Tracy Anderson’s 30 Day Method Book and DVD Review

Feel free to follow my progress on this method here Tracy Anderson’s 30-Day Method or jump to our final thoughts about the program.

Tracy Anderson’s 30-Day Method

I received the book Tracy Anderson’s 30-Day Method to review. The first thing I did was read the book, in its entirety. Half of the book is exercise routines and recipes. I wanted to be sure that my review was my honest opinion of the book so you would know what to expect should you choose to purchase it. I am always excited to review items related to Health & Fitness. I read the book during our trip to Orlando this past weekend.  My first impression was I really liked what Tracy had to say. Here is what I found interesting about the book and her method.

Interesting Points From the Book

• Her muscle design workout’s primary goal is to make you lean like a dancer, instead of bulky like some bodybuilders.
• She claims her plan will help you lose fat and tighten your skin so as you lose you are not left with excess skin.
• You are supposed to be able to lose 3-5 lbs each week. During the last five days, she has used what she calls a Cleanse Menu. It is not liquid it is normal food. However, she says you can lose up to 9 lbs in that 5 days.

Program Description

A brief description of the program and how these transformations are to take place is this. Tracy believes in working what she calls your accessory muscles which are the smaller muscles in your body. Most strength routines work your major muscles such as your biceps, quads, calves, etc. Her theory is that if you work the accessory muscles you will tighten up your body instead of building bulk, creating a lean dancer-type body. The meal plans will help melt fat off and keep your skin taught so as your accessory muscles contract and tighten around your major muscles they begin to appear as the fat is lost and the skin begins to tighten.

Concerns About The Program

There are a few concerns I had in reading this book regarding the above information.

• You must work out 7 days a week for 30 days. No days off.
• She would like you to get up to 40-60 minutes of cardio and 40 reps with ankle weights using the muscle design workout. My time is precious and I have a hard time fitting this much dedicated time to an exercise program.
• She stresses you have to follow her program exactly in order to get results. The menu consists of many items only found in a health food store, no meals are repeated during the week which means you can not make one meal and split it. You are cooking 4 meals a day each and every day. Again this is hard on a full-time working mom with kids in sports.

All of this said the theory seemed interesting to me so I decided to give it one week so that I can offer you more than just a review of the book and giveaway. I wanted to be able to give you my thoughts, feelings, and progress notes regarding this plan. If you would like to follow me please see the link at the top of the page.

Companion DVD

In addition to the book, there is a companion DVD included. This is a very simple DVD showing you had to do each exercise in the muscle design workout as well as two 10-minute cardio sessions. This is not a DVD that you pop in and follow along expecting to be instructed throughout your entire workout. Once you know how to do the exercises it is best to do them from the book so you can work both your left and right side and increase your reps as needed. I recommend using the DVD for the cardio work, however, you may want to supplement it with your own music. There are no instructions, it is Tracy doing the dance cardio while you follow along. If you can go into the cardio with an open mind, have fun, dance, and do your best to mimic her moves you will have a good time. If you expect to be able to do everything as gracefully and as fast as she does right off the bat I believe you will be disappointed.