It's 2013, and I recently purchased what I thought was a new release by Tracy Anderson called Perfect Design Series, Level 1, Beginner, but I just learned that it is a re-release of the 2010 DVD. In any event, I felt compelled to review this workout because it evoked such strong feelings of disbelief and bafflement in me.

I own many workout DVDs, and try to be open-minded about trying new workouts. I have studied dance for years, and have several personal training and group instructor certifications. I tried other Tracy Anderson workouts in the past and did not understand her method before, and after doing the Perfect Design Series, Level 1, workout, I understand the Tracy Anderson method even less.

Exercises are supposed to be based on principles of anatomy and physiology, but I do not see Tracy Anderson's exercises based on these principles. In fact, during this workout, Tracy does not explain any scientifically based reason for doing any of the exercises. In Tracy's interview on this DVD, she says that the purpose of her exercises is for people to achieve physical perfection, which I find to be a nonsensical statement since there is no such thing as physical perfection and to encourage people to achieve physical perfection only leads to disappointment and frustration.

What is even more frustrating about this workout is that Tracy never breaks down any of the movements in a slow and controlled manner, but rather, she expects the viewer to watch her moving her torso, arms, hips, and shoulders in all different directions at a rapid speed, and be able to somehow follow what she is doing and be able to replicate those movements. There is no way to follow what she is doing because she is all over the place and changes the movements every 2 seconds, plus she never cues you or says what she is doing or that she is about to change what she's doing. She never says which muscles you are working or why, while she is doing the movements.

The entire workout is done with a voiceover. Tracy does the whole workout with a very serious, expressionless face. She appears to be in her own little world. I, for one, don't wish to be part of her world, after doing this DVD. I think she has no idea about how to teach fitness in a proper, professional, safe way.

The workout starts out with some odd stretching movements done standing. She moves in such a bizarre way that it's impossible to follow her. She goes on to doing some floor work, which consists of variations of leg lifts and hydrants, but she adds in various swaying movements with the upper body that do not add anything except confusion to the exercise. In other words, there is no benefit in terms of working the muscles, by adding in these extraneous movements. By adding in the extraneous movements, it makes doing the movements more difficult and adds risk of injury.

The only section of the workout that I thought had some value was the abdominal section. The exercises were done while lying on your back, and consisted of variations of crunches and leg lifts. She has several crunching exercises that are done while keeping the legs straight (which can be hard on the lower back) and does not explain any variations with the knees bent in order to protect the lower back. As with the other sections of the workout, Tracy adds in extra movements that do not add anything to the effectiveness and only makes doing the exercises more difficult to follow.

The standing arms section is done with Tracy standing and flailing her arms and hands in all different directions, at rapid speed. She also moves her torso in various directions at the same time. It appears to be a combination of old Jane Fonda-like arms exercises and jazz isolations, however there is no rhyme or reason to what Tracy is doing. Sure, your arms get tired, but if you were to stand up and keep your arms outstretched and move them around for a while, your arms will get tired. Trying to follow what Tracy is doing is an exercise in futility. She never tells you what she's doing, or why she's doing it. She never breaks down the movements or provides a slow explanation of how to do the movements. It appears as if she is improvising as she goes along.

This is not at all a beginner's workout, even though it says it is. Even though I have had years of dance and fitness training, I still could not follow Tracy in this workout.

I don't recommend this workout to anyone. I am sorry that I spent $10 on it. It is a total waste of money, time and effort. Grade: D

Instructor Comments:
Tracy Anderson, in my opinion, is not an appealing fitness instructor. She does not teach. She does not instruct. She does not explain what she is doing or how to do it. She does not explain why she is doing what she is teaching, other than to say that she is fulfilling her mission of helping people achieve physical perfection and make the body teeny-tiny and use the "accessory muscles," whatever that means. She is one of the worst alleged fitness instructors I have ever seen in my many years of using fitness videos. I think she's got a lot of people fooled.

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