Article Link Tracy Anderson's 5 (Surprising) Workout Rules

[FitBoop]

For as long as I have been a member of VF, there has been a recurring theme of people getting upset when an instructor whose workouts they like, is criticized. It doesn't even matter what is criticized about the instructor---the criticism gets that instructor's supporters into a heated debate with the critics. It's just the way it goes here. Anyone who is a regular participant in these types of threads has to either willingly engage in the debate, or not post in the threads.

These debates are what make VF interesting. Everyone has her own perspective and opinion. If you participate in enough threads here, you are bound to come up against others who disagree, tactfully or not tactfully.

I don't usually post on a TA thread, because I have never liked her workouts (although I have tried several of them). I also don't agree with most of what she has said. She is one of several instructors who always brings out the highest heat in VF's heated debates on instructors.

[topfitmama]

I don't do Tracey Anderson workouts, though I've viewed many (on youtube, for some reason all her work seems to land on there and isn't pulled).

I enjoyed some of the very good posts, especially a post by Carres1973, where she comments on the validity of some of the points in the original article, namely that kettlebells can be dangerous (yes!) and how things seem to have gotten so much more "extreme" in fitness. In the end, she states that there should be room for a wide variety of fitness preferences. I agree wholeheartedly with this. Who knows where each of us might be in 10 years time? Or in 2? What might your or my fitness needs be then?

The posts that had me nodding all the way through were Kalliope999's. Thanks for taking the time to write such well-thought-out posts! You put in writing thoughts that I have been having for a while. You did a wonderful job explaining the difference between shaming and simply expressing a negative thought regarding some fitness trend, personality or even a goal. It's amazing how polarizing diet and fitness can be!

Yelly, for what it's worth, I think you belong here like the rest of us do. You love fitness and want to spend time talking about it. That's what VF is for, right? I understand that you were hurt by some comments, but many of us have been hurt by someone's comments at some point. Pointing out what you don't like about the post and taking some time away, or as someone else suggested, PM-ing the person who offended you, should take care of it.

I remember a thread that left me feeling a bit dumb. One? No, more than one. I've made posts about something I thought was interesting and some people misinterpreted them and took the original thought down a different path which caused me to feel a bit like an idiot for sharing, but I'm still here. Granted, I spend a lot less time on here than I used to, but it has nothing to do with this place being more hostile. I hope you reconsider!

[AsSweetAsSugar]

Originally Posted by mtngoat

I agree! No one can tell you how you should feel, Yelly, but to my eyes Sugar's post was really just a play on words, and not a personal attack at all!

It was not a personal attack at all.

Originally Posted by Chomper

Somebody misread the tone of your posts (what was left of them) and made a silly joke. That's all that happened here.

I didn't make a silly joke, but I found funny she said she made all the points she wanted to make (yes, it was a post somebody else quoted, because that one was deleted as well), and actually all what I saw from her was that... "points".

Originally Posted by KarenP

Did you not realize that deleting your posts in a thread like you did in a thread with many responses after them is disrespectful to other members who have taken the time to respond to you? I thought assweetassugar's post was a gentle and humorous way of pointing that out to you. I'm sorry you were so upset by it.

Thanks, my thoughts exactly.

This is not the first thread I read where people replaced all they wrote with "."... The other day I was reading a thread and half of it was "." ... How frustrating it is to read a thread like that!

Back on topic, how many times people have replied "LOL" to my posts even when I don't consider I was being funny, do I take it personal? No! Too bad you took it that way. I wasn't laughing at you, I just found it funny.

[topfitmama]

Originally Posted by AsSweetAsSugar

This is not the first thread I read where people replaced all they wrote with "."... The other day I was reading a thread and half of it was "." ... How frustrating it is to read a thread like that!

I agree. It's frustrating.
I have gone back and edited something I posted, but I can't recall ever deleting my comments after they sparked a discussion. It does seem a bit disrespectful of everyone else taking part in the discussion.

[Debbie S.]

Originally Posted by holliholli915

Bwahahahahaha!!!! AsSweetAsSugar, I have never laughed harder at a post. Well, maybe I laughed almost this hard at the article that generated all of the responses to this thread!

I'm not Yelly, but I'm pretty sure she felt ganged up on after the above post was posted. That post was pretty childish in my opinion.


Sue B, I was actually going to bring up Crossfit! Again, lots of so called experts chiming in and bashing Crossfit, yet none of them have ever done the workouts. I have a hard time respecting anyone who writes up an entire article bashing a certain workout with zero knowledge on the subject. This goes for any self proclaimed expert.

Helen, you brought up great points about Cathe, but I do need to add something to it. I quit doing her strength work years ago because it was obvious that she really didn't know the difference between a rep and a set. I cringed every time I heard her mix the two up. In my eyes, it isn't someone who knows what they are talking about!!!!!! But, I do enjoy some of her step workouts, and I do love IMAX 2 with kettlebell swings during the blast segments.

[Helen S]

Originally Posted by Debbie S.

Helen, you brought up great points about Cathe, but I do need to add something to it. I quit doing her strength work years ago because it was obvious that she really didn't know the difference between a rep and a set. I cringed every time I heard her mix the two up. In my eyes, it isn't someone who knows what they are talking about!!!!!! But, I do enjoy some of her step workouts, and I do love IMAX 2 with kettlebell swings during the blast segments.

Oh yes, I forgot about the rep and set thing. I do think she does know the difference though. She just wasn't too careful when she said it even though she did that in multiple workouts. It's a good thing a reporter wasn't there to quote her.

[holliholli915]

Originally Posted by Yelly

Before I leave for good, I wanted to say that the people who post here on VF really need to give some consideration to the fact that blatantly making fun of a person, like the above posters chose to do, is affecting - not the computer screen they are writing on - but a person with actual feelings. It is because of commenters like the above, and a general trend towards negativity and a lack of respect for others, that I am leaving VF permanently after I finish this one final post.

Just to set the record straight, as far as the posts that I decided to erase on this thread, and that I was singled out as looking like a fool for doing, this is how I really feel:

I am not a rabid Tracy worshiper. I do think her workouts have value, and I credit her for changing my views on which workouts are enjoyable and effective, and for broadening my mind to see that a tough workout does not always involve lifting heavy weights. I wouldn't want anyone else to miss out on workouts that they may enjoy, simply because of reading critics describe her extreme followers (on social media) in shaming ways, or of reading another person say they feel like they are a "chump" or a "sucker" since they bought her workouts (after reading a badly edited, but possibly true, article on the internet). Even if Tracy said every single word in the article that was linked to, that still does not change the effectiveness of the workouts themselves. My ONLY concern when I read negative threads like this one, is that it would somehow prevent someone from trying her workouts, when they could actually be something they would really enjoy and benefit greatly from. My making the choice of singling out a few particular phrases in one of my comments was wrong (as Bubbles pointed out), since the person was only saying how she felt about herself personally. But some of the other language used, especially insinuating that it is a "cult...sorta" or calling Tracy's fans irrational was uncalled for. And no, Chomper, I do not take offense to those things personally or suffer from some identity-confusion with Tracy Anderson. I simply don't want an article on the internet, and the extreme reaction by some to said article (from both fans and critics alike) to prevent anyone from trying her workouts - for the wrong reasons. Because her workouts do not reflect her unintelligent explanations of her method.

As for how I personally feel about TA and her "science" - anyone with half a brain can read what she says and call BS. I don't believe most of what she says, and I am sometimes left confused as to what she is even trying to say. Other times, I understand what she's trying to say, and I think some of it has some truth to it, but it comes off as questionable because of her inability to vocalize what she is thinking, as well as her mistake of trying to improve her credibility by describing things "scientifically", which only makes her look like a babbling idiot. She is also wrong for making blanket statements of other workout methods or for shaming certain physiques as a marketing ploy. But her having the inability to speak, or to vocalize what she does in an intelligible way, does NOT mean that her workouts aren't worth something. Her true intelligence is proven in her creativity and her ability to come up with such innovative workouts. Her workouts speak for themselves. That is why I choose to not listen to anything she says, because most of it makes no sense. But her workouts make sense to me, and they have only added joy to my fitness life - a joy I want others to experience as well.

I happen to love science and anatomy. I also happen to be passionate about kettlebells, heavy lifting in the gym, and I own every single Cathe workout ever made to date. I have been a Cathe fan from the very beginning of her making vhs. But TA is still in my top three favorite instructors of all time, along with Cathe and Jill Miller. Her workouts are creative and fresh and effective for me, and they enhance both my fitness level and my motivation to workout. My fitness life would be very sad without her workouts in it, and I wouldn't want anyone else to miss out on them simply because the girl can't talk, or she makes foolish statements that have no bearing on the actual workouts.

Anyway, I hope that clears up my viewpoints. I do not feel I am an extreme Tracy fan by any means. And I also have no problem when people criticize the stupid things SHE says, but I do have a problem when it starts to be directed towards the people who use her workouts, and I especially have a problem when her workouts are discounted by a person who has never even done one before. Anyone who can criticize a workout that they have never tried personally has no credibility in my book, and I would never want an inexperienced opinion like that to be the reason that somebody else hesitates to try her workouts.

And to anyone else who has chosen to take this thread, and other threads on vf, to such a personally insulting level, where you are outright making fun of another member for any reason...well, you are the reason I will never post on VF again. This used to be a place with more support and kindness and tact. It has now become a place I no longer choose to participate in.

Yelly, since you referenced my post, I wanted to be sure to clarify that my response to AsSweetAsSugar's post was in no way a personal attack on you. I thought that she had a clever response to several deleted posts in a thread that, frankly, needed a bit of levity. I don't think AsSweetAsSugar meant any harm to you personally and I certainly did not in recognizing the humor in her post. In fact, I wasn't 100% sure that you didn't mean what you posted in a tongue-in-cheek way and just thought the whole thing was rather smart.

Of course, there's no way to know this through a computer screen; but, I would never choose to ridicule a person at all, let alone through an online forum. In fact, while I did not get a chance to read all of your posts, I did agree with one of them that I did see and thought you articulated several of the same thoughts I had about this topic.

I think as someone stated upthread, if a poster responds to something that you feel offended enough to leave a forum over, it might be a good idea to reach out to them via pm to make sure there was no ill intent.

Regardless, my apologies for the way that my response to AsSweetAsSugar made you feel.

[holliholli915]

Originally Posted by Debbie S.

I'm not Yelly, but I'm pretty sure she felt ganged up on after the above post was posted. That post was pretty childish in my opinion.

I wonder how I should feel about you calling my post childish which is pretty insulting. I didn't use any insulting language, didn't try to fan any flames and wasn't responding to Yelly's posts which had already been deleted. Yet, that seems to be more egregious than you actually calling out my post as childish.

The good news is that I'm actually not offended by your statement as I think everyone is entitled to an opinion and I also understand that humor can be interpreted differently by individuals.

[WWWendy]

Sorry I couldn't get to this thread sooner but I am traveling. Closing this for moderator discussion