We’ve all heard mixed reviews of celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson, who claims to sculpt Gwyneth Paltrow, Emily Blunt, Kate Hudson, and many other celebrities. Tracy has three workout videos on the market, Tracy Anderson Dance Cardio Workout, Tracy Anderson Mat Workout, and Tracy Anderson Post-Pregnancy Workout. I have done all three videos several times, and here’s the honest scoop.
If you have stumbled upon reviews of Tracy’s Dance Cardio Workout on Amazon, then you know that she is quite the polarizing figure. People seem to either love or hate this DVD because it is both lovable and absurd at once. It took me several weeks to learn every dance sequence, but now I know the whole DVD forwards and backwards. I would be surprised, however, if most people will take the time to master eight routines. It is akin to cheer-leading camp on steroids.
Thoroughly learn each sequence before moving on to the next, even if that’s the only dancing you do that day. Once you summit the steep learning curve and master the dances, you can put on your own music and get down for a good forty-five minutes of uninterrupted cardio. The time flies by, and I find it so much more fun than slogging it out on the dreadmill. Some of you will be horrified to know that I dance barefoot or with socks instead of sneakers because I find it strengthens the muscles in my feet. (For more on this topic check out Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.)
I hate to say it, but Tracy Anderson’s Dance Cardio has improved my body, and mastering the routines did give me a bizarre feeling of accomplishment. However, the quality control on this video sucks, there are several editing errors, mistakes with dance sequences, really bad music, blurry camera work, and inconsistent lighting. Might I add she’s charging $30 a pop for these things? Also, I have no confirmation on this, but I am almost positive this DVD was filmed at Gwyneth’s Hamptons estate if that sways you one way or the other.
The Tracy Anderson Mat Workout involves a lot of leg lifts and arm-waiving. I get bored doing rep after rep of leg lifts, but if you can endure it, you will see results. I have never been a Tracy Anderson purist in the sense that I limit my workouts to her “Method.” My real passion is hot power yoga and I’ve consistently practiced in addition to using Tracy’s videos, among others. In some ways the method has strengthened my yoga practice, but I worry about repetitive stress injuries with her high-rep-no-weight paradigm.
Between the two Mat videos, I actually prefer the Post-Pregnancy Workout which focuses on the core more than her traditional Mat Workout. The Post-Pregnancy workout includes a challenging leg section, a relatively short arm strengthening sequence, and a long killer ab section. I have never had kids and wouldn’t necessarily consider this video post-pregnancy specific.
In sum, Tracy Anderson will get on your nerves, but if you mute her and stick with it, these videos can change your body. I understand she has three new videos coming out called Perfect Design Sequence and two new dance cardio DVD’s. When I get my mitts on those I will let you know what I think.