Tracy Anderson Article in NY Times

[Helen S]

Originally Posted by eyefit

Well, I was referring to the traditional concept of "feminine physique" that Ellen refers to in that feminine is usually a softer and/or smaller look versus athletic which is usually muscular. That's not to say I feel that the athletic look isn't sexy, desirable and feminine. Heck, alot of people desire that body nowadays, men and women, as the current desired look seems to change as often as clothing style fads.

Here's a question for you TA'ers...since I can't do this type of work on my hands and knees would it be at all possible to do some of the moves in a plank position? Sometimes I modify floor work that way when it comes up in workouts. TIA!

Colleen,

Since you already bought the Mat wo, I would start with that. That DVD has the best standing arm work from all her DVDs. It also has a nice standing ab section.

Since you've been doing HC, I would try PDS 3 next if you decide that you like TA. It's my favorite out of the PDS set.

Helen

[eyefit]

Originally Posted by Helen S

Colleen,

Since you already bought the Mat wo, I would start with that. That DVD has the best standing arm work from all her DVDs. It also has a nice standing ab section.

Since you've been doing HC, I would try PDS 3 next if you decide that you like TA. It's my favorite out of the PDS set.

Helen

Cool, thanks Helen! I tried to look on Amazon and all I could find was PDS 2? Would I have to go on TA's site to get PD 3?

[Helen S]

Originally Posted by eyefit

Cool, thanks Helen! I tried to look on Amazon and all I could find was PDS 2? Would I have to go on TA's site to get PD 3?

I bought my set through QVC. They might still sell it. It was cheaper to get the whole set. PDS 2 is mostly barre (I think). PDS 1 is mostly floorwork but as I mentioned in my previous post, it wasn't necessarily all fours work. Sorry, I can't remember all the details since it's been too long since I've done them.

[Irish Eyes]

Originally Posted by alikruegs

Yup, that's where she says it. The book is rather extreme in comparison to Meta, Continuity, and her other workouts. By this I mean that the diet is more involved - the menu plans are ridiculously hard to follow (both if you're keeping to her quantity suggestions (which she says you can fudge) and just in terms of prep time). Also, you're supposed to get up to 45min or so of cardio (with Meta/Cont it's 30min), and the toning exercises, when you get to the ideal rep count for each, will definitely take longer than the 30min of toning in Meta/Cont. I've used those toning exercises from time to time (doing only 20 reps of each but with ankle weights). I liked those toning exercises a lot, but that was before I got to Continuity (which has more varied exercises generally with lower rep counts than Meta).

To be perfectly honest, if you're in great shape already (great core strength and total body endurance), I'd start with Continuity if you can. Glute Cont. 1.1 was not any more challenging (for me) than Glute Meta, but it was definitely more fun and had basically no dread-factor (unlike Meta for me).

If you have bad knees, I'd avoid Meta and Cont. I think Perfect Design II would be a nice choice (although there's not a lot of specifically targeted arm work in the Perfect Design Series). You could also try Perfect Design III. That one is quite a bit more difficult than PDII (IMO), and you'll have to adapt some exercises for bad knees (the deep plie one and a couple standing on your knees). Still, I think it's doable. The bootcamp exercises for days 11-20 are also reasonable knee-friendly IIRC.

Thanks for all that info. Very helpful!

Colleen, I got PDS off eBay for a great price.

[hch]

Originally Posted by eyefit

Well, I was referring to the traditional concept of "feminine physique" that Ellen refers to in that feminine is usually a softer and/or smaller look versus athletic which is usually muscular. That's not to say I feel that the athletic look isn't sexy, desirable and feminine. Heck, alot of people desire that body nowadays, men and women, as the current desired look seems to change as often as clothing style fads.

Thanks for your answer. I'm also glad to see that you were using someone else's language, since I'm not at all fond of the idea that "visible" muscularity and femininity are mutually exclusive (insert mandatory "not that there's anything wrong with that" disclaimer here ).

[F1mom]

Thanks for the link. I wondered how well TA was doing losing her postpartum baby weight (meow!) and it looks like she was never pregnant. That says more to me than any(every)thing silly coming out of her mouth.

[cristinalatina]

Originally Posted by F1mom

Thanks for the link. I wondered how well TA was doing losing her postpartum baby weight (meow!) and it looks like she was never pregnant. That says more to me than any(every)thing silly coming out of her mouth.

I was surprised to see her on the clip promoting teen Meta, she is even smaller than before! I wish I could do the same, but I sincerely doubt it

[Castella]

Originally Posted by Joni O

I watched her QVC on YouTube last night. Two things jumped out at me:

How in the world do you follow her when she doesn't cue at all? She'll do 2-3 reps of something on one side, then the other. Then do 5-6 reps of something else, so you can't anticipate how many reps of anything she's going to do. You must have to watch her very closely and really concentrate.

I'm sure there's a 'method' to her madness, but to me she looks like she's making it up as she goes along! It all really does look silly but - hey - if it works, it works.

I rented the mat workout from Kineticflix, with trepidation I admit, but honestly tried to have an open mind. Everyone raves about the arm workout so I thought what the heck.

Totally hated it. Gave up 40 minutes in. NO cuing, NO consistency, she actually says one thing then shamelessly does the opposite of what she is saying, few form pointers (and they often aren't clear or don't make sense). To me, it was like watching Tracy work out in front of a mirror and her faces and performing-for-herself antics got old pretty quickly. I did do the full arm workout, and yes, it was undoubtedly the silliest workout I've ever done.

I hear what everyone is saying and it's great that her workouts deliver for so many people.

My body follows my mind, so if my mind isn't with an instructor (and it won't be, if the cuing is bad or if there is not plausible explanation of what a movement does and why it benefits me) I just can't do the workout.