Tracy Anderson Method

I never heard of Tracy Anderson until a few months ago. Where have I been? But at the beginning of October I called my sister-in-law Ilene to ask her what exercise videos she liked. I knew she had a firm testimony of a certain fitness guru out there and I wanted to know just who it was.  With winter approaching I knew my regular routine of running the trails near my house would be impossible very soon. I needed a new plan to get me through the dismal Utah winters—enter the Tracy Anderson Method (TAM).

I started with Precision Toning. Hard, hard stuff. It’s a good toning workout that I wouldn’t describe as cardio (like the package does) although your heart will be pumping. Once I got used to her ‘method’  and decided this lady is onto something I moved on to her Metamorphosis series which is a 90-day workout that changes every 10 days. After a couple months I got bored with just the Metamorphosis cardio so I recently added the video you see on the right—Dance+Cardio. (It’s easier than the cardio from Meta so usually I can do a full hour of cardio if I choose her Dance+Cardio DVD that day.)

I just finished day 50 of Metamorphosis, so I’m more than half way there. From October 15th through today, January10th, I have been exercising 6 days a week with TAM DVDs for a full hour. Thirty minutes of toning, 30+ minutes of incredibly difficult cardio.  Have I seen a difference in my body? Yes, big differences, probably only noticeable to me, but still, big differences. I’m sorry if you found this blog post by doing a search for “Tracy Anderson results” and were expecting to see selfies of me in a bikini or sports bra, but this isn’t that kind of blog. (There are plenty out there—just google it.) I am a middle-aged woman who turns 40 in a 3 days. I’ve never worn a bikini in my entire life and I’m sure not about to start now—especially putting a bikini photo on the internet.  But my arms are toned, but boo-tay is lifted, and the scale is a few pounds lighter.

But more importantly—I feel great and I haven’t had a bit of insomnia so far this winter. I usually suffer from horrible insomnia in these dark winter months, but I discovered a couple of years ago if I exercise hard, and I mean dripping-in-sweat hard, everyday, then I’m exhausted by night and therefore sleep all through the night. That alone motivates me to work this hard every single day with TAM. I hesitate to say I look forward to her workouts everyday, but let’s say that I don’t dread them. And believe it or not, most days I actually do look forward to her workouts.

What’s genius about the TAM is that her ‘muscular structure’ (strength training) workouts change every 10 days so I’m never getting too bored. And trust me, usually by the 7th day of a routine I am hating each set of 40 reps and wanna chew rocks rather than kick my dang legs to the side one more time (as seen above). But then I tell myself, only 3 more days of this insanity and then I can move on to something else equally insane. But at least it will be different. Whereas with any other workout DVDs I’d quit once I get bored.  Her cardio work is dancey and I really think that is fun. I am not a dancer, I’ve never taken a dance class, but I am Latina, so I figure it’s in my blood somewhere. Somewhere deep.

Also genius—she doesn’t talk much. I hate peppy videos where the gals make dumb jokes and talk constantly. Shut up, can’t you see I’m in pain?! Tracy appreciates that I’d rather be eating cookies so she stays quiet. This allows me to play my own playlist of alternative music by angry people from the 90s. It really does make kicking my legs and dancing my butt off go faster.

So here’s to Tracy and her really unique approach to fitness. I’ll post a follow-up review when I’m done with the 90 days but I’m sure I’ll be moving on to her Metamorphosis Continuity series. I hear she’s taped through year three now so maybe this 90-day program will turn into a 900 day program. Stay tuned.

P.S. This post is only a review of her exercise—not her food plan mentioned in Meta and her book. Let’s just say, I have no desire to live on 800 calories a day. I am so against dieting—just eat healthy everyday of your life. Well, almost everyday.