When 2015 dawns bright and shiny, lots of people will begin new exercise regimes. Running, walking, biking, or the gym — there are lots of options out there. Personally, I’m an exercise video junkie. If you open up my media cabinet, “Buns of Steel” might hit you on the head.
Unfortunately for our storage space, I am not joking. We still own a VHS so I can watch old Kathy Smith videos. If you root around hard enough, you’ll find Jane Fonda sitting next to Denise Austen and Tony Horton.
I like exercise videos because they’re cheap, it doesn’t matter what the weather is like, and you don’t have to drive anywhere. The only annoyance is the coffee table, which needs to be shoved out of the way every darn time.
Last spring, I really got into Zumba DVDs while I recovered from a broken wrist. I even bought the special Zumba shoes so my feet wouldn’t stick to the carpet. After a few months, I was able to rotate my wrist good as new.
But when it comes to exercise programs, I have a very short attention span.
I decided that my next challenge would be to tackle the Tracy Anderson Method. For those of you unfamiliar with that name, Anderson is a celebrity fitness trainer who is most famous for her work with Gwyneth Paltrow. Anderson claims that her method targets small muscle groups which will bring loose skin back to the muscle. That’s pretty much a universal goal of mothers everywhere.
Before I attempted any of the TAM videos, I read the online reviews where commenters complained about her lack of cueing, her extremely low-calorie diet, and risk of injury. It takes a bit of masochism to read all of that and say “Sign me up!” but I did.
There was no way I was going to follow the TAM eating plan, but I did make an honest attempt — at least for a couple weeks — to follow the recommendations and do her dance-cardio and muscular-structure videos 90 minutes a day, six days a week.
By week two I lost a pound, I could pinpoint all the incidences of Tracy not following her own choreography, and I developed a sharp pain in my calf that made it difficult to hop.
This gave me serious respect for what celebrities must go through to be camera ready. Sure, they have maids, nannies and cooks to help out. (In my case, I let the house fall apart and my children run feral.) But other people can only do so much to alleviate the toll an intense regiment has on your body.
For me, it isn’t worth it. I could never be one of the “A-plus students” Tracy praises on her videos. But I can stick with her videos a few times a week.
At least for a couple of months — until my interest wanders again.
Jennifer Bardsley is an Edmonds mom of two. Find her on Twitter @jennbardsley and at www.heraldnet.com/ibrakeformoms and teachingmybabytoread.com.
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