trainer but will also demonstrate higher energy expenditures and heart rates.