Social Workout

Batwings

Gwyneth's Tracy Anderson Bootleg Video

Last we checked in with Tracy Anderson, she was getting sued by her ex husband and breaking up with Madonna. Well, today begins the counter-offensive, courtesy of Gwyneth, who has rallied a crew of celebrity buddies — Courtney Cox, Donna Karan, and Kristen Davis, among others — to give Tracy testimonials in the latest issue of Goop. Gwyneth also includes the following down-homey video of Tracy demonstrating a Tracy workout; which workout, G. says, she "did every day preparing for Iron Man," and which apparently solved her "batwing problem." TMI?! The workout looks sort of sexy and fun. It also looks like Tracy is desperately trying to communicate, via erratic arm waving, with a visiting space alien. Given that she's got mirrors on all sides, that may not be far from the truth. Oh snap!

Wake Up Call

On Self Expression

I am my own experiment. I am my own work of art.

~ Madonna

Insiders

Elizabeth Ordway Speaks

Elizabeth Ordway, Hollywood personal trainer to the stars, stopped by Social Workout HQ yesterday morning, fresh from a Pilates master class at Re:AB on Bleeker Street. Elizabeth's home gym is Private Fitness in West Hollywood, otherwise known as the "Gym on Nemo," where one might spot Cameron Diaz, Charlize Theron, or any number of Hollywood studio rainmakers. She comes to New York, "literally, just to work out," and stay in touch with the fitness and Pilates scene here. I grilled her for the inside dope on classes and teachers in New York and L.A., and, of course, on Madonna and Tracy Anderson whose Tribeca studio she just toured....

On NYC vs. L.A.: The best fitness trainers in L.A. have come from New York. I think the best Pilates teachers are in New York. Pilates started here. East Coast Pilates is a workout. There are routines. There's a flow. West Coast is physical therapy. Most West Coast teachers have to re-certify under classical Pilates to teach in New York.

In New York, I go to Re:AB. Brooke Siler is great. She's the author of Pilates Body, which is still the best Pilates book out there. I also go to Grasshopper Pilates. And I try to make it to see Brett Hoebel. He does capoeira and trains the Victoria Secret models. My favorite Pilates teacher in New York, though, is George Manles. He's in his 80s and worked with Joseph Pilates himself. But George can be very inappropriate. He lives on the Upper West side. We work out and then go to dinner. When you're looking for a teacher, try and see how many generations they are away from Romana or Pilates himself. It's only 100 years old, so you can do that. I also wanted to go do yoga with Dharma Mittra on this visit, but I ran out of time.

On the San Francisco: I did Pilates at Ellie Herman in San Francisco. (There's an Ellie Herman in Brooklyn too.)  And also at Mercury Fitness. In San Francisco, they work people out, but they've lost the technique.

Tracy Chronicles

Tracy "Roxy Hart" Anderson Sued by Machinist Ex

From just some dumb mechanic's wife...
I'm gonna be a celebrity,
That means somebody everyone knows
They're gonna recognise my eyes,
My hair, my teeth, my boobs, my nose.

She arrived in L.A. from Indianapolis with nothing but a suitcase and a whole lot of perfectly toned accessory muscles. Glynn Barber, "engineer/machinist" fell in love. He would build the exercise equipment, and she would sell it to celebrities, and on cable, and they would make love in Malibu beach houses or at the Chateau Marmont. She talked to him about the "Tracy Anderson Method," but didn't mention the method left a trail of angry people and large unpaid bills. "Tracy absolutely has some voodoo capability," Barber says now, in court papers. But then it was all just a beautiful future, and ecstatic workouts. Soon she was training Gwyneth and Madonna, and appearing on the Today show TV in fake lashes. She was cute, and also hot, and mixed dancing with fitness. Nevermind that she enraged fitness blogs with her promise that all women could have Beyonce's butt, and her warnings not to lift too much weight lest they "bulk up."

Hot Clothes

Suddenly Stella

Stella McCartney’s partnership with Adidas is nothing new (she’s been designing for them since February 2005), but I've never gone there. I'm a old-tanktop-and-linty-sweats yogi, and have yet to cross the spendy workout clothing hurdle. I like the idea of mixing high fashion with an old school sport brand, though. Original, if high risk. I've always loved Stella’s stuff, but what does she know about sweat? I've been curious. Recently Tracy Anderson, (yes, of Gwyneth and Madonna fame), has started consulting on the line, which means it's officially Social Workout business.

So, I stopped by the flagship Adidas store on Houston and Broadway today to investigate, and, after brief conversation with uninformed employee, found myself standing in the Stella McCartney section.