The Ballecore(r) Workout: Integrating Pilates, Hatha Yoga, and Ballet in an Innovative Exercise Routine for All Fitness Levels

First the quibbles: -The title is a bit misleading - yoga is not much of a presence on the book (One short chapter I think.) The bulk is Pilates and dance based moves. -I found that the workouts take longer than the time allotted - even allowing for a learning curve with any new routine. -Descriptions of the exercises and photos are not always as clear as I had hoped - from time to time I had to puzzle over what I was supposed to do. However, having said that, this book does provide some nice variations on Pilates mat work, especially some moves that help build balance. Balletcore provides a good stretching and flexibility programme - not so much on strength building, or cardio fat-burning exercise. I mostly use the Brooke Siler mat book, and then for my arms the Denise Austin ball and band book (yes somewhere a Pilates purist *is* shuddering). I don't rely on this Ballecore in the same way, and don't very often refer to it - but I don't regret having it on hand either.

This is a great book to get back to the basics of strengthening your core and working on stretching. There are a lot of photos, and the explanations of exercises are very informative and easily understood. Great introduction. This book is particularly good for dancers at all levels

I've been aware of this book since it came out. Molly Weeks was one of the participants on the original Method show several years ago, and I was not surprised that she, too, had developed an exercise system that combined yoga, Pilates and ballet as Jennifer Kries did a few years ago. When this came out, I only briefly skimmed it and it didn't grab me, so I didn't read it very carefully. However, a few days ago I decided to give this one a chance, and now I am impressed. Unlike most of the other Pilates-writers out there, Weeks' does not have a background in performance. Her exposure to ballet is through classes- the way most of her readers might hope to be exposed as well. The same can be said of her yoga experience, although she is a fully certified Pilates teacher, through Romana no less. In other words, she has the credentials to come up with a system. The system itself is Warm Up, Core Pilates, Stretching, Hips and Buttocks, Floor Ballet, Back, Standing Ballet, Ballet Combinations, Hatha Yoga and Cool Down. As you can see, the majority of the work is influenced by ballet, although the Hips and Buttocks and Floor Ballet segments combine techniques from the other disciplines as well. Although all of the segments are well-thought out and illustrated, the ones that I found most helpful were the Floor Ballet and Ballet Combinations. I have not seen many of the exercises from the Floor Ballet segments elsewhere, and I find them to be really effective. The Ballet Combinations were both new and inspirational. Although I wouldn't go so far as to say that I felt like a dancer doing them, these exercises did provide that element that I've been looking for in my own exercise routine, and I look forward to doing them again. This is a great supplement to your other workout regimens, but I feel it can also stand on its own.