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Madonna Calls It Quits With Trainer Tracy Anderson

FitSugar — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:26:03 -0700

These days Madonna has been making big proclamations, but recent changes for the material girl aren't limited to her love life. Madge has dropped her trainer Tracy Anderson.

It seems Madonna has grown "tired of the baggage that Tracy always seemed to be carrying with her." Anderson had insisted that her trainees abstain from any other form of exercise - no yoga, no running, etc. But it looks like the ~~devotion~~ narrow focus Tracy demanded has become worn out and no longer a two way street. A source told Page Six that "Tracy had grown to be more of a distraction than anything else." It is rumored that Madonna was upset that Tracy didn't accompany her on the last leg of her European tour.

For Tracy's response, continue reading.

Gym Gossip: Details on Tracy Anderson and Gwyneth's Gym

FitSugar — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:30:00 -0700

Last January when asked if you would want to join Gwyneth's gym she was planning to open with her trainer Tracy Anderson, most of you were not swayed by the celebrity affiliation.

Well, the inner workings of the gym have been revealed, and for starters it is not a gym - it's a studio. Let's start with the cost of joining the ~~gym~~ studio. The initiation fee ranges from $790 for a six-month membership to $1,500 for a full year. The monthly fees are $900 a month. For that hefty price, you can choose from 85 classes offered weekly, featuring cardio dance aerobics, which Gwyneth described by saying, "It's fun because it's not like you're running mindlessly on a treadmill." And running is something Tracy thinks you should never do, since she believes running creates too much bulk on your backside, and "a bulked-up bottom is not a pretty one." But I digress. To see what else you get for $900, read more.

Unfortunately, Anderson will not be taking on clients at the Tribeca studio. She splits her training time between the two stars that made her famous, business partner Gwyneth and Madonna, whom Tracy and staff refer to as M. However, members will receive personalized attention from her staff. Every member receives a customized program every 10 days, which is good since it is recommended that you work out at for at least 30 minutes, but preferably 60 minutes, six days a week. Whatever you do, don't supplement Tracy's work with yoga. Tracy wants your undivided attention, and has forbidden her star clients to practice yoga.

If you cannot make it to the Tracy Anderson Studio, you can try her method with a free mini webisode. Since the gym is out of my budget, I think I am gonna head out for a run. What about you?

Tracy Anderson's Web Workouts Raise Your Heart Rate and Malawi

FitSugar — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:30:00 -0700

Gwyneth Paltrow knows those 10-day bikini exercise plans don't work, so she's turning to dance to help her get in shape for her bathing suit (not that she needs to). She's enlisted her trainer Tracy Anderson to design some dance cardio routines that get your heart pumping, work your muscles, and are fun enough to stick with so you really see results. Check out this free mini webisode I found on GOOP, Gwyneth's website.

If you loved this video, you can learn more dance moves from Tracy to incorporate in your workouts. To hear about how to get her other three webisodes read more.

Go to Tracy Anderson's website to purchase three more full webisode workouts. Not only will you get amazing dance routines, but 100 percent of the proceeds will go toward Raising Malawi, a foundation co-founded by Madonna. Young girls in the African country of Malawi are deprived of education and subjected to gender-based violence - life expectancy for a woman living there is only 35. When you purchase these webisodes, the money will go to help support the Girls Academy in Malawi, providing education to empower women, and give them the future they deserve.

Madonna and Gwyneth's Trainer Opens NYC Workout Studio

FitSugar — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 03:30:00 -0800

Perhaps you're inspired by Madonna's muscles or Gwyneth Paltrow's long and lean physique - the ladies are dedicated to exercise and attribute their levels of fitness to trainer Tracy Anderson. She first made her workouts accessible to the public through workout videos, and her newest venture in spreading her method is the opening of a Manhattan studio with business (and fitness) partner Gwyneth Paltrow.

While Tracy is attempting to popularize her signature method, she's not exactly taking the exclusivity away from the workouts she designed. With an initiation fee of $787.50 for six months or $1,500 for a year and monthly membership fees of $900 a month, the Tracy Anderson Method is hardly an affordable fitness solution for most. To see what members are paying for, read more.

Maybe you'd be willing to shell out mega-bucks for a celebrity trainer, but Tracy won't be the one leading classes at her TriBeCa studio. Instead, staff members will guide high-paying clientele through workouts on Anderson's proprietary New Band System and Hybrid Body Reformer. Even if I could afford to invest that much money in my fitness routine, I couldn't justify doing it. It seems excessive to pay $12,300 for one year of working out when there are so many less expensive ways to get fit.

Would you pay to work out at the studio if you could afford it?

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Would You Join a Gym Owned by Gwyneth Paltrow?

FitSugar — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 04:30:00 -0800

Restaurants and bars are common celebrity pursuits, and word is that Gwyneth Paltrow is trying to add fitness to the list of business ventures backed by celebs. A famous name attached to a new business creates a whole lot of buzz, and if the product is strong enough, there's a good chance the project will have staying power.

We've heard Gwyneth's constant praise of her personal trainer, Tracy Anderson, and the actress has shared some of the fitness tricks she uses to keep her booty firm. The two blondes have been successful in collaborating to shape Gwyneth's body, and if their rumored plan to open a chain of gyms together is true, they'll turn their workout partnership into a business one.

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Gwyneth Paltrow's New Year's Booty Workout

FitSugar — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:30:00 -0800

While Gwyneth Paltrow and I tend to be on different pages regarding detox diets, her dedication to fitness is something I fully support. She has been keeping the world posted with her newsletter, and in her latest one Gwyneth shares the "New Year's butt" workout recommended by her trainer, Tracy Anderson. Gwyneth says, "It’s really hard. But do it like she says to do it and I swear that in 10 days you will see your butt change shape."

Tracy sent a video of the workout that she filmed from her hotel room, and a chair is the only equipment needed. There are several variations in the sequence and Tracy instructs her client to begin with 20 or 30 repetitions of each exercise per leg, which seems like a well-rounded (though slightly time-consuming) booty workout. She recommends working up to 50 reps and adding one-pound ankle weights for more challenge. View Gwyneth's newsletter to see the video and follow the link she provides if you want to download the workout onto your iPod.

DVD Review: Tracy Anderson Mat Workout

FitSugar — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 05:30:00 -0700

I wasn't too thrilled with Tracy Anderson's cardio dance workout. It seemed more personal performance than cardio, but I was still interested in trying her Mat Workout DVD ($29.95). Tracy's approach to body sculpting is to tone without bulking, so she avoids working the large muscle groups as well as heavy weights. Muscles are worked from a variety of angles, which makes sense since muscle fibers rarely run in a straight line. Many of the motions are small and isolated targeting the smaller, underworked, supporting muscles. She calls this "strategic muscle exhaustion," and you will feel the burn. Much of the workout reminded me of the Bar Method with a dash of sexy jazz dance thrown.

As with her cardio dance workout, this DVD is shot in a very lovely studio, with just Tracy leading the workout and soft music with a beat playing the background. The workout is divided into sections: standing legs, arm work without weights, arm work with weights, standing ab work, floor work for the legs, and a variety of crunches. All in all, I felt pleasantly worked following the workout, and my heart rate stayed slightly elevated in a fat burning zone for the majority of the workout. The entire workout takes just under an hour.

I do have some problems with the workout. To hear my pros and cons, just read more.

The warmup is incredibly short and involves some intense stretching, which if you have tight hamstrings could be dangerous. I prefer, and think it is safer, to get my body warm and blood flowing with a little light cardio before I stretch. Now, I know many women worry about bulking up and fear lifting heavy weights for that reason, but I am just not one of them. I feel this arm workout might tone the arms and give them endurance, but I am not so sure it will make my arms stronger. So in the future I will probably skip those sections. I liked the standing abs and the wide variety of crunches included in the workout. Similar to the dance cardio workout, I feel like Tracy is not leading me, the DVD viewer, through a workout, but trying somehow to make pendulum standing leg swings look sexy. She gives so little verbal cuing that you have to watch the TV constantly or you will miss something, and the worst of this is the ab routine on the floor. I would be crunching with my head positioned correctly when I would glance at the screen and see Tracy had moved onto another variation and not uttered a word. Unlike the overly chipper demeanor of Denise Austin or the infectious enthusiasm of Billy Blanks, Anderson often looks either bored or shy throughout the video, which I just find odd and uninviting.

Since I am always looking for ways to tone my booty, running and lunges do wonders, but so do back attitudes on acute angles, so I will definitely do the legs and abs part of the workout again. The only problem is the workout portion of the DVD isn't formatted in chapters for ease of locating the section you would like to follow. For arm work I will stick to my push-ups, and higher weights for strength training. Have you tried this DVD? Let me know what you think in the comments section below.

You can buy the DVD directly from the Tracy Anderson Method website.

DVD Review: Tracy Anderson Dance Cardio Workout

FitSugar — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 05:30:00 -0700

Years ago, I used to dance around, high impact aerobic style to Madonna's first album (sing with me "I'm burning up, burning up for your love"), so I find it humorous that over 20 years later I am dancing around my living room with Madonna's trainer. Well not actually with Tracy Anderson, but with her new Cardio Dance Workout DVD ($30).

Anderson believes that dance cardio is the perfect aerobic workout for creating long, lean muscles and a feminine, toned physique. When dancing you work your muscles from a wide variety of angles as opposed to running or biking, which are repetitive in one direction, which in her opinion can create bulk. This workout is high energy dancing, dare I say high impact aerobics, full of hopping, jumping, high kicks and even the 60s dance step the Pony. The eight combinations that make up the workout are like a jazzy version of petite allegro (the jumping section of a dance class). Even though it is high energy and full of movement, I was able to dance almost full out in my tiny living room.

To see how the workout is broken down, just read more.

Tracy begins the workout with a brief explanation of her fitness philosophy, and tells you that you should do this workout four to six days a week. Then in a very detailed, but unfortunately music free section, Tracy breaks down the movement of the eight cardio dance combinations. In this 47-minute section, she teaches the combination facing away from you so you watch her back, just like you would in an actual dance class. She also shows you the moves once from the front so you get a feel for the dance. Learning the combinations is a workout unto itself, since you dance and hop around, which is why I was confused to have a five minute warm up follow this section and appear at the beginning of the actual dance workout. You can follow the 45-minute dance workout section with Tracy facing you or facing away from you. I found it much easier to follow her back, since this is how I learned the combinations. The camera work for the workout section is a little busy so if you don't have the movements down, which you won't after just one viewing, you might find yourself bouncing around until you catch up with Tracy. There is no cool down stretching section at the end of the workout, which my legs really needed after dancing for a total of 90 minutes. Since Tracy rarely talks during this section, it felt like I was having a personal dance party in my living room, or in her beautiful dance studio.

This DVD is challenging and my legs are feeling it in a good way today. There is little chance of you getting bored with the DVD since the dance steps are complicated and fun, and I think it would take multiple viewings to really learn them. I would love to take one of her classes in person because the group energy of dancing would be very motivational and maybe I would run into Madonna or Gwyneth if they were in LA.

If you want to dance your heart out to get your heart rate up, you can purchase this DVD from the Tracy Anderson Method website.

Train With Madonna's Trainer!

FitSugar — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:30:00 -0700

Tracy Anderson, who is known best for training Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow, is taking her signature Method to the club.

Tracy has teamed up with Reebok Sports Club/NY for an intense two-week boot camp that promises you'll shed pounds while toning your body. This three hour per night boot camp starts on Monday, June 16 and as you may have guessed, training with Madonna's trainer does not come cheap: it's $2500 for members and $3000 for nonmembers. Call (212) 501-1429 to register.

Don't live in NY or have $3000 lying around? You can buy Tracy's Dance Aerobics DVD for $30.

Get the Bod: Gwyneth and Madonna's Workout

FitSugar — Thu, 01 May 2008 04:30:00 -0700

User jennmerr recently pointed out an interesting article from US Magazine about what Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna do to stay so darn fit that you may also be interested in.

The tips come directly from their trainer, Tracy Anderson. They're pretty detailed and, true to Tracy's style, involve a lot of reps. To see the whole 6-week workout just read more.

The Workout: While following this plan six times a week, use 3-pound weights, max. Anderson explains, “It’ll get you to your tiniest, tightest point without overdeveloping muscles.” Get video footage of the workout [below] at tracyandersonmethod.com (upper right hand corner).

WEEK 1: Make a 20-minute iPod playlist and do a different cardio activity (treadmill sprints, jumping rope, running on a trampoline) for each song. Switching activities will keep any one group of muscles from bulking up. “You should be dripping sweat and taking very few breaks,” she advises.

Get crunching! Do these three moves on a mat:

Lie flat on back, legs straight, then bend legs and pull to chest, feeling exertion in abs (50 reps).

With legs at 90-degree angle, do 50 crunches.

Lie with legs straight, feet apart. As you slightly lift one foot, crunch straight up and down; return foot to floor and lift the other while crunching. Do 60 times, each side.

Tone. Do 100 reps each, or 200 for moves that alternate sides:

With feet shoulder-width apart, hold arms out in a T and rotate palms from -facing floor to ceiling.

In same stance, bend one wrist and pull across body, arm straight, in a smacking motion across your body. Alternate arms.

Then, with arms straight behind you, palms to-gether, snap your wrists from side to side.

Hold a 3-pound weight above your head with elbow bent at a 90-degree angle. Then lift weight straight over head. Do all reps on one side, then switch arms.

With weight in hand, hold one arm out in a T, bend at elbow to cover eyes, then straighten, keeping arm lifted. Do all reps on one arm; switch.

Do grand pliés: Stand with feet -shoulder-width apart, toes pointing out. With hands on hips and back straight, slowly bend knees until thighs are parallel to floor.

WEEKS 2–6: Increase cardio 10 minutes each week, so by week six, you’re up to 60 minutes daily, plus toning exercises.

As with everything, take these tips with a grain of salt. I don't fully agree with Tracy's view on running - she says not to do it. It is, however, one of my favorite pastimes. I won't be stopping anytime soon. Tracy also recommends a diet, something else you should take with a grain of salt. This diet is one that would leave me starving, especially if I am doing 60 minutes of cardio per day. She swears by it so if you're interested check it out here.

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