Silliness from celebrity "trainers"

ItsCasey

Tracy Anderson, trainer to the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Nicole Richie, on women using kettlebells and heavy weight-lifting, in general:

Q:It seems that some people are all about kettle bells while others are diametrically opposed to heavy weight lifting. What’s your stance?

A:I am NOT a fan of kettle bells. Without a truly keen mind/body connection and ability to control swinging weights, you can easily injure yourself: The way that the momentum forces the muscles is a very difficult process to master. And overuse, which comes from constantly swinging in the same rotation, can lead to lasting damage. Kettle balls are also unnecessary, since you can easily get the benefits of incorporating weight and motion in a way that doesn’t add bulk or put your body at risk of injury.

I have occasionally designed programs for men that incorporate kettle bells, but I would never recommend them to women, even for women who are fans of bulkier muscle lines. While bulkier muscle looks OK on women in their 20s and 30s, it doesn’t age well. The sooner you build a long, lean, and feminine arm, the more sustainable the results will be—and with no sacrifice in strength.

Excuse me, but WTF? Why do these people get paid for promoting this nonsense?

Source (if you want to read more of her BS ... she also goes off on how running marathons can make your legs look like a "problem area"): http://www.goop.com/journal/do/210/tracy-anderson-15-minute-workout

wellbert

She caters to a specific crowd. Try and convince people of reality and you will sell far less trianing hours than someone who panders to the false things they already believe.

Erica_theRedhead

I'm sorry, but I've never looked at Nicole Richie and said to myself that "I want that girl's body." I've had people come up to me and ask if I swam in college because of my frame, which I didn't. I choose to continue using my kettle bells thanks.

LoraF83

She caters to a specific crowd. Try and convince people of reality and you will sell far less trianing hours than someone who panders to the false things they already believe.

This.

ItsCasey

It's funny you mentioned swimming because my sister told me I had "swimmer's shoulders." I've been training with kettlebells for 2 years, and I understand what she's talking about with the possibility of injury if you aren't doing the movements properly ... but that's true for any form of exercise. If you don't do it correctly, you can get hurt. Does that mean we should just not exercise? No. It means we should take the time to learn how to do it right.

The thing about Tracy Anderson's workouts is that they burn a ton of calories. She prescribes 90 minutes of constant movement to her clients and a very low-calorie diet. I read that when you put her daily diet recommendations into a calorie calculator, it amounts to 650 to 700 calories per day. Of course that works for these actresses who need to drop weight very quickly for a movie or photo shoot. It doesn't work for someone who is overweight and needs to make changes they can live with forever.

But mostly, it just really pisses me off that she calls herself a trainer and then peddles these nonsensical ideas that RUNNING will give you big thighs or that there is such a thing as "feminine muscle" or that women shouldn't use the same training tools men use, or else we'll get really huge and won't "age well," whatever the hell that means. There is enough garbage in the women's "fitness" magazines that promotes female weakness and capitalizes on insecurities without having high-profile "trainers" saying things that defy reality.

Mokey41

AS one of those older women, I sort of know what she means. As you age your skin loses elasticity and and if you go really low BF% you lose the fat pad under your skin. Having muscle definition is nice but it can look kind of ropey if you aren't careful. Madonna's arms are a great example. She's lean and mean but it's muscle and bone with veins sticking out which I don't find attractive.

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BODuGiM15oA/TJUa9i7hr6I/AAAAAAAAAF4/yHMBgoD9WIc/s400/madonna-arms-82780887.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ballet*****assoluta.blogspot.com/2010/09/arms-race.html&h=293&w=327&sz=25&tbnid=FjPGY-EEZARUUM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=100&zoom=1&usg=__gnTAtGHBlnNCQAvIK1fw2ThJB3c=&docid=nMbL8Ukbc29sQM&sa=X&ei=c9UKUcHiJ8Si2AXclYGIDg&ved=0CDcQ9QEwAg&dur=33

ItsCasey

And when Madonna is 80 and she falls down, she'll be able to pick herself up and go on about her life. She won't be in need of a hip replacement and a month-long hospital stay. That's what I call aging well. I couldn't care less whether or not someone thinks my muscular arms are attractive. That is exactly what I'm talking about when I say these vultures promote weakness and prey on insecurities.

Muscle is muscle. She, and others like her, present women with this false choice between "bulky muscle" and "lean muscle" and claim that it's all a function of what kind of training you do, and the truth is that it is pretty much ONLY a function of your diet. Muscle is, by definition, lean. Can you make your muscles bigger by lifting heavy weights? Sure, if you're also eating at a constant surplus, and even then, the growth, in a woman, is not going to be anything crazy without the help of steroids. If you're eating the diet she recommends, you'll be lucky to have any muscle to speak of. Her clients are losing muscle AND strength, so I'm done hearing how dance aerobics can give you "smaller, more feminine muscles without loss of strength."