New/Upcoming Release Tracy Anderson Mat for Beginners - Anyone get it yet?

[momofcha]

I see this is in stock at collage - has anyone received it yet? I preordered it at amazon and it's not due in there until early next week.

Any thoughts/reviews?

[PhyllisG]

I didn't order or really have any interest in it. But I just watched the clip and it really made me feel like doing another Meta rotation. I like that she really demonstrated each move. I loaned PT and PDS to a friend without ever doing them. Time to ask for them back. I also still want PP 2. Thanks for the heads up.

[Sophb21]

I'm waiting for mine to arrive - hopefully in the next few days.

Some of the girls on the TAM Facebook page have gotten them and they reckon they're a bit harder than the other Beginer dvds.

[kathym]

I got mine and am glad to hear that some thought they were a bit harder than the other beginner. That said though... I like these better than the other beginner. They move right along and I think I may be able to develop the arm and hip strength needed for her other videos. I have done the first two workouts. The full body and chair and like them both. She does the work on one side for legs and then the other. Her rep count is 20-30 per exercise.

Her dance workout video is really good as well. The first 15 minute one is really low impact and the second builds on that but is actually fun for me for a Tracy Anderson aerobics dvd. I think these are really worth it for me.

I am hoping to do these every other day and then every day. My big issue is keeping my arms up for extended time. Hoping to work up to this.

[PhyllisG]

I am glad to hear they are a bit harder than they look and harder than the other beginner one. I was afraid they would be too easy. I never do TAs cardio but I might do this one.

[momofcha]

Great to hear. I look forward to getting mine.

[Ann1964]

Oh I was thinking this was one that already came out.
I will check it out.
I know I have some TA beginner.

[cpcathy]

It the new Mat workout chaptered? I love, love, love original Mat but it's not chaptered and it drives me nuts!

[txfitmom]

Yes it is chaptered. You can play the entire workout or select any of the 3 mat segments.

I just got these in the mail yesterday and did the first workout from the mat and dance DVDs. The mat workout was not overly hard, but harder than I thought it would be. It starts very slowly, mostly just holding your arms out to the side and TA is giving instructions on how to move properly. She quickly picks up the pace and before long I could not hold up my arms anymore, I am such a wimp. I had to take a couple of breaks there. The actual mat/floor part of the workout is lots of leg lifts/raises in various angles. There were 20 reps for most moves, one was 30 reps. I found it fairly doable, a couple of the exercises I struggled a little, but overall 20 reps is much better than her meta series. Something interesting about the mat DVD is that each workout progresses so the 2nd workout uses some of the moves from the first, but then introduces a chair and also has a weighted arm segment.

The dance workout has really good upbeat music, and at first she started to move slow and demonstrate moves, but then she just starts changing really quickly and throws a couple of different moves in there. The challenging part of the dance workout is that she cues a little late, and instead of sticking with a set number of reps and exercises in a sequence, she frequently will throw something completely different in there. Some of the moves stay the same, but others are just random. Probably would not be so hard after doing the workout a few times, but might be frustrating to those that like better cueing. I thought this workout she would be teaching the moves a little better and moving a little slower, not so much.

Overall Review:
Positives: Good music, TA talks (or might be a negative since she does not cue well), short workouts, chaptered, would appeal to beginner through intermediate (the workouts progress from the 1st to the last), lots of effective moves even though the workouts are shorter

Negatives: Cueing is a little late, she confuses left and right a few times and seems a little flustered as well, choreography in dance workout might be challenging for some

[momofcha]

Thanks for the updates. Mine is out for delivery. Looking forward to it.