"I had a 40-pound weight gain. I was dancing a lot and my body was changing and not in a good way - genetics plays such a strong role."

Tracy had such great results herself that Tinseltown soon caught on to her revolutionary exercise plan.

And what's it like to train with the Celebrity Queen of fitness, Madonna?

Tracy says: "It comes down to whether or not you are a hard worker and someone who puts in 100 per cent.

Tracy helped Gwyneth Paltrow (above) shed her baby belly

"With my workouts, you have to be motivated and consistent."

These days, she even says no to the rich and famous: "I turn down celebrities who I don't believe are committed.

"I prefer to train with the dedicated.2

While you may not be able to hire Tracy as a personal trainer or afford your own Pilates Reformer machine, you can still benefit from her programme at home.

Just follow the exercises below that she has devised specially for Lifestyle to get a bikini body in no time.

Try the dancer's workout at home

You really need to do 100 repetitions of all of these - none of this 20 repeats at a time.

It doesn't work. But if you can't start with 100, work up to it. Start with 20 and then move to 40 then 60 and then 100. You should be doing 100 within a couple of weeks.

¡¤Ballerina's Second Position Grand Plies are wonderful. This is where you stand with your heels apart and your feet are slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.

Bend your legs while your upper body stays straight. This works your butt, inner and outer thighs and lower abs.

¡¤For a super-toned abdomen do sit-ups with your legs apart and straight out and on the floor. As you crunch up, lift one leg 6in up in the air.

Then crunch again and lift the other leg. You want your legs to be apart and not together because as you lift you will hit those tiny muscles by the hips which give great "V-shaped" definition to the abs.

¡¤Another great exercise to give you definition in those hard-to-reach lower abs is piking.

Lying down on the floor on your back, hold onto a couch above your head or even the legs on a chair.

Lift your legs straight up together. Start on the floor and raise your legs together up to 90 degrees and then bring down to 6in off the floor.

Never let them touch the floor before going right back up again. Your legs should be straight with your toes pointed. And don't let your upper body come up off the ground.

¡¤For toned arms, raise your arms straight above your head and then bring them down slowly (they should be straight out at your sides in a T position) until they are at your waist.

Then lift them up again to your shoulder level. After holding for a few seconds lift them up again above your head and repeat.

You can also try starting with arms shoulder level and straight out in the T position, then with your hands out at your side curl them up like you're going to scratch your armpit with your hands.

This way you're getting to the top of the shoulder and working your biceps in a long, lean way.

You're getting at the triceps but also the hook in your armpit to get at that pocket where many women store fat (that little pocket that hangs over on the side when you're wearing a strapless bra).

After this bring your arms straight up above your head with arms out straight in a 'V' position.

¡¤In order to lose fat you should combine these with an aerobic exercise every day, either using Tracy's dance DVD or 60 minutes of aerobic circuit training (five minutes of jumping rope, five minutes of sprinting, five minutes of star jumps, five minutes jumping on a trampoline and then start over again).

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