[10/19/08]

I skipped my first Tracy Anderson Mat Workout day yesterday. I thought about it a couple of times during the day but then got busy and my feet have been hurting and blah, blah, blah the day was over and I was in bed.

Today, I regret it. The back tightness and discomfort is right there.

I ask the fitness spirits… “do I not accrue credit for all of my never-missed-one-day-thank-you workouts?” Can’t that effort count for the ONE DAY I skipped?

They said no.

Oh so it’s gonna be that way? I just thought maybe, this one time, since I’ve been so faithful and working out a million times longer than I ever had, that things would be different.

However, this is a good thing. I have my answer. Workout every day or get flabby and uncomfortable.

Overall I still like the Mat Workout very much and think it’s effective for a whole lot of muscle groups and it has brought on a tremendous amount of change in my body.

BUT, I have been thinking that the Tracinator’s Mat Workout is not getting the following areas enough:

1. Triceps (back muscle of arm) aka arm hang flapping in the wind
2. Inner Thigh

More on these later (including tips on how to solve it!), but first the abs … I’ve seen a few posts around questioning that Tracy’s lying-down abs section isn’t enough. Hmmm. We have to remember that the standing legs section is also engaging the abs. I will say that I have noticed that I dig my heels down hard when I’m doing her abs (with the legs straight positioning). This has given me heel bruising. So I sometimes put a living room pillow under my feet. I still feel the abs just as well and do not continue the heel pain.

The standing rib cage routine I don’t think is going to sculpt great abs, but it’s fun to do from a loosening the spine sort of way. It’s hard to get into it as an abs workout when all I feel are sausage rolls gyrating. Or worse, when I feel and see it in a mirror. If you’re pressed for time, I’d skip this one.

I think Tracy’s lying down abs routine is fine. It probably grabs the full length of abdominal muscles more than traditional crunches. It’s a basic set. If you’re short on time this is doable. If you want to be a terminator like Tracy Anderson I suspect she does a whole bunch of things to get those abs none of which are revealed on this DVD. Even if you watched the Oprah clip you see her with resistance band hammocks strung from the ceiling and her leaning into them, etc. So are these the ultimate all you have to do abs? No. Are they great for a basic on-the-go woman? Yes. However…I think that great abs come from not just crunches but adding full body exercises sort of like our girl-for-the ages 2008 Olympic Swimmer Dara Torres. Oh, and no to little body fat helps too.

I wish Tracy’s butt workout section followed the first arm flapping section. I think the arms need a good rest before the arm routine with the weights so that I can keep up, maximize my movement and keep good form. Sometimes I take a break and sometimes I fast forward to the lying down section and then go back to the weights/arms section.

And now without further ado, let’s discuss the arm hang some of us have. BTW if you are 20 something and don’t have arm flab you should read on anyway because you want to keep those arm undersides toned from now until the casket so you don’t have arm swing. This is important so if you suddenly out of the blue receive a call to be the next Vice Presidential candidate you can wear sleeveless tops as you wave to or wave off the media. I like Tracy’s arm flapping section, BUT I now wonder if the continual flapping of my underarm hang with gravity pulling on it is ideal!?!

I heard that Brooke Burke on Dancing With The Stars, who has an amazing body after several babies, wore some wrap around her midsection for 40 days after giving birth each time. Now do I believe that wearing a wrap did all that like she has? No. But did it assist? Quite possibly.

So I got to thinking…maybe I should wrap my arms during the workout so the triceps flappage can’t blow in the wind like clothes on the clothesline. I did. I cut the toes out of some athletic socks and slid them on my arms and wear them for all my Tracy Anderson arm workouts. Crazy? Who knows. Have I seen an improvement? Yes, coupled with…