Here are some photos of Tracy Anderson at last week’s Season 4 premiere of Girls in NYC. Is it just me or does it look like Tracy has put on about five pounds? Blasphemy! Anyway, Tracy Anderson is still Tracy Anderson, which is to say… she’s an idiot. She’s finally making some money off of the Tracy Anderson Method, she’s shilling her fitness stuff to celebrities in LA and NYC, she’s opened up gyms with Gwyneth Paltrow, and I guess her food service business is going well. But Tracy is still insecure about her Method – which involves lots of cardio, for hours at a time, with very little weight training – so she always feels like she has to bash other workouts and other diets. Tracy spoke to Page Six about how much she hates… yoga.
Celeb trainer Tracy Anderson took a jab at yoga’s “pot smoking” aficionados at her Tribeca studio Monday.
“My uncle is a yoga master,” she said at a Beats by Dre event. “I’m not criticizing yoga,” she explained, stating that she feels people need music to connect with their workout and that some yoga instructors may not be prepared to deal with the emotions people have during meditation.
“I have this whole philosophy why I think that my uncle and all his yoga friends smoke weed so much,” she said. “You’re not doing this to music and those emotions are coming out and they’re like, ‘I can’t deal with everything that came up inside you in that hour so let’s go get high.’ I think the music is important.”
Anderson told us later, “I don’t ever do yoga. I see more women in my office with injuries from yoga. If it’s for you…and feels right for you, fine. But I think a lot of people mis-identify the fear of the relationship of who they really are or who they can really be, so they go for strong communities or extreme measures like the raw food community or the yoga community.”
I would argue that for most people, yoga is a much better, less time-consuming system than Tracy’s Method. Some people believe that Tracy just bashes workout systems that she doesn’t do, or doesn’t understand, or doesn’t know how to teach. There’s some truth to that. As for her focus on music as a way to avoid dealing with all of the emotions of yoga… well, I’m not a yoga person. I like cardio AND weight training and I need music to help me keep my mind off of how tired I am and how I want to quit. But everyone is different. And I think it’s stupid to label yogis as extremists.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
But what is she wearing????
Why is she dressed like a cheerleader?
@ GoodnamesAlltaken
OMG you took the words right out of my mouth I was just going to say that. The 40 y/o cheerleader.
Its appropriate! She’s dressed to match her mental age!
That skirt is ridiculous!
Also, tights and open toed shoes…
Ugh. It’s the worst.
She needs to turn off the music so she can think clearly enough to change that outfit. Maybe some meditation could help clear her mind.
Gurrrrrl…
She’s a narrow-minded fraud. That’s all I’ve got.
That’s all you need. It sums her up perfectly.
I get a Mean Girl vibe from her. Maybe she’s going for the Regina George look.
Sigh…Tracy, who dresses you, a ten year old kid? Anyhoo, exercise how you want. I don’t need a celebrity telling me how or what I should be doing.
Maybe she’s stealing stuff from the closet of what’s-her-name, the “skinny girl” shill?–maybe she’s stealing that woman’s kid’s clothes…?
Maybe she raided the kiddie rack at the local JC Penney….?
Or something.
I think she needs to smoke a bowl, eat a few slices of pizza, and do some meditation but what do I know?
Meh.
I do yoga once a week and I find it really calms and centres me where I do the cardio and weights the other 4 days with music pounding in my ears. I look forward to yoga because it relaxes me and I can get in touch with my body and my mind and my workout goals. This story is lame, just like the person it’s about…
This made me laugh so hard. I take yoga at the community center in our little town in Maryland, and I’m picturing all the men and women, mostly my age or older, gathering at the back door after class to smoke some weed because we can’t handle our emotions. Ha! She is such a moron.
Btw, I had pain in my hip for about a year that was completely gone after one yoga class. I don’t do it exclusively, but I love it.
I mean both my sister, grandmother and mother do yoga (I do it sometimes and join them but I prefer cardio and strength training personally). They all have chronic back problems and the thing that helps them out is doing yoga regularly. Most of the doctors they’ve talked to have all suggested the same, yoga helps a lot with back pain. I don’t know what that woman is smoking.
Another Marylander! Hello from Silver Spring, GNAT.
Hello from Oxford!
ha! hilarious image. Yoga has helped me with migraines, over the years, too.
Why, hello there fellow Marylanders! Coming at you from the Eastern Shore. 😉
My daughter is credentialed to teach Yoga. She started with it so she could begin to control some of her anxiety. It has been wondrous for her. I have a best friend for whom it was the same.
There are occasions when my daughter has told me that some of her emotions which occasionally come up after participating, are difficult. However, this has been useful to her, in relieving and assimilating what has caused her sorrow; like tears.
my 8yo started doing yoga in the mornings before school because he is just antsy pants and I don’t think his brain ever stops. helps him calm down.
when I did some restorative yoga class I went from laughing out loud to crying and all because the teacher suggested some hip loosening pose which is where apparently women hold a lot of emotional stuff..
don’t see anything wrong with practising any kind of sports in silence. I think we should do it more. even weight training and cardio I like to do in silence. tune in to my body, feel it getting stronger and enjoy the time as opposed to counting the seconds until the end of the song and being done with the torture. I’d rather not do any sports at all then.
I practice yoga every day, and I don’t do it for exercise, but for my mental health.
Practicing yoga helped me get more in control of my anxiety as a teenager. It can be really helpful for some people who need to deal with overwhelming emotions- it sounds like Tracy is really excellent at compartmentalizing while she blasts hip hop and yells at people for being fat and lazy. Also, super loud music while I’m working out makes me really anxious and overwhelmed- it’s like sensory overload. She’s an idiot if she thinks that “music” is the key to a good workout for everyone.
Hahahaha, injuries from yoga… must be about 0.00001% of the injuries sustained from following her “methods”.
I know very few people who do yoga and smoke weed. There is no correlation whatsoever. Maybe her uncle does it to avoid barfing in her face.
She sounds ignorant as f**k of anything yoga-related, and I am not even a hardcore yoga person (if there is such a thing).
This! I was like “injuries from yoga? WTF?” Some people that smoke weed do yoga, some don’t. Some have professional jobs, some are unemployed. Some are skinny, some are fat. There is no correlation AT ALL.
She is so annoying.
I did hurt my knee pretty badly at yoga, but only because I pushed myself too far.
Or the harm one could do to themselves following her diet plans.
She has a new nose.
There are yoga instructors at my health club who not only teach yoga, but are personal trainers, massage therapists, pilates instructors and aerobic instructors. She is very ignorant about yoga and it’s benefits, especially for women who cross train.
why is she cosplaying as a schoolgirl at that event?
Ha!
She is stupid, also judging by her friends she keeps like Goop, she is a flake.
She is talking about Hollywood style fake “Yogis” or Yoga teachers I am sure because REAL Yogis don’t hustle celebrities to become millionaires. May be she should go and spend time studying a REAL Yogi!
look, I’m all for pretty little skirts, but that outfit put together is appalling.
I’m big on cardio&dancing and HATE weight training. I never tried yoga because I don’t have the patience for it… and I do agree with her about music.
If you haven’t yet, try a Power Yoga/Flow class. It feels more active than Hatha (or Bikram, ugh) where you hold single poses. And lucky me, the awesome studio near my home actually likes to play music during Power Yoga. Its fun.
Agree with everyone. Took my first yoga class this past Monday. My instructor emphasized that if it didn’t feel good or you were having pain then she could modify the move. At no time did I feel intimidated – which happens in other types of workouts. What an idiot. I also do cardio and Jan to the tunes.
You know, I’ve watched some of her videos to see what her “method” was about and I must say I was just totally confused. All of her workouts are basically just a series of completely random movements, as if she had no idea which muscles she wants to work on and what the goal of the exercise is. Sure, in the end it’s dynamic movement and it burns calories, but calling it a “method” is like calling dancing at the club on a Saturday night a “method”.
YES a million times!! I’ve tried her ‘method’ and was totally stumped why people actually followed her! She clearly has no education in fitness (or class for that matter).
Excuse me? Injuries from practising yoga? Yogis smoking weed? What?? These are some of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard about yoga. As a yoga teacher in training myself I can tell yoga actually helps recover from injuries and doing drugs is totally incompatible with it. The ultimate goal in yoga is to reach a state of peace and self-awareness. How the f*** can you do that if you’re high? Of course there are yogis who smoke, but generalising and saying that we all do is something completely different. B***h, please…
I hate yoga. I’ve tried it a few times and I feel more agitated at the end of a class. Don’t like Tracy’s method either. Too repetive. But to each his own. What ever gets a person moving is all good I say.
+1,000,000
I’ll take the weed-smoking and pass on the yoga. I hate it so much. Yay, let’s stretch and hold different poses for an hour and a half.
Please shoot me.
Hahahaha! I have taught yoga for over 15 yrs, my single mom supported 3 kids and my grandmother as a body worker/massage therapist. I can say I’m legit in the business as a 2nd generation body worker with no bs pseudo spiritual vernacular in my classes.
I’m also sober of over 25yrs, so for me personally, yoga is a way to keep my body healthy one day at a time. The “cleaner” my body the more I’ve been able to reduce anxiety and overcome life’s challenges. I could care less if my students go into a corner and smoke weed after (never seen this ever) I’m not here to be a didactic cult leader!! To each his own…
If I had listened to some superficial child-dressing lady like this one, I would never have discovered- what has been amazing in my experience. Sure yoga has a cheesy side- there are pot smokers/wine drinkers and lame mouth farting “spiritual” students/teachers. I love the whole spectrum of “yoga”, but I stick around the people who have -my- focus to just be a good person and reliable human being with a sense of humor.
(I wonder if her uncle is that guy who started a sex/pot/yoga cult. Pardon me for laughing at this… We live in a free society and anything is possible, but I’m here to attest that yoga is what you make it. If there’s a suck hole of culty-ness, one has choices!!)
I hated it, too until I had a good teacher. Now I love it. Her class is an hour and a half long, and it goes by really fast. I’m sweating but completely stretched and relaxed at the end. But as Grace says, whatever works.
Yeah yoga always sounds so appealing when other people talk about it, but I’ve been fooled too many times!! 😉
Kitten, you have to find the right style and the right instructor. When I have time (which is rare nowadays but maybe when both kids are in school) I love a good Power Yoga class – where you do flow series and are actively moving the whole class. It can be very physically challenging, especially if its in a hot studio. And I am also SUPER picky about instructors because I can get really irritated really easily, though my favorite actually plays music during his class. But the yoga complements the running well, and one of these days when I have the time I want to try a 30 Day Challenge
Same here. Hate it and I’ve been unfortunate to be in classes that smelled like a turtle aquarium and fart. I dunno man, I really think it’s not for everyone, I’ve tried it too many times and I hate it every single time.
Hahaha! Yes, Tracy, yogis can’t DEAL so they do drugs. That’s a crazy-ass theory from a crazy-ass woman. If you need music to distract yourself from your emotions, so be it. But we’re not all as f*cked up.
As an emotional, pot smoking yogi, I resent that. 😉
On a serious note: I’m a yoga instructor (who also happens to smoke because it helps me meditate, among other reasons), and I make it a point at the beginning of class to tell all my yogis to have fun, do whatever feels gratifying for their bodies, and NOT to push themselves to the point of pain. So I still resent that.
You sound like a great teacher. I don’t do yoga often (see my comment above) but my BF does it occasionally and he says the instructor makes all the difference.
Well, Cheef Kitten Keif, I practice a discipline of yoga called YogaFit. It incorporates a lot of movement and flow, as well as poses you’d associate with a traditional type of workout (like planks, lunges etc), so it’s not too tedious or boring. Come smoke a bowl and take my class so I can turn you into a believer ;D
Sign me up! 😀
The teacher I had at my first class said the same thing.
She’s too short. And I’m 5’2″. 😛
Music is a super way to disconnect from your body and distract yourself from your workout! This complaint is just so strange to me. I’ve practiced yoga with music before… and I often run without music when I feel like I really need to be focusing on my form. This woman is such a moron.
I could not agree with you more–and yes, she’s a moron.
Personally, I never run outside with music.
I focus so much better without it, and part of the joys of running outside for me in the sensory experience–the sounds, the sights, the smells. Also, I like to hear my breathing and focus on the sound of my footsteps to get an idea of how I’m running and what adjustments I might need to make to my stride, form, or pace.
–and living in a traffic-y city like Boston, it’s just not safe running with headphones on at 6:00 in the morning when it’s pitch black.
That being said, if I’m on a treadmill I usually listen to music or these days, Serial podcast 🙂
Agree, Kitten. Years ago, I was running with headphones on and was hit by a car. It was his fault, but if I had been more aware of my surroundings, it probably wouldn’t have happened. Luckily, he wasn’t going that fast and I was just black and blue from my neck to my ankles on one side. But it’s not safe, for many reasons, to be so tuned out.
I literally gasped when I read this, GNAT.
So relieved that you’re ok.
I live in the oldest neighborhood in Boston and it’s made up of densely populated, narrow one-way streets with street parking and TONS of stop signs that are really easy to miss. It is incredibly hard for cars to see pedestrians when they’re crossing in a crosswalk as usually a parked car is blocking their visibility. I’ve had SO many close calls, even though I know these streets and what to watch out for.
I just feel like you can never be too cautious, particularly when it’s a dark morning and many drivers are still half-asleep.
I’m glad you don’t use them. It was not a pleasant surprise. Lol
Headphones have their place, but it’s not when you need to be aware of your surroundings and your own actions. I ran a race last year and ended up with a woman in front of me who was so zoned out to her music she was cutting people off right and left. I wanted to rip them out of her ears. And think of that story last year where the woman accaccidentally won the full marathon in the race that she was only supposed to run the half because she was so focused on the music she missed the turnoff. Let alone scenarios where people have to be aware of cars and scary people!
co-sign!
THOSE TIGHTS CAME OUT OF AN EGG. Sorry, Kanye-style fasion rant. What in the name of thigh gap is that get-up?! Pot-smoking yogi would be an awesome answer to the “So what do you do”question.
I think her “method” is a fad that won’t last. I just wonder how long her devotees/sheep will stick with her.
She has eh biggest head I HAVE EVER SEEN.
I do not take health advice from people with breast implants.
her hooters girl panty hose are cool…cough cough
Extreme comments. But I love running and cardio workouts, and I do love music to it half the time but the other half I love going into a daydream scenario while running or maybe just working out issues and going into almost a zen feeling as I settle in after a couple of miles, more connected to the nature around me. I run outside, not on a treadmill mostly. I finish on a high towards the end of running. It’s just good for me mentally and I feel strong.
I think all forms of exercise are good for you and probably a mixture is the best.
Running is amazing. Each to their own though – running isn’t for everyone, just like yoga isn’t for everyone..
+1000
I was a cardio and weight training person for years. It was like torture after doing it for so long.
One day, I went to a local yoga class and was sold. I never went back to regular aerobics and weights again. I have been practicing yoga ever since and my body has never looked better. I love it, but to each his own.
Her version of a workout is nothing but cardio which does little for actual muscle strength. When I was much younger I did hour after hour of aerobics classes. I got very thin and thought that was fit. Guess what? That, combined with a diet of fish, chicken and vegetables and staying away from dairy and complex carbs (sound familiar?) left me with a vitamin D deficiency and osteopenia in my early 40s. Yoga actually has a similar effect on your bones as weight training in that it increases bone density.
This woman is a menace to female society and her opinions on other forms of exercise and diet are actually detrimental to a woman’s all-over fitness for life.
Bobble-head.
She Literally looks Like a Sack of Tits on a Stick so she’s the Last Person (with the Bulimia Cheeks) I’d take Health/fitness advice from
She has the same aesthetic as the the Skinnygirl chick, right? Same look.
The.Very.Same
I’ve heard rumors from people that use to attend classes at her Fishers, Indiana studio (Google that to see what type of con artist she is) that she use to gorge on junk food between classes, and the smell of vomit would linger in the bathroom stalls not long after she would use it.
I prefer circuit training (mixing my cardio and weights together) but when I do pop into the occasional yoga class, I feel amazing. And if I do it consistently for a few weeks, I sleep better, I have more energy and my damaged back (i’m only 29, btw) gets a lot better. Sadly, I wish I could be more consistent with it the way I am with circuit training,
All that said, Tracy is a loon and a hypocrite. She’s blasted all forms of fitness in the past — and her loony fans stand right behind her–but I noticed she has a special dislike of yoga. I honestly think she feels threatened by it because it is big competition for her. I imagine those who leave her method find themselves at yoga studios later, likely rehabbing themselves from injuries sustained by her method (Google the goodies on that one). 🙂
Goop has osteopenia, Tracy may have also. Cardio and light weights ain’t gonna cut it. at my age I learned one thing is essential: weight lifting.
Yeah, okay. Go lift some three pound weights.
I practice power yoga three times a week, and every class I’ve taken over the past four years has had music. Sometimes it’s quieter, and sometimes it’s louder. And, I’ve never even smoked a cigarette, let alone done any other kind of drug. This woman is ridiculous.
She looks like she came to the wrong event. MTV The Grind auditions were 20 years ago honey.
Everyone should be exercising with Kettlebells. They are the perfect form of exercise, weight training and cardio all in one.
Oh shut the eff up. Come complaining when you’re a person that doesn’t intake caffeine, alcohol, cigarettes, any type of pill, and any other thing that’s considered a drug. That’s when I’ll listen to you about how marijuana is such a bad thing. Stupid bitch.
Unfortunately, there are too many people around like her, pretending to be experts, and actually damaging their clients’ health (allong with their wallets) in the long run. Whatever works for you to FEEL better, can’t be wrong. Nobody NEEDS to have music for a workout (I personally prefer it quiet), and in my experience, balance is key. Cardio ist just ONE component, but our muscles/joints/tendons need strenghtening, and flexing/stretching as well, regularly. To that, the relaxation of our busy minds…so please, just ignore this wanne-be specialist. Do what you like, and try out different things, because doing any kind of exercise with aversion might just be more damaging than doing any good.
Everything about her is awkward. And you shouldn’t wear your workout pants so low you have to shave.
Smoking pot while doing yoga is my workout regimen and my best way to relax and focus clearly. I think having mellow background music is important though to keep you centered.
Sounds like she is a bit jealous of her super relaxed and probably awesome Uncle.
Support hose, Tracy? Hmmmm.