The Tracy Anderson Method Mat Workout DVD Review

The Tracy Anderson Mat workout method comes with some hype… after all, this is the celebrity trainer who helped Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow look great. Tracy Anderson was also featured on Oprah so she’s famous in that regard. On to the review..The mat workout dvd is 1 hour long.That includes Tracy’s introduction at the beginning and interviews with Gwyneth and Tracy at the end. The workout itself is 45 minutes, including warm-up. This workout has a gorgeous balletic feel to it and just makes you feel graceful after working out.

The first part is a standing leg series with plies, etc and the upper body work is done with very low weights. The second part is on the floor and includes lower body exercises as well as core and abdominal work. It’s beautifully filmed and the music is perfect for it.

She begins the workout with a gentle warmup, starts off with a standing leg series – you need a chair to hold/balance yourself. She then does some standing ab work, no equipment needed. She then goes into standing arm work, you need 3 lb dumbbells. She then does lying leg work and lying ab work followed by a cool down.

Tracy is warm and personable; her cuing is subtle. She does not talk a lot, but gives instructions and pointers where appropriate. Her style is a little different and may not appeal to everyone. It has a ballet/pilates – like feel to it but is still different than the two. She uses some dance terminology but not enough to confuse those who wouldn’t be familiar with it.

How it Could Have Been Better…

Sometimes I feel that Tracy gives little instruction on where to focus our movements, where we should be feeling the strain, where the movement should go. We need more information on every move so we know exactly what to do, not simply follow her endless repetitions & figure it out for ourselves.

She could have provided a training session before the workout, explaining the method and movements. During the workout, she’s very quiet where she should be talking and instructing those of us who have no idea of her method. While Tracy has some great exercises, she is lacking in the way she teaches them. I’ve done tons of other videos and DVD’s presented by quaified trainers and their cueing is usually excellent.

If you have experience, and you can take care of yourself, you might find this series to be wonderful – you will feel it for sure. But if you don’t have experience, and you choose to do this work out, WATCH first, and then try it – respect your body and proceed with caution.

Final Verdict: Buy if You’re Curious!

I was a little nervous about spending $30 on a DVD, particularly one about which there is so little information beyond celebrity endorsements, but after having completed this workout for the first time I must say it was fun and somewhat enjoyable. Will I do this regularly? Maybe. I’ll have to try it a few times more for now!

Click here to order Tracy Anderson’s Mat Workout

More workout videos to check out:

1. The Bar Method Body Designer Sculpting DVD Review
2. Workout: One-On-One Training with Jackie DVD Review
3. Luscious – BellyDance Workout for Beginners DVD Review