"No woman should ever lift more than 3lbs"

Cheri_Moves

msf74

Tracy better tell Brittany Howard from Alabama Shakes to put down the electric guitar before she injures herself!

TheFangsKittie

Just f*****g - HA!!!

KnM0107

Well isn't that just extra special... honestly I didn't know who Tracy was until I looked her up on google. I was not impressed. My husband and I both lift, it is a hobby that we share and we push each other to lift more. I also have a physical job and the pole saw I am running in my profile pic weighs way more 3lbs. I will pass on Ms. Anderson's advice.

msf74

ZOMG! I've just thought of something else! Tracy better tell Delia Smith to step away from the cooking pots before she does herself some harm.

We must spread Tracy's message far and wide, urgently, to all that will listen because there is an epidemic of female injury on the horizon.

An epidemic I tell you!

nmncare

I know people trainers that work with her. They live by that philosophy because they believe muscles are built with your own body weight, not equipment.
I've done the programs and they are bloody hard... but you should see these trainers bodies.. Because it clearly works.

I could be totally wrong.. But I'm assuming that is what she meant.

beaches222

I carried and gave birth to a 7 pound baby and I am not suppose to life over 3 pounds. lol

msf74

They live by that philosophy because they believe muscles are built with your own body weight, not equipment.

That's not philosophy - that's dogma.

Not that I have anything against body weight exercises, but like barbell training or whatever, it is simply an interface by which a person achieves the things your body understands - overloading of muscle which is sufficient stimulus to trigger an adaptation which increases progressively over time.

Ms Anderson's thinking seems rather retrograde if she is stating, with a straight face that a load above 3lbs should not be used by women in achieving the above or getting a desired physique and then attempts to reinforce that idea through scaremongering about injury rates.

kgeyser

So this woman advocates body weight exercises and using resistance bands, and thinks that it's the >3 lb dumbbell that causes problems? Someone needs to give her a gift certificate to a physics class this holiday season, although I suspect equations and terminology like "force" and "fulcrum" might elicit a reindeer-in-the-headlights look.

rabblerabble

The purses that most women carry weigh far more than three pounds

MstngSammy

"At the same time, too much bulk isn't a good thing from my perspective. Men usually do not find bulky women attractive. "

I think she may be a time traveler from the 1950's. What kind of trainer puts 'what men/women find most attractive' as their primary goal? Even worse, her ideas about attaining that goal are bull****.

This was actually a quote from one of the men in the thread....believe it or not.

contingencyplan

The single most physically attractive woman I've ever seen in my life could bench her bodyweight plus, and squat more than double it.

That says all I feel needs to be said on her opinions regarding what men want.

PinkNinjaLaura

I cannot wait to tell my non-celebrity trainer tomorrow that I can't possibly lift more than 3 pound weights. I'm sure he'll get right on board with that.

MM_1982

More importantly, there's so many more variables that go into getting "bulky". Genetics and diet play a MUCH larger role in putting on muscle mass than doing low rep, high weight training.

I'm not even going to mention the important role that testosterone and your nervous system play...

ndj1979

this is good advice...ladies, you don't want to get all bulky now do you?????

MM_1982

I will say that Tracy Anderson is a heavenly blessed beauty. But her awesomeness has a lot more to do with diet, genetics, and the overall care of herself than it does lifting.

SkimFlatWhite68

OMG, my handbag weighs more than that. LOL!

Fittreelol

OMG I don't want this body???

I guess I've been doing it wrong :grumble:

*punches the wall*

I want that body. HAAAAAAAAAAAAY

Myhaloslipped

Ok ladies...
Put down your babies, they are going to cause injuries.
Put down those toddlers, they will hurt you.
Drop your purse... gonna throw out your back.
No more shopping, those bags are dangerous.
Laundry baskets? PUT IT DOWN NOW!
cleaning house has just become HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH.
Get those men. We need them at our back and call. How else are we going to get through life?????? please help us, we are helpless!

*GAG. SHIVER* I will keep lifting, THANKYOUVERYMUCH. (And ladies, unless the above seems legit and plausible for your life, I suggest you keep lifting too.)

Done! My life just got much easier. :laugh:

Manda_1986

...no wonder I'm so ripped. All that carrying my handbag to and from my car is bulking me up! I best stretch/warm up next time so I don't do an injury.

obsidianwings

Tracy Andersons an idiot. A newborn baby is more than 3lb. A lot of peoples handbags are more than 3lb.
I saw an interview she did with Oprah where she was training Gwyneth Paltrow, she admitted that the arm that she carries her 20lb(ish) child in is a lot more toned that the other one so she has to do and extra 50(ish it was a while ago) reps with the 3lb weight on the other arm And you still don't see how lifting higher weights works better? Either of you?!

ldrosophila

"
Gwyneth Paltrow, the most ardent follower of the Tracy Anderson method was recently diagnosed with shockingly low vitamin D levels, and osteopenia, a precursor to the bone thinning osteoporosis. Not exactly a shining endorsement of the Anderson method."

Man I called that long ago...nothing on that girl to build bone mass.

WalkingAlong

I think she's not referring to the kind of 'lifting' you do with purses and babies but like shoulder presses and side lat raises, for reps. I mean, she's an attention ho, but she's not THAT stupid. I'm assuming.

jenilla1

I think she's not referring to the kind of 'lifting' you do with purses and babies but like shoulder presses and side lat raises, for reps. I mean, she's an attention ho, but she's not THAT stupid. I'm assuming.

That's got to be what she means, because otherwise, she's a total fool. I've done both kinds of training. For me, in terms of appearance, I get similar results if I do "x" number of sets of 5 reps of heavy or 25 reps of light. I don't like to spend forever at the gym, so I choose fewer reps at a higher weight. As a bonus, lifting the heavier weights builds strength and feels awesome. I'm a lean, little feminine thing, and I haven't hurt myself or turned into a beast in the years that I've been lifting heavy! :laugh:

MstngSammy

This topic and the comments makes me LOL. I've spent years and years in the gym and I rarely see any woman lifting heavy. On a daily basis, I see women go 3 set of 10 on dumbbell press or tricep extensions, but that isn't heavy.

I'd love to see a real woman deadlift a good amount of weight (for her body weight) for 1 heavy rep. I want to see sweat, groaning, screaming, and an agonizing look of pain on her face after doing heavy deadlifts or overhead press for numerous sets. That's lifting heavy.

In my many years of going to chain gyms (24 Hour Fitness, YouFit, Anytime Fitness), I've probably seen that once or twice. I think I need to find a new gym.

Sara's deadlifting 325 lbs here.

I love the little happy dance she does at the end lol


ETA....and she is defo NOT bulky

MisterDerpington

I think she's not referring to the kind of 'lifting' you do with purses and babies but like shoulder presses and side lat raises, for reps. I mean, she's an attention ho, but she's not THAT stupid. I'm assuming.

I think she is that stupid if she thinks using more than 3lb on an overhead press will injure a woman. Women aren't frail little things that have to do frail little workouts.

WakkoW

She is talking about for her specific method to achieve a small, lean frame, she doesn't want women lifting more than 3 lbs while doing her exercises. If you watch, listen and learn then you would understand that. There isn't much to argue if you know what is being talked about.

The issue is not that her comments are for a target audience that we don't belong to; the issue is that regardless of who it is intended for, it is piss-poor advice. This is not going to help anyone achieve a stronger healthier body; as mentioned in the article posted earlier:
"
Gwyneth Paltrow, the most ardent follower of the Tracy Anderson method was recently diagnosed with shockingly low vitamin D levels, and osteopenia, a precursor to the bone thinning osteoporosis. Not exactly a shining endorsement of the Anderson method."

Don't blame Tracy for Gwyneth's problems; her mother, also an actress, has osteoporosis and this a disease with a high genetic influence. If one of your parents has it or had it, your chances of being affected by it are greater.

Don't assume that everybody that lifts HEAVY, will never get osteopenia or osteoporosis, and don't assume that people that don’t lift HEAVY will automatically be affected by it. Race (actually African Americans are at a lower risk), smoking, low vitamin D, use of steroids, pre and post menopause, etc, are also risks factor.

I don’t' agree at all with Tracy' statement, at least not as reported in the OP, but this self-centered-holy- than-thou LIFT HEAVY attitude is getting out of hand.

Stop demonizing people than doesn't do your same workouts or lift HEAVY as you do; and stop body shaming Hollywood people by calling them anorexic. I thought that body shaming was not allowed in MFP, I guess that I was wrong; it is allowed when it is convenient to some of you.

We are shaming the workout, not the body.

One way to prevent/delay osteoporosis is exercising.

http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/tc/osteoporosis-prevention

"Get regular exercise. Weight-bearing exercises, such as walking, jogging, stair climbing, dancing, or weight lifting, keep bones healthy by working the muscles and bones against gravity."

My mother was a runner for a long time (until arthritic toes made it too difficult). Her bone scans show that her lower body bone density is great, but her upper body is not so hot. Now she lifts weights specifically to help the upper body bone density.

You don't have to do nothing and and blame it on genetics. Sometime I wonder if it really is genetics or just poor habits learned from our ancestors.

postrockandcats

"...because it won't get you the body you want and it results in injury". That's what Tracy Anderson just said on Piers Morgan Live...I swear...how can she be so successful in her business and trusted by so many people? :huh:

LOL! Today I lugged 40-pound bags of salt and 60 pound bags of quikcrete at work. And then I'll hit the gym in the morning. My only excess bulk is the remaining fat in my belly area.

Other people's children.

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MisterDerpington

I will say that Tracy Anderson is a heavenly blessed beauty. But her awesomeness has a lot more to do with diet, genetics, and the overall care of herself than it does lifting.

And I can show just as many good looking women that lift real weights. Being a "fitness entrepreneur" (according to Wikipedia) doesn't mean much.