Hi guys
I have Tonique's few DVDs. I really like her style and thousands of NONSTOP reps she does but her workouts are really really long and I can't get myself to do more than an hour workout, not more than once a week, so I usually end up doing something under an hour. I really want to trim my lower body. My thighs are buffed and I look like quadzilla [emoji15] these days, since I did body beast's rotation [emoji6]. Actually I love lifting heavy, specifically my lower body [emoji33] [emoji6][emoji6][emoji6].
I really need some suggestions. I'm thinking of buying Tracy Anderson's metamorphosis series. I don't care about her cardio in this series because I don't like dance cardio (I can do my own 30 mins cardio) I'm thinking this for toning purpose. I really want to know that how you guys compare Tracy Anderson's metamorphosis HIPCENTRIC (because I'm pear shaped) to Tonique's workouts?
Is it worth buying!!! It's almost $60 on Amazon or should I buy Tonique's Born To Move or Tonique's Royale!
Please any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you
Rafia
Looking at Tonique in-depth today via YouTube, it reminds me tremendously of classic aerobics classes from the 80's. I don't mean that as a slam, I enjoy that element! Put some leg warmers and a leotard on her, get her a perm, put on some more makeup, there would be huge similarities to Jaime Lee Curtis' class in the film
Perfect,
Flashdance, Bess Motta's Showtime workouts, or the really early FIRM routines.
I can see why Sylvia's method would work beautifully for some, while for others the immense amount of lunges and squats and curtsy dips would overdevelop the quadriceps and possibly underdevelop the hamstrings. She does such a high volume of reps. Her form is a little imprecise on some moves, at least for my body type- I'd have to be a bit more cautious than she is at times. It seems like an awful lot of time put in for results- dare I say, overkill. One must be using incredibly deep form to turn on the glute access fully in lunges, and not rely so much on quad strength- and Sylvia does a LOT of lunges. (Same thing with squats- depending upon leg and foot placement, there's lots of quad work involved.) I personally find it VERY hard, especially in long sets of lunges and quads, to keep from relying heavily on my quads to get through a set. Even just bodyweight lunges are technically using a lot of weight to be performed (well, with me they are, LOL)...I can see how Tonique might create an imbalance, if more hamstring work doesn't get done. Personally, I must balance my heavier quads with a lot of
weighted hamstring work- deadlifts, curls, bridgework with legs closer together, and I de-emphasize using a lot of weight squats and lunges because I'm already adding plenty of built-in weight! Tonique is probably very effective, but my knees hurt just looking at how many lunges, dips, and squats she's performing. I've found that putting on hamstring muscle is MUCH harder than putting on quad muscle. However, that is only my two cents.
(I want to say that I am not de-emphasizing my quad training because I have a problem with them getting bigger in terms of muscle. I don't want to add to the anti-heavy weights mentality for women out there. I love weight-training, and muscle is beautiful, IMHO. I train how I do because my hamstrings are too weak and flexible in comparison to my quads, by nature. It's common in women for quads to be about three times stronger than hamstrings, and that can lead to knee pain down the road.)
Also, Sylvia's back is quite curved in during leg lifts. While this form does allow for greater glute activity (per studies conducted on the muscle activation), it can also create tremendous strain on the lower back. Some people can do this without any issues, but a straight back may be safer in the long run. I didn't see her do any outer thigh or inner thigh leg lifts in any of the workouts I viewed, and they're a must for me to keep sleeker legs.
The first Tonique workout I saw ran about 65 minutes. One ran over two hours. It's an awful lot of jumping jacks, high-impact cardio, lunges, squats, kicks, and curtsy dips. I can tell it's not my thing to use on a regular basis, sorry.
That said, her workouts could be good for cross-training purposes, and I'm sure it works well for some people.
