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The Tracy Anderson Way
About the author: Rebecca Sadek (left) is a Tribeca-based health and wellness coach (eatrightnyc.com) who received her training at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She believes that being healthy is not about restraint or isolation and works with her clients to help them find a balance that works for them and their lifestyle.
I’ve always been a big believer that the ticket to staying active is finding something you love and switching up your workout routine. If all you do is run on the “dreadmill,” and, well, you dread it, then the chances of you sticking to a gym routine are much slimmer than you will ever be. As someone who is always looking for a way to spice up my workouts, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by the beautiful and fit women visible dancing in the big windows over Hubert Street. There’s no entrance on the street for a dance studio or a gym of any kind; there’s only a furniture store and a couple of apartment buildings that are under construction. I knew that these women had to be a part of something very exclusive—and I knew I had to find out what it was.
A Tracy Anderson DVD
After doing some research, I discovered that it was the Tracy Anderson studio. Anderson is famously responsible for the bodies of Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow, among other hot-to-trot celebrities. Intrigued, I called up and scheduled a consultation with the sales team. I got a little lost trying to find the entrance of the studio, which is on the third floor of an apartment building with an entrance on Hubert. There is no signage and the buzzer doesn’t say “Tracy Anderson.” Once upstairs, you’re greeted by a very friendly staff and a beautiful, intimate studio. There are two rooms: one for toning and shaping and one for cardio. The toning and shaping room has boxes, bars, big metal floating contraptions, and modified Pilates reformers. The cardio room, where dance-based classes are offered, has resistance bands hanging from the ceiling.
During my consultation I learned all about the Tracy Anderson Method: The goal is to tighten the body in an attractive and feminine way by focusing on the accessory muscles; these are the muscles that line the larger muscle groups we traditionally workout in the gym, like the biceps and triceps. Working out the accessory muscles, combined with cardio, makes your entire body lean and tiny like a dancer rather than adding bulk where you don’t want it. Every woman’s dream, right? If you become a member, you have a consultation with the master trainer, who assesses your entire body and informs you what needs the most attention. Your focus will change as your body changes. The entire process is customized, something that’s hard to find at any old workout studio.
The Tracy Anderson studio
It’s hard not to like the idea of having legs like Gwyneth and arms like Madonna, or even the non-famous trainers and members walking around the studio. Even the saleswoman had a tight body, with arms to kill. The dealbreaker for me, however, is that you can’t do any other forms of exercise on a regular basis. It’s not a big deal to play sports or do the occasional yoga session, but your main activity should be at the Tracy Anderson studio. The thinking is that too much other activity gets in the way of the process of achieving the perfect figure. The Tracy Anderson staffs recommend that you commit to at least six hours of studio time a week to achieve maximum results.
For me, staying active is definitely about looking good, but it is also about having fun doing it. Do I want to give up running outdoors on a beautiful day? Taking a rocking spin class? Or playing in my weekly basketball games? Is it worth it, all to achieve the perfectly shaped, tiny body? If I loved to dance, I could see the Tracy Anderson method never getting old, especially with the kind of results they’re able to help you achieve. But seeing as how I can barely keep a beat, six hours of dance-based cardio a week is probably not for me. So I’ll spare Gwyneth, Madonna, and the other Tracy Anderson acolytes from watching me struggle to keep up, and instead I’ll stick to the things I love.
Tracy Anderson Studio is at 408 Greenwich St. (at Hubert); 212-965-1408, tracyandersonmethod.com. For a $1,500 initiation fee and $900 monthly dues, you get unlimited access.
7 Comments
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$900 monthly dues? and I thought Equinnox was expensive! Glad to see how the other 1% are doing it, I’ll stick to walks along the river and my aqua classes.
great article ms. sadek.
don’t think tracey is for me but i loved knowing the inside scoop.
i like your insights!
what a refreshing and sensible approach to health and fitness! I love it! Keep them coming!
The sad part about this article is Ms Sadek’s assumption that this facility and training program, while expensive, time consuming (and oh so exclusive), actually works (what ever that means)….
Suppose I told you that Tracey Anderson is not at all responsible for the bodies of gwyneth paltrow and madonna? That if you had their genes, and a $50 million dollar a year salary contingent on you looking the part– that a jump rope, a pair of running shoes, a private cook, and an ipod could achieve the same results? Of course celebrities hob nob with so called fitness gurus like Tracey Anderson– they get special free attention, in return for allowing Tracey to use their names. The same reason they’ll shop at marc jacobs, and get free clothes from these designers- they custom make outfits for these celebrity clients, and in return they get to use their names.
In miss Paltrow’s example, she even gets a percentage of the profits of Tracey’s gym, as per her investment into the business. Of course she’s going to credit Tracey with the results of her body. Did you see Gwyneth’s body before she was pregnant? She never worked out, and had the body of a 12 year old boy well into her 30’s. It’s called genes. In many cultures like those in Egypt or Colombia, or people living above 125th st- they wouldn’t even say that they find this quality attractive at all. You’ve been brainwashed watching too many shows on Bravo, and reading horrible magazines.
“Even the sales lady had arms to kill”, lol. At 10K a year for a membership, who did you think would be selling memberships to wide eyed unsuspecting wealthy tribeca mothers? Rosie O’Donnell? Come on rebecca, start excercising the one muscle above your neck.
Exclusive because it didn’t have a big sign out front? That’s the oldest trick in the book. Nightclubs were pulling that back in the 80’s. There’s no signage because there’s zero chance that they’ll get walk-in clients. It’s a gym for people that like to think they’re exclusive. And at $900 a month for a gym with no equipment– yes I’d hope they at least give their clients the feeling of exclusivity. There’s nothing at all exclusive about this gym– they lose money every month, and are dying for memberships. I doubt any of the dancers that they have using the gym (mostly for flexibility training) or paying anything. Window dressing.
Fitness is feeling good about your body, and your body returning the favor by giving you the energy to do the things you love to do. Not trying to “achieve” a certain body type found in fashion magazine, most of which are photoshoped anyway. You’re perpetuating the stereotype that most health enthusiasts and peope with common sense have been dismissing for years.
I’m somewhat saddend by the article you wrote, as you seem like an intelligent, attractive young lady…. and there’s certainly time enough for you to realize that the only arms you should ever want to kill for, are your arms- because they’re yours. If you don’t understand that, then you need a new boyfriend, quickly.
steve
p.s. what are you doing tomorrow night? haha, that was a joke
@steve – I agree with you about the misconception of this “studio” being a training facility. Tracey Anderson is a joke and a fraud. She has absolutely no training or credentials in the areas of dietary science, human physiology, nutrition or health science. Her “method” is not based on any proven research or science – just the celebrity endorsements she gets. Attaining the results seen with her celebrity clients requires following her 700 calorie diet (ridiculous!!!), 2 hours of workouts per day and never lifting more than 3 lbs (my purse weighs more than that!).
Tracey Anderson has been exposed as a fraud and a swindler repeatedly….
(http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-10-21/madonnas-trainer-fights-back/ just to name one article….) yet these desperate, misinformed women with $900/month to throw around on a gym membership follow her blindly…..
Ladies! Tracey Anderson will not actually be training you for you $900/month – unless you are on the top tier of the celebrity clientele list they are hoping to recruit (yes, there is actually a list).
Who exactly are these women who have this type of money to throw around….? Maybe some of that money could be sent to help the families in the gulf devastated by the oil leak?
I will leave a comment. I have been doing TA for almost a year and have achieved amazing results. I don’t care if she doesn’t have a degree she is a genius. Anyone who has taken the time to do her method will know that. I achieved these results in the comfort of my own home for only the price of the DVD’s and sometimes for free b/c she puts tons of free workouts on her website and on youtube. She is a godsend. I am 39 and had tons of cellulite which is now about 90% gone and my tummy after 3 children is flat now and my ab muscles are back together. It is worth it to give up other things. She doesn’t say you have to, it’s just that her method works better than anything else. Why knock it if you haven’t tried it. She is also very motivational and helpful and down to earth. In her book the 30 Day Method, she explains her method and the research she did to discover it and implement it. She did study science in the process actually looking at the accessory muscles in the microscope and seeing what muscle tissue was actually like. She knows more about muscles than I bet most personal trainers do. Getting rid of cellulite is worth any sacrifice. And I love her method so for me there is no sacrifice. I still ride bikes with my kids and go for walks with my husband. For those skeptics out there, why not try it out before you bash it. Give her a chance and you will be pleasantly surprised and you don’t have to spend any money at all. Just go to youtube. do her method for at least a month along with her dance cardio and I bet you anything you will be hooked for life.
i agree with bridgette. After giving birth to my daughter via csection i thought i’d never get back to my normal size because of the surgery, pregnancy and extra water weight from surgery. Now, 2 months later with her workouts and no diets (am nursing) am in my pre pregnancy jeans. Just because she’s not gone to a fitness school, or her past was full of drama doesn’t mean her method doesn’t work. Ps with a newborn in the house there’s no way i can do her workout for 2hrs 6 days a week. I do it for 1 hr 5 days a week and i’m so happy with the results!