Tracy Anderson
Review with approx. times for the "Mat Workout".
Warm Up 4 min.
This was dancey and stretchy very different than other warm ups of Lotte, Squeeze & Callan.
Barre Work 20 min.
Tracy did some interesting moves starting on left side than repeated moves on right side. It was continuous one move flowed into the next. Her cues are barely there so you must watch the TV so you don't miss anything. Tracey moves her whole body to the music she can't help it must be the dancer inside her. She believes in moving the whole body with every exercise so as not to have any part be dead.
Standing Abs 3 min.
This is where Tracy dances thru ab work. Those who have done "Core Rhythms" will be familiar with some of the moves. In "Core Rhythms" they really get in deep with moving the core so much so you can get a cramp. Well here Tracy does that with dancey moves with the music. Again you must watch the screen and listen to the music and you will get the moves. For me this was a nice break from the Barre Work and I was happy to have it. It loosened me up and was fun and different.
Arms (without weights) 5 min.
This section totally reminded me of: Mariah Carey's arm work. If you recall Mariah was on Oprah where they showed a clip of Mariah's workout poolside with her trainer. Well the arm work they showed Mariah doing with heels on was similar to this one. I did this thinking well why not lets see. I felt this arm work it is very tiring. I'm one of those that complained about how tiring my arms got just holding them out for so long in Elise's "Element Ballet" workout. Well this is alot more intense. But its also more varied. Again its continuous intensity with movement.
Arms (with weights) 10 min.
This section was very different than "Squeeze", "Lotte" and "Slim Sculpt". This was a constant flow of creative arm movements with a dance flow. Again Tracy never stops moving the entire body. No dead areas all areas must be active. Which the danciness made the arm exercises a little more bearable. I found this section to be good since it is so different than any other workout I've done in this genre.
Mat Floorwork 7 min.
Tracy again works the lower body with very interesting leg exercises. Again somewhat different than "AL & C II" floorwork, Lotte, Squeeze, & Callan. Tracy adds creativity to the workouts so some portion might be recognizable but she adds her own flare to make it feel different. In any case she does target the whole lower body.
Abs (floor) 7 min.
This ab workout I found very different and I felt it. It wasn't anything extraordinary but I felt it and there was no dread factor to it. It was all done on the mat. So for those who might not like the dancey standing ab work might prefer this floor ab work.
Cool Down 3 min.
This was also dancey and stretchy much like the warm up.
Setting:
The set was a very nice open room with highly polished wood floors and walls. Tracy stands in front of glass doors and outside the doors is night time. There are candles and a wicker basket with white towels and a chair. In other words it is a relaxing set nothing crazy. She uses a chair instead of a barre during the barre work section.
Equipment:
Tracy uses a chair during the barre work. She also uses a mat for the floorwork.
Music:
Was composed by: Natalie Avakian (www.badassjackson.com).
Additional music provided by Getty Images.
I found the music to be both good and different. When Tracy talked you could hear her just fine. And when she didn't talk you could hear the music just fine. The volume was good both ways. I hate it when you could barely hear the music even when the instructor isn't talking.
Chaptering:
There is an intro. But this DVD is not chaptered as others are. However with your remote you can easily get to different sections. I do wish it had been chaptered where you didn't have to go through all the sections.
There is a brief interview with Gwyneth Paltrow praising Tracy's method for getting her back in shape.
Comments:
This workout is creative and different enough from any others of this genre that it is worth keeping for me. It will work me differently and give me the variety I seek. I liked that this workout had such a different approach with its dancy flare incorporated into all exercises. It really turned out to be a different exercise experience.
Instructor comments:
Tracy Anderson seems upbeat and gets right into the workout. Very little talking. Her cuing could be extremely improved upon. She must not be used to cuing very often for workouts. She seems friendly enough and didn't possess any annoying habits for me. Even her bad cuing didn't really annoy me as much as Denise Austin's does. I don't know why that is. I do give Tracey credit for being very creative with the exercises it wasn't "same ole stuff" to me.
Sundari
September 27, 2008
Hopefully someone else has already provided a review with a breakdown of the moves, because I’m not very good at those kinds of reviews.
Anyway, a bit about me: I am an intermediate/advanced exerciser. For cardio I mostly just run and for strength and flexibility I do barre workouts, fusion workouts, pilates, yoga, and some traditional weights.
Tracy's Mat Workout is for a very particular taste: there's very little cueing. I love that. You learn to predict the moves and they work with the music. I never really felt lost doing this workout – even the first time. I really enjoy the music and the routine in general. I find that is moves along incredibly fast and gives me a chance to indulge my inner / former dancer-self. It definitely has the feel of working out with Tracy rather than having Tracy actually instruct you, so in that way it's quite different from other dvds. Given this aspect of the workout, I’d suggest this dvd to someone who already is familiar with good form and is perhaps familiar with barre or fusion workouts (although that isn’t entirely necessary). I find the arm sections particularly difficult but good. I like both the weightless arm section and the one where you use 3# dumbbells. Doing these back to back is tough! I find it’s worth it because my arms really look fabulous when I’m doing Tracy’s workouts. The ab sections have no dread factor for me, so that is ideal. They’re challenging enough, but you’re in a stretched out position and they’re over pretty quickly (movement is continuous during these sections). There is a lot of fluid movement in this workout on the whole. The warmup and cooldown focus on a sort of dynamic stretching. I do feel quite fabulous when I've finished this workout - it is very refreshing. Really, I think the best factors of this dvd are the flow of exercises (standing legs, standing abs, arms, floorwork, floor abs) and the music - it makes the workout move along and makes it enjoyable. This is a workout I do often and don’t get sick of (and that’s saying a lot for me!).
Instructor comments:
Tracy comes across as a former dancer, and she clearly enjoys the workout herself. She is quiet, sweet, and reserved. She is quietly motivating at just the right moments during the workout for me.
Alison (alikruegs)
12/16/2008
