TA's Perfect Design Series? Not good?

[Cowgirl32]

Originally Posted by PhyllisG

I had it. I sold it. Remorse!

What's sad is I viewed it while eating cheesecake. Hey, that's how I roll. Then noticed my original set have skips, and then I asked Customer service for extra copies so I have 2 sets haha and have never done it. I have been bitten by the TA bug and want to commit BUT then I think I don't want to lose what I have gotten from squats/lunges. So, I am trying to squeeze it ALL in!

[icebergslim]

I have been doing some research and I am leaning on starting with the Perfect Design series. I have not made my mind totally up, but I think this series is a good start. Some comments I have read on the internet is that her cuing is not great in this series and much better in the Metamorphis series. Cuing is not a huge thing for me, unless I can not just totally complete the exercise and let it flow. So, this is a concern, but from viewing some clips, I think PD would be ok in this aspect. So, I will ponder some more before a final decision.

[andtckrtoo]

Originally Posted by Cowgirl32

What's sad is I viewed it while eating cheesecake. Hey, that's how I roll. Then noticed my original set have skips, and then I asked Customer service for extra copies so I have 2 sets haha and have never done it. I have been bitten by the TA bug and want to commit BUT then I think I don't want to lose what I have gotten from squats/lunges. So, I am trying to squeeze it ALL in!

Emphasis is mine, but man I hear you! I wish I had 2-3 hours a day to workout, not because of weight loss or anything (as I think working out that long is counter productive for that), but just to do everything I want to do!

[NotThatGirl]

Originally Posted by icebergslim

I have been doing some research and I am leaning on starting with the Perfect Design series. I have not made my mind totally up, but I think this series is a good start. Some comments I have read on the internet is that her cuing is not great in this series and much better in the Metamorphis series. Cuing is not a huge thing for me, unless I can not just totally complete the exercise and let it flow. So, this is a concern, but from viewing some clips, I think PD would be ok in this aspect. So, I will ponder some more before a final decision.

If your cool with little to no cueing on things, you'll be fine. When I first went to purchase her Mat workout everyone complained about the lack of cueing so I expected it and it turned out to not really bother me at all. I would watch what she was doing to get an idea of the moves and then pause and do the number of reps I wanted. Obviously this also meant that it took longer to complete. I liked not being on all fours that often in her earlier stuff too. I think you'll be happy with whatever your pick, her method is really unique and even though I have built my workout collection around things that are similar to her, I have yet to duplicate it exactly.

[ssgilby]

One thing I highly recommend to anyone who plans on doing Tracy's workouts is to read her book. If you don't want to invest the $$, I bet you can find it at the library. In the book, Tracy really explains her theory. She tells you what she means by "cross-vectors," working "opposing muscle groups," "performing" the exercises rather than just "doing" them, etc. She gives some visualizations, some exercises to help one "connect" and some tips on doing her workouts correctly so as to achieve the max benefit from them. Yes, she says some silly things, yes she can be fluffy, and of course she says things that many would find controversial or a turn off (I realize not everyone's goal is to be "teeny-tiny"). I find, though, that there is a definite mad crazy genius to Tracy's method, and if you can sift through all that she says, you'll find some good information and actually a lot of good theory I think. My DH, who is a staunch advocate of traditional weight lifting for the most part has watched me do TA's videos, and he says, "I can see why her exercises work for you. How can your muscles not respond to all those reps and all those angles? That little blond thing might be onto something." LOL!

She also has written instructions for the exercises in the 30-Day Bootcamp program and although they are likely different than the exercises in Meta or PD or Mat or whatever, there are similarities so reading and trying out some of the exercises in the Bootcamp book will give you a feel for how to perform her exercises correctly. I noticed a huge difference in how the workouts felt to me after I read Tracy's book and really got more engaged and connected while performing her workouts.

[Helen S]

I agree with Shelley to read TA's book first. I like how she describes her method. Then I would try her sculpting exercises and cardio in the DVD. After that, I would check out youtube clips because they are free.

This is just my opinion but I would not start with the PDS series if I was going to buy a DVD. I would either start with Meta since the workouts are shorter. Or I would start with Mat/Post-Pregnancy because she moves at a slower pace than PDS. She also does more reps per exercise so you get a chance to get the move before she moves on to another exercise. Mat/Post-Pregnancy/Meta also seem more organized.

[icebergslim]

Originally Posted by Helen S

I agree with Shelley to read TA's book first. I like how she describes her method. Then I would try her sculpting exercises and cardio in the DVD. After that, I would check out youtube clips because they are free.

This is just my opinion but I would not start with the PDS series if I was going to buy a DVD. I would either start with Meta since the workouts are shorter. Or I would start with Mat/Post-Pregnancy because she moves at a slower pace than PDS. She also does more reps per exercise so you get a chance to get the move before she moves on to another exercise. Mat/Post-Pregnancy/Meta also seem more organized.

Now the meta is the omni series? Correct? I have to review those. Also, after you finish the first 90 days you go onto the next series? So, if I get omni, then I need to move hip, glute or abs? Thank You for your response. I have a lot of research to do.

[Pam61]

Originally Posted by Helen S

This is just my opinion but I would not start with the PDS series if I was going to buy a DVD. I would either start with Meta since the workouts are shorter. Or I would start with Mat/Post-Pregnancy because she moves at a slower pace than PDS. She also does more reps per exercise so you get a chance to get the move before she moves on to another exercise. Mat/Post-Pregnancy/Meta also seem more organized.

I alternated her Mat/Post-Pregnancy workouts for the first month, just to see if I liked what she was doing. Post-pregnancy may be a bit too easy, but I liked the slow and gentle pace (plus the classical music.) Very soothing. Mat is a very good workout and very well balanced. Good music, also to keep you motivated.

Meta you're on all fours for most of the workout, so it's quite a step up from these first two. It took me a while to build up to it, for sure. You gotta love floorwork, planks, lifting legs in every direction imaginable. It's kinda crazy, but in a good way, and you do get pretty good at it after doing the same workout 10x in a row. Might help to have DVD player/laptop on floor so you're not craning your neck to see what she's doing.

Perfect Design, I've only done the first two workouts. Very different feel with the loft vibe at night, but cool also. You do see the headlights of cars outside. Nice variety as well.

Pam

[NotThatGirl]

Tracy has a body type calculator you can use to figure out which Meta program would be the best fit. I have Omnicentric which is an overall program. Then there are the ab, glute, and hip centric series. After you complete her 90 day meta program you can chose to do the correspsonding continuity program for whichever program you picked initially, or you could pick one of the other (ab, hip, glute) continuities. Somewhere I read that Tracy doesn't recommend you start with another centric after completeing the initial 90 days but I don't think it's really a big deal. I was torn between glute and omni and obviously went with the latter. The whole reason I didn't pick up glute is because of all the all-fours floorwork like I mentioned before. Also, there are some very similar levels between the programs. I forget which ones but I know that some of them are almost identical, so maybe there is another thread that clearly explains that (I hope that wasn't too confusing, I spent so much time looking into which one I wanted before I committed).

[Debbie S.]

Double post!