Tracy Anderson has built a name for herself — and six studios, including two in New York City — as a fitness trainer.
The main clientele for her dance cardio classes has been women, including the occasional celeb (Gwyneth Paltrow and Lena Dunham are champions of the Tracy Anderson Method). With her latest book, though, she’s hoping to inspire a whole new generation.
“Total Teen” (out Dec. 26, $19.99, Rodale Kids), geared toward preteen and teenage girls, is Anderson’s guide to “health, happiness and ruling your world.”
There are recipes for yogurt parfaits, Asian-style stir-fried vegetables and chocolate protein smoothies; cheat-sheets to buying organic fruits, vegetables and meats; tips on checking in on your emotional health; and — the meat of the book — signature exercises to get teens moving with plank walks, arm twists, rib cage dances and leg kicks.
Anderson hopes to set readers up for a lifelong wellness habit.
“If you take care of yourself now, you can take care of yourself forever,” said Anderson, whose first foray into targeting teens was the 2012 DVD set “Teen Meta.”
Anderson, who has a teenage son herself, as well as a 5-year-old daughter, wanted to have a trusted relationship with the reader.
“It’s a little like a textbook, and it’s like that on purpose because I think it should be that they’re learning,” she said. “I didn’t want it to be like, ‘Hey, I’m your girlfriend.’ I wanted it to be more aspirational and more tutorial.”
She also wanted the book to be fun, with an emphasis on her colorful fashion throughout the photographed step-by-step exercise guides.
“I felt like it was important just because teens need to have the permission to still show off their personality in the workouts,” Anderson said. “You put a uniform on for sports, but your uniform for your own workout can be creative and fun. It’s OK to put fashion in there. And it’s OK to want to look and feel your best, whatever that may be. I definitely wanted to have a little bit of fun with that.”
Anderson isn’t done with this demographic just yet. In February, the fitness trainer, who first brought her workouts online in 2014 with her real-time streaming service, will launch streaming classes designed for teenagers on her website, tracyanderson.com.
There will be a new class each week for beginner and advanced levels, with a focus on creating balance, she said.
“It’s just like learning a foreign language — you have to show up for that class over and over and over, and you need to stay focused on the same language,” Anderson said. “They will be on a journey — each week the content changes. They will have the ability to learn some routines.”
Anderson’s workouts aren’t known to be wallet-friendly — studio memberships start at $900 a month — but she has affordability in mind for the teen classes; subscriptions will be about $39.99 a month (versus $90 a month for her regular streaming service), she said.
“I wanted to show that they don’t need fancy gym memberships,” Anderson said.
