Tracy Anderson Precision Toning - Why do people hate (February 28, 2015)

People seem to have strong feelings about Gwyneth Paltrow. I'm not sure why. I like to see what celebrities are wearing, but otherwise I don't really concern myself with their personalities or daily activities (except for who Bradley Cooper is dating, but that is likely on the radar of many women).

Anyhow, people seem to dislike Ms. Paltrow because she gives a lot of lifestyle advice. She has a blog, GOOP, or Goop, or goop.  I have no idea how it should look.  She also has a cookbook, which I made the error of purchasing a long time ago.  It was not an error because the recipes are terrible, but because I am a terrible cook and couldn't recognize half the ingredients, but don't worry, as she says "it's all good."

Putting subjective opinion regarding her personality aside,she does seem to have her shit together.  She is in excellent shape, has a great career, and seems to always be dating (or marrying) good-looking, successful men. Okay, those might also be subjective opinions, but she is friends with Beyoncé and Jay-Z.  That is just about the most empirical measure of success out there.

I'm getting distracted. The purpose of this discussion on GP is that she works out, like a number of celebrities, with Tracy Anderson. They all love Tracy, and I can see why.  Worth noting, Tracy loves Tracy. Literally, her pants have I love Tracy written all over them. That is self-confidence.  I don't even know where I would purchase pants professing love for myself, but I guess that is what makes Tracy a woman worshiped by the likes Gwyneth Paltrow, and me a minion doing a Tracy DVD at home.

Actually, before Gwyneth went on and on about Tracy, my dear friend Yasmeen told me about Tracy Anderson, and I have purchased a number of her DVDs over the years.  Thanks, Yasmeen.  These DVDs come in handy while travelling...or, this winter when Princess Elsa seems to be stuck in the mid-Atlantic.

Today, I did the Tracy Anderson Precision Toning DVD, which is broken down into four parts - arms, legs, butt, and abs - the same muscles targeted in barre. I actually don't know if barre or Tracy's workout came first, but they are very similar.

This DVD is fantastic.  Each segment is roughly 15 minutes and focuses on one key body part. This allows you to only do one body part if you are short on time, or you could do two workouts and comeback later and do the other two workouts.

Tracy will leave you sore, but I think that is what most people are looking for in a workout routine. She provides my favorite arm workout of all time (yeah, bold statement).  The moves are subtle, and it is all in the details...or so she says. I can't really see anything subtle in what she is doing, but I like the exercises and the results regardless of whether I am catching the Tracy nuances.  Among the exercises in this segment are arm circles, reaching forward pretending like you are grabbing and pulling on a rope, biceps curls, overhead presses, etc. You use light weights (2 to 3 pounds), or no weights.  Honestly, the workout is great with or without the weights. She has you do eight count reps of each exercise.  Her thing is that you work the accessory muscles rather than the big muscles when you do her workout so your body develops lean muscles instead of bulk. I don't know if that is just some shtick, nor do I care. Even if it is in my head, I think her arm workout does the best job at giving me lean arm muscles.

Next, Tracy moves on to legs. These exercises require having a chair nearby, mostly for balance.  You will do a lot of leg kicks behind you and to your side. When you hit legs, she ramps up the repetitions to 25.  The leg workout is effective, but pretty par for the course as far as leg workouts go.  She doesn't reinvent the wheel.  She just makes you do a shitload of  kicks and squats.

The butt is the third section of the workout. Again, she ups the repetitions without warning.  Sneaky, Tracy.  For your butt exercise, you do 40 reps of each exercise on each side. This really burns after 40 reps on one side.  Tracy says there are six muscle parts to your butt.  My whole butt felt it - again, I could be missing a detail, but I am assuming I hit the 6 parts.  You can also add ankle weights while performing the butt exercises. All of these exercises involved being on a mat on all fours, either on your forearms or hands, and lifting your legs in various directions -  to the side, straight back, or straight up in the air. Again, these moves resemble barre moves (or barre moves resemble Tracy moves - chicken vs. egg debate).

Finally, the last section works your abs. I am also a big fan of Tracy's ab workout choices. She has you do a variety of creative crunches.  For example, you do crunches with your legs completely flat.  Sometimes, you cross your legs and crunch.  She has you lift your legs about six-inches off the ground and move them side-to-side like a windshield wiper, which is also effective. Finally, she will have you do a number of plank variations.

Tracy knows what she is doing.  She has earned her pants.  Though you might hate Gwyneth, or celebrities in general, they know a thing or two about working out.  Tracy Anderson Precision Toning can be purchased on Amazon for roughly $9.  I highly recommend giving it a try if you want to do something a little different.  Also, I included a picture of some flowers because some day Spring is going to get here (so they say), and I am going to exercise in the land of the living.