Thanks for your response and reading the blog.

If you feel that you get great value out of the mat dvd then that is excellent. I would never say that certain training programs have zero value, you just need to know what is the best and most practical part to use for your own program.

Just be sure to train with some intensity and lift more than 3 lbs in your other workouts!

And be sure to check out Part 2 as well!

Thanks,

Cord

You are hilarious! I love how you write. I can appreciate the points you were making about tracy anderson’s video. I will admit that it freaked me out when she said to never use anything over 3 pounds, I have so many workouts that say the opposite, that your hormones and other variables would not allow that unless you really worked to bulk. I will admit, that I love her mat video. I just feel like I have done a full workout, and I like that. But I really DON’T have time to do it 6 times a week, as well as her dance cardio just as many times per week to get the best results! That is sort of crazy. It is like you said, 12 hours per week of working out is not necessary and there are other priorities in life. So I guess I am disappointed because I do like the workout – but let me tell you, you have to count reps, because obviously she can’t – there are several sections where she does twice as many on one side as the other!

So I believe I will save this workout, because I enjoy doing it, which is important, but just alternate it with other activities throughout the week. There is a lot of bad press about her, and she may deserve it, but I do like the mat video.

Thanks for a great article, you are clearly knowledgable about health and fitness and your humor is fabulous!

Cheers,

Sarah

It seems that the majority of those that post in favour of this type of program are not fitness pro’s, and somewhere along the lines they saw some change in physique which therefore translates to success in their minds. Anyone that has been inactive for a certain length of time will undoubtedly see great INITIAL progress just by simply MOVING THEIR BODY 6 days per week but sustainable results are hard to come by.

Further, it’s just my opinion that all training programs should have enough functional component to add quality to daily life activities AND change physiques. Lift 3 lbs all you want, but the next time you heave your luggage around at the airport and pull something in your back, you can thank your training program for not putting you in the position to excel in daily life activities.

It’s just ironic that you have a large majority of fitness professionals, with nothing directly to gain or lose by providing their feedback about this program, all seem to provide appropriate evidence to the contrary. Yet the general public will always be drawn to the celebrity appeal, quick fix, ‘yes, you’ll get bulky if you lift more than 3 lbs’.

But that’s a mindset of the general population that started years ago and it’s an uphill battle to change it.

Thank for your comments.

Several folks have commented on the seeming-effectiveness of this program. In fact, that is nothing to be marveled at – Tracy is using some peculiarities of human exercise physiology to shrewd (if ultimately, useless) effect.

If you read stuff from Bompa, Zatsiorsky and other E. European and FSU authors who are experts on strength training and general exercise physiology you’ll realize that untrained individuals can make quick metabolic and strength gains from working with as little as 20% of the weight they can handle for one rep (i.e. the one rep max). This is as a result of the General Adaptation Syndrome that is the fundamental basis of all physical training. This period of relatively rapid gains can last for 1-2 months before a plateau forms, after which further gains cannot be made without modifying the program.

Another fact that Tracey exploits (by intent or acciident) is that long sets of her exercises promote “athletic” hypertrophy – which is a temporary enlargement of muscle tissue arising from increased blood flow and other effects. Again, in untrained individuals, these effects can last up to 12-24 hours. Given a workout frequency of 6 workouts/week – well, that’s probably convinced a number that they are “toning” something since the athletic hypertrophy is not fully lost before the next workout.

Of course, after a month or so of her foolishness, all progress stops and any gains are quickly lost upon ceasing the regimen. Not a lot of folks (thankfully) will follow her diet advice – and this gives her a convenient, if wholly inaccurrate, excuse for why further gains are not made.

Either Tracey (or somebody who advises her) must be cognizant of these facts and is exploiting these effects of exercise physiology to exploit the week-bodied and weak-minded.

I spent a successful decade in the fitness industry as a community leader, I have done fitness television, I have done fitness videos and pretty much every workout that you can imagine since 1982. Now in my 40s and a successful business person, I still do marathons and the occasional triathlon to mix things up. Until the recent broohaha over the Tracey Anderson method, I had left dance aerobics well behind me in the 80′s.

One of the things that you learn when you are thrust into the role of a leader, particularly when it happens quickly and it is endorsed by powerful people is that “the public” ascribes all kinds of wisdom to you. Tracey Anderson has developed and branded a business concept for working out that works pretty well. When I see Tracey Anderson pressed into giving advice on diet or lifestyle, all I see is someone that isn’t working with a well qualified publicist or brand manager that can keep Tracey on message and help her understand when it is better to say nothing than offer “helpful” advice which she is not qualified to provide.

What Tracey Anderson hasn’t learned yet in these, no doubt, heady times that tend to accompany success is that extending your personal brand into an area that you are unqualified in (diet, nutrition, exercise science) leads to being challenged on terms that you are not qualified to defend. This may end up being a very tough lesson for Ms. Anderson but I hope that it doesn’t kill the franchise, because I sure like the workouts.

I have a body type that loves muscle and benefits greatly from Tracey’s low weight, high rep method – no, not 80 to 100 reps, 25 reps maximum on the workout DVD. My body bulks just by looking at a 10 pound dumbell. I also enjoy dance and so the DVD offers a joyful way to workout that isn’t boring and allows me to mix up the choreography as I grow more confident with it. It’s not for everyone. Nothing is.