Tracy Anderson Method Mat Workout

I have to start off with this DVD. Want to get a slim toned body? Look no further than this DVD. This DVD is amazing, I love Tracy Anderson and own all her DVDs. The Mat Workout was my first one and I was hooked from day one.

My love affair with this DVD goes back to April 2013.

I was looking for a new DVD, one that didn’t insist I jumped around my dining room like a frog in a box, don’t get me wrong, I have DVDs like them and they work but I wanted to tone and I wanted something different.

I read reviews on Tracy Anderson after seeing she was Gwyneth Paltrow's trainer and used to be Madonna's. She intrigued me, so I bought it.

I hate hate, hate exercise DVDs where you need equipment, nowhere on the DVD box does it say you need weights and a chair but you do. Normally I would have switched the DVD off as soon as I seen her drag a chair in to the shot but luckily I had one in front of me and god am I grateful because if I didn’t this DVD would have been a dust collecting shelf filler.

Right so the first time I used it……..I sweated, I shouted and when I finished I walked into my living room, flopped on to my sofa, turned to my fiancé and I remember saying ‘ Tracy Anderson is a sadistic bitch’

The next day I woke up, the only part of my body that moved freely were my eyeballs. The rest of me was in pain, I struggled to get ready for work and I cried when I had to climb four flights of stairs once I was there.

I sat at my desk and swore I would never do it again, however the more the day went on the more I thought about how many muscles the DVD must have affected. Every tiny part of me ached, surely that meant that every tiny part of me got worked. Isn’t that what I wanted?

So I went home and inserted the DVD again and struggled through it. Days went by and it got so much easier, after a week the DVD wasn’t daunting, it was pleasant to do and after over a year of doing it I still love it and enjoy it. I don’t do it every day like I used to, I do it about 1-2 times a week.

I lost inches fast (but not weight) my thighs went down to 16 inches and my waist 24 inches.

About the DVD

 

Ok Charlie, we have read your thoughts and experience with the DVD but what is in the DVD, what can we expect, tell us the moves? I hear you cry.

Well, a lot of repetitive moves using the same limb. She refers to her exercises as muscle exhaustion and when you are stood behind that chair muscle exhaustion is what you will feel, at first your legs feel lighter than air, 2 minutes later they feel like lead as she has you doing all these strange leg lifts on one leg then eventually moving on to the next one. Legs are the first part of the DVD after the lovely graceful warm up.

Next up is this bizarre rib cage dance thing, I can’t describe it but I remember the first time I did it, I had no idea what I was doing, I knew I was doing it wrong and I felt frustration, almost teary that I couldn’t master it straight away. Tracy tells you that one day the moves will just click and she is completely right, before long I was moving my rib cage exactly like she was and I even remembered exactly what was coming so it became a kind of dance routine and I absolutely love this bit of the DVD and it’s very welcoming after what has just happened to your poor legs.

After rib cage moves we have arms. Pure torture is how I felt and I began to wish I was back doing legs. Tracy has you keeping your arms up at all times moving them in forceful moves with no flopping or dropping your arms at all and you feel like you want to cry. I have no arm or upper body strength at all (I can’t even push a half full trolley around a supermarket, not joking) so this was pure excruciating pain for me and the first few times I went against Tracy's wishes and dropped my arms, after a week though and my arms were up for the full session, it was still painful but worth it.

She then moves on to weights. I have no weights and I was pissed off that there is no mention of weights on the box but I used tins of soup instead. She insists on never using weights over 3lbs because you will bulk up and look too athletic. Remember her aim is to make you TINY not sporty. This routine is surprisingly not as bad as the arms without the weights!!

We then drop to the floor and do some more leg work, this leg work is pleasant and easy if you are flexible, I really enjoy the floor work. Staying on the floor we move on to abs which again I find easy and enjoyable. Your body will be twisted in moves that you have never done before or even thought were possible but that’s all part of her ‘method’ she works the smaller muscles to pull the big muscles in, giving you the ‘tiny’ frame.

THEN FINALLY!! The cool down, which has got to be my most favourite cool down of all cool downs, it’s not too different to her warm up.

My final thought on Tracy Anderson is that she delivers what she promises if you put the work in. Tracy doesn’t give much instruction, in fact she hardly talks which I know was a main grumble on Amazon customer reviews however I like that she doesn’t talk much and after a week you will know exactly what to do next anyway. I can do this DVD off by heart.

This DVD is supposed to be an introduction to her other DVDs (Metamorphosis) and you are meant to do it 4 – 6 times a week.

I used it 7 days a week for months and tiny is what I became! If you are looking to tone up and lose inches then this is the DVD for you but BEWARE this DVD will NOT get rid of fat, whether you have a bulging stomach or just a little extra fat then this will not shift it, cardio is the only way that will go.

I give this DVD 10/10 it is amazing and I love it, the music's pretty good too and I find myself singing along.

 

Charlie