Spotlight Mom: Tracy Anderson

Lately I've been feeling bored with my regular exercise (treadmill) routine... there comes a point where you feel like it's just not doing it for you anymore, you know what I mean? Sometimes it's just fun to switch it up and go back to some old favorites - so I'm going back to Tracy Anderson's treadmill routine. I'm sure most of you have heard of celebrity trainer (and mother-to-watch) Tracy Anderson (her method really blew up in the past few years). I first read about her in an article featured in Cookie Magazine. It was right after I gave birth to Freida, and from what I read, it sounded like she had a pretty little method going - the line that really got me was "it's healthier for your kids to see you dig into a slice of their birthday cake with gusto rather than always seeing mommy counting her weight watcher points" - she was selling that as the main payoff for all the fitness work. I really related to that so I searched YouTube and started doing a preview video of her workout routine - I loved it, and after seeing results I ordered her Post Pregnancy DVD.

Now, I can't claim that I lost weight from it - a couple pounds at most - but that is because I wasn't properly dieting or doing serious cardio. What I will say for the DVD is that it completely strengthened my most important muscles in the most fantastic way! After giving birth (aside from the extra stomach pouch) our abdominal muscles tend to disconnect and fall lazily idle; making it extremely important to work those muscles afterward. The sequences in this routine made me the strongest I've ever been - my core, my abdominal, my thighs, and my abs were whipped into shape! I didn't even realize what kind of amazing results I got until I went to a class and showed these moves to some women - toned, fit, and slim women - who were not able to keep up at all! Again, this DVD alone will not yield wight-loss results, but Tracy promises that mixing this (or her Mat Workout DVD) with here Dance Cardio DVD or her awesome Treadmill Workout Routine (which I looove!) - will make your body issues dissipate and provide a "teeny-tiny" lean figure.

I would highly recommend the Post Pregnancy DVD for all post-partum mothers (come to think of it, this would make for a useful and original baby gift)! It is calming and low-key, set to classical music, and makes for a relaxing and strengthening post-partum workout (aside from the fact that the room decor she does the workout in annoyed me to no end!!). I did it for months with little Freida on a blanket on the floor right in front of me, she seemed to enjoy the calm of the music, and she would watch intently as I'd lift my legs or arms up and down... was good exercise for her development as well! :)

You can find out more about Tracy and her method here.

Here is the original video that I found and did for a while before buying her DVD:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taCiMBFc0sc]