An Honest Review of Tracy Anderson Online Studio Classes
I was totally Facebook ad stalked for a month by Tracy Anderson’s social media gurus, and it eventually worked. I was feeling so not Badass + Healthy after pandemic indulgence, and succumbed to giving the celebrity fitness instructor’s online studio, TA Online Studio, a try.
So serious about my moves. Ha.
Anderson gained fame after training Gwyneth Paltrow who has become a longtime investor. The Tracy Anderson Method is a combination of strength-training mat classes and dance-cardio classes aimed at re-training your muscles into long, lean and strong. It is said to be based on two decades of scientific research that Anderson has used to help women of all shapes and sizes transform their bodies into an in-shape dancer’s physique. Tracy’s 5-foot, 2-inch stature (like me) and 45 years (I’ve reached my 40th) was part of the motivation to give her “method” a try. “I can do this,” I thought!
I did the weekly online classes for six months and here’s a review of my experience:
What You Need for TA Online Studio
These 1.5-lb. ankle weights by p.volve are easy to strap on and made of a soft, comfortable material. They also come in a 3-lb. version.
A device to watch the videos from the TA website: laptop, phone, iPad, or stream it to your smart TV.
A yoga mat. My favorite is this thick one from Gaiam. You can do the classes without it if you have a rug/carpet, but it’s helpful to have the cushioning for the strength classes, particularly for knee support.
Two 3 lb. weights like these, which come in several colors. Do not get heavier weights. Tracy’s method is all about not bulking up. Plus, there will be a LOT of reps with those seemingly light weights. Similarly, do not get lighter weights. If you are unable to use the weights at first, just start without them.
Two 1.5 lb. ankle weights. If you are unable to do the moves with the addition of ankle weights, just lose them until your body is ready. No shame in that. Here’s the set I purchased from Amazon by p.volve—very comfy around the ankles with a soft fabric (some other brands I’ve found are hard/scratchy). These also come in 3-pounders (see next bullet).
Two 3 lb. ankle weights. If you’re a beginner, you don’t need these at first. P.volve also makes 3-lb weights in a different color from the 1.5-lb. ones (find them on the same page on Amazon here).
$90 per month to set aside for fitness.
Every TA Online mat class starts with a hella good arms workout!
Class Options and Length
These 3-lb. weights come in a bunch of fun colors to punch up your workout!
As mentioned, TA Online Studio has two types of class options: mat strength-training classes and dance-cardio classes. Within those categories, there are several options to choose from. The mat classes offer beginner (30 minutes), intermediate (1 hour) and advanced (1 hour) classes. The dance cardio (30 minutes) also has three levels including low impact with easy moves, a faster-paced workout easy moves and a more advanced dance class with more challenging moves. And then she also has a handful of bonus content with 15-minute workouts if you want to add on 15 minutes of cardio, or target glutes, abs or hips, for example.
For the first two months, I did the beginner mat classes before switching to intermediate. I never attempted the advanced because the intermediate, while doable, remained challenging for me. Each mat class starts with an arm workout with your weights followed by a unique mix of Anderson-choreographed leg, glute, arm and ab exercises on your mat. I enjoyed—as enjoyable as feeling the workout burn can be—the whole-body, low-impact routines and LOVED the elongating, strengthening arm exercises in particular.
Time Commitment
Committing the time to exercise is always my challenge, and I know it is the same for many busy people juggling all the things. What I do that helps is literally mark it in my calendar like I would a meeting to mentally make me stick to it and not push exercise and my personal well-being aside because of work or family to do lists. That said, I’ve made it a point not to punish myself if something comes up—aka losing childcare because of a Covid scare or a client work “emergency” that requires immediate schedule pivoting.
The biggest challenge with Anderson’s method is truly the time commitment, though. I can think of only one person in my circle of friends and colleagues who could commit to the Method’s recommended 1.5-2 hours, four to seven days per week to working out. I mean, for reals? This feels only possible for a fitness instructor! Or, perhaps the rare breed of women who do not need to work full-time and who have full-time child care. Or, if you don’t like to sleep? (I did 1 hour max, four days per week, by the way.)
Video Library
If you’re used to an online fitness studio like Peloton where there’s a vast video library of options, TA Online will appear shockingly slim. But it’s intentional... There is only ONE new mat workout per level per week. Every Wednesday night, the past week’s workout goes away and a new one appears. Anderson wants you to do that same workout four to seven days per week. As for the dance cardio, there is a new video once per month, but you have access to a library of 20 to 30 videos of past routines in each level.
No Verbal Cues
This is my fave yoga mat by Gaiam for at-home AND studio exercise classes. The thickness saves my knees!
I’m so used to verbal cues from a fitness instructor, whether in dance, Pilates, yoga, spin or other, that it was a bit surprising not to get any from Anderson. But I have to say, I liked it. I just focused on the moves and the music. Anderson’s reasoning behind showing us the exercises without talking through it is that it supposedly allows you to build a better connection with your body. (She explains it in more depth here.) The only times when I didn’t like the lack of instruction was when I felt like I wasn’t doing a move correctly. That’s what the bonus instructional videos are for, but honestly, I didn’t have time to sit through all of those (another 30 minutes) each week in addition to the workouts. I’m also a natural with choreography, and I’ve heard from others who are not that the lack of verbal cues made it challenging to keep up.
Cue serious face. An hour of this stuff IS serious, though ;)
Music & Sound Quality
The sound quality of the mat classes is fine but the dance cardio class sound quality was almost unbearable. I love to dance but I also love music and decided to stick with the mat classes that didn’t butcher the sound.
Anderson and her abs.
I found the music playlists to be fun and there was a huge variety between rock, pop, hip hop and more genres with mostly artists I’ve never heard of before. In the online community forum, some people lament that they don’t love the music but since there’s no need to listen for any verbal cues, it’s easy to just mute it and play your own soundtrack. Unfortunately, that can’t be done for the dance cardio classes since the routine is choreographed to the music.
Did It Work?
I take Anderson’s scientific research claims about her method lightly because she hasn’t specified her sources and she doesn’t have any formal education in exercise physiology, but her following is undoubtedly hardcore about the method working for them. Everyone who sticks with Tracy for six months says—within the community forum you gain access to with membership—that’s when the real change happens, from weight loss to muscle strength.
My personal experience was that it really did work to strengthen and tone up. My husband even commented how I could carry heavy things that I couldn’t before and my mother commented on my butt lift (ha). Another surprising thing that it helped with was chronic hip and lower back pain that I had been experiencing—all of a sudden, I noticed it was gone. Did I look like tiny Tracy and lose any weight? No. But mind you, I made zero other lifestyle changes. My food and wine intake remained the same during this time period. And I didn’t partake in the cardio, which could have made all the difference weight-wise.
My new go-to for arm and ankle weights are these Bala Bangles, which come in a variety of pretty colors and 1- and 2-lb. weights.
Ultimately, despite the toning up, I quit the program at six months because I prefer more variety and just didn’t want to do the same workout four days per week any longer. The pandemic was slowing down (temporarily?) and I could go into fitness and yoga studios again, and I couldn’t justify the cost of doing everything. But if you can swing the time and cost and don’t mind the repetition, it’s a really fantastic low-impact workout. I’ve been able to continue to use the hand weights for at-home exercise classes, but I’ve transitioned to these cute Bala Bangles weights for extra oomph for walks and dance classes, as they feel more secure with dance moves and walking around outside.
Editor’s Note: No compensation was provided for this post or the fitness classes. All opinions are my own.
In case you missed it, check out our blog about Why You Shouldn’t Skip Savasana.