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

by Molly Weeks (Author) "I have been involved in some sort of physical activity-whether playing a sport, or taking aerobics or dance classes-since I was a child..." (more)
Key Phrases: full body control, ballet barre, straighten your legs, Core Curl-Up, Side Angle Pose, Transitional Move (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
“In this groundbreaking new book, Molly Weeks presents a unique exercise program that helps build core strength, increase flexibility, and reduce stress. This book is an excellent tool for beginning and intermediate Yoga and Pilates students–and a must have for all athletes who wish to balance their current exercise routine.”
–Miriam Austin, bestselling author of Yoga for Wimps and Cool Yoga Tricks

Product Description
BalleCore is unique in that it combines three tried-and-true disciplines into one optimal workout. Pilates strengthens and stretches the major muscles, activates your core (the band of muscles below your chest), and energizes your body. Hatha yoga helps quiet the mind through breath, fortifies the nervous system, builds stamina, and produces mental equilibrium. Ballet increases blood flow, develops poise, promotes good posture, and improves balance.

Fitness dynamo and faculty member of the Boston Ballet for the past seven years, Molly Weeks is the woman behind BalleCore. She has chosen an array of effective exercises from each of these three disciplines to create a fulfilling workout that can easily be done in your own home and in under an hour. The results?

• Reduce backaches and stress
• Develop stature, support the spine, and feel steady on your feet
• Sculpt your arms, legs, hips, and core–and look trimmer than ever
• Loosen those tight spots in the shoulders, neck, and joints
• Gain an incredible sense of ease throughout your body
• Experience inner calm, self-confidence, and renewed optimism

With step-by-step instructions and profusely illustrated with helpful photographs, The BalleCore Workout® is the ultimate path to good health, longevity, and mind/body wellness. Remember: 50 minutes a day can change your life!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (March 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345471903
• ISBN-13: 978-0345471901
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #228,837 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Emphasis on ballet over Pilates and yoga, but well done, June 4, 2007

By	dnk "dnkboston" (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as I'd hoped, March 2, 2009

By	Leonie Dukes "Leonie booklover" (Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As I fondly remember the ballet classes I had when I was younger, I was dissapointed to find that the exercises in this book actually have little resemlance to ballet exercises.

The "barre" in this program is in most instances just a substitute for weights, and most of the exercices are floor work, and not the sort of exercises I am used to while standing at the barre.

I am unlikely to use most of the exercices in this book.

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good..........3.5, June 29, 2009

By	reader - See all my reviews

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.