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The Core Performance: The Revolutionary Workout Program to Transform Your Body & Your Life

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4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
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The Core Performance: The Revolutionary Workout Program to Transform Your Body & Your Life + Core Performance Essentials: The Revolutionary Nutrition and Exercise Plan Adapted for Everyday Use + Core Performance Endurance: A New Training and Nutrition Program That Revolutionizes Your Workouts
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is the best decision I have ever made with regard to improving and educating myself as an athlete . . ." -- Mia Hamm, Olympic and world-champion soccer player

"This program has transformed me . . . into one of the best-conditioned players in Major League Baseball." -- Nomar Garciaparra, professional baseball player

"This program has transformed me from a skinny college baseball player with little power into one of the best-conditioned players in Major League Baseball." --Nomar Garciaparra, professional baseball player


This program has transformed me from a skinny college baseball player with little power into one of the best-conditioned players in Major League Baseball. (Nomar Garciaparra, professional baseball player ) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

By Mark Verstegen and Pete Williams; Foreword by Nomar Garciaparra
"This program has transformed me from a skinny college baseball player with little power into one of the best-conditioned players in Major League Baseball." --Nomar Garciaparra, shortstop, Chicago Cubs

"This is the best decision I have ever made with regard to improving and educating myself as an athlete. I just wish I had made it sooner."--Mia Hamm, Olympic and world-champion soccer player
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Rodale Books (April 14, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1594861684
  • ISBN-13: 978-1594861680
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,233 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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More About the Authors

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Pete Williams
Pete Williams
Mark Verstegen
Mark Verstegen

Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Over the past decade, I've helped people from all walks of life perform betternot just in sports but also in their daily lives. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
core workout, core performance, split squat, bench press, forward lunge, lateral lunge, pushup plus, russian twist, energy system development, lateral roll, reverse crunch, split jump, leg curl, lateral bound, base rotation, target your problem areas, preworkout shooter, postworkout recovery mix, postworkout recovery shake, coaching key, foam roll, cardio work, shoulder stability, featuring video, athletic position
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Movement Prep, Total Time, Physioball Routine, Hip Crossover, Pillar Bridge Side, Glute Bridge, Pillar Bridge Front, Exercise Week, Hand Walk, Backward Lunge, Drop Lunge, Lactate Capacity, Rope Hamstring, Foam Hamstring, Quadruped Rocking, Rope Calf, Rope Triceps, Foam Back, Rope Adductors, Exercise Short, Foam Quad, Foam Glute, Sumo Squat-to-Stand, Romanian Deadlift, Pullover Extension
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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The Core Performance: The Revolutionary Workout Program to Transform Your Body & Your Life
80% buy the item featured on this page:
The Core Performance: The Revolutionary Workout Program to Transform Your Body & Your Life 4.2 out of 5 stars (74)
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Core Performance Essentials: The Revolutionary Nutrition and Exercise Plan Adapted for Everyday Use
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Core Performance Essentials: The Revolutionary Nutrition and Exercise Plan Adapted for Everyday Use 4.5 out of 5 stars (21)
$13.57
Core Performance Endurance: A New Training and Nutrition Program That Revolutionizes Your Workouts
4% buy
Core Performance Endurance: A New Training and Nutrition Program That Revolutionizes Your Workouts 4.0 out of 5 stars (3)
$13.57
Core Performance Women: Burn Fat and Build Lean Muscle
4% buy
Core Performance Women: Burn Fat and Build Lean Muscle
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Customer Reviews

74 Reviews
5 star:
 (45)
4 star:
 (13)
3 star:
 (6)
2 star:
 (8)
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 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (74 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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146 of 154 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars 5 / 5 for the program but only 3 or 4 for presentation, June 18, 2004
By Simon Pearce (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Core Performance: The Revolutionary Workout Program to Transform Your Body and Your Life (Hardcover)
Having read other reviews and having followed the 12 week program for 9 weeks so far (and counting), I can make the following comments:

The positives...

1. The program itself is very effective - it really works the whole body and not just the "obvious" muscles favored by traditional strength training. There are some great exercises in here. If you are serious about conditioning your body, buy this book - no question

2. Some people will not be able to follow the entire program, but I do believe that, even if you don't have the time or willpower to work out six days a week, the routines can still be useful to you in a three or four day a week version.

3. OK, it does take time to work it all out...this is not a simple program and not for a novice to working out. If you are novice, this book will freak you out and probably doom you to failure. Newbies should start with something more simple, if you successfully follow a simpler program for 6-12 months, come back to this book at that time. For the more experienced among you: take the time to work out what the program demands of you, you will be rewarded for your efforts!!

So, having endorsed the overall effectiveness of the book, here's where I think Mark could improve before releasing another book.

1. The science is a little flimsy: Other reviewers have raised legitimate concerns...people like me who are prepared to spend 6 days a week working out want to understand the theory behind it all a bit better. I really hoped for a better understanding of how these exercises impact my musculo-skeletal system. Mark should co-write another version (or another book) with an experienced Chiropractor in order to solve that part of it.

2. Some of the instructions are not specific enough: there are exercises on the worksheets that are not explained properly earlier on in the book (e.g. the bridging adduction). Also, it is not always clear how long to hold certain stretches or movements for maximum effect. Timing is only made really clear in the strength and elasticity modules. There is no discussion about how you should think about increasing or reducing weight as you change the number of repetitions.

All in all, an excellent effort, but I am left wondering if I am doing some of this "the right way" and also wondering about the science that would explain why the program is effective, which might help me to better customize the plan to my unique needs after I "finish" the 12th week. Despite my criticisms, I would add that this is the best book I have seen on this topic.

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67 of 68 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent workout, but understand the limitations, August 16, 2005
This review is from: Core Performance: The Revolutionary Workout Program to Transform Your Body and Your Life (Hardcover)
As background, I'm a late thirties guy who has generally been active in fitness and recreational sports, but I've been out of competitive athletics since college. As such, I started with a good-but-not-great level of fitness.

My reasons for starting included boredom with my routine of weightlifting and kickboxing on alternate days, as well as some reading about the merits of core conditioning as a training approach. I enjoyed this program from the beginning. I could detect improvements in flexibility and abdominal strength within a few workouts. Also, the variety was intellectually stimulating. I used the program for about 9 weeks, took a break from it, and returned. Now I am not quite as strict in sticking to the schedules lined out in the book, but rather work them in with other workouts as time and interest allow.

Strengths:
1) The workouts are rigorous and concise. They seldom exceed 45 minutes if you stick to the rules about the amount of rest between sets, but you feel like you have had a good workout.
2) The program works. It helped with overall fitness and sport-specific fitness in soccer and karate. I literally have felt better and fitter than I have in years.
3) The complaint about the science of the book is being answered as research catches up with this training approach. Dynamic stretching, "core" exercises and interval training are showing up in research studies and in professional training rooms. I don't think a reader needs to feel that this is an "out there" approach to fitness.

Weakness:
1) The typos should be embarrassing. Most of the time you can figure out what the author meant, but the website is full of people writing in and asking for clarification.
2) The illustrations leave some doubt as to how the exercises should be performed. I recommend getting the free 1-week trial from the website and checking out the videos of the movements for all of the exercises.
3) The diet recommendations are not too easy to follow if you have a family. It ended up being too much of a hassle to be eating completely at odds with mine, so I generally didn't follow this part.
4) You must be OK with the idea that you are doing exercises that nobody else in the gym is doing. Sometimes folks will ask about it, which can be fun or not, depending on your mood.
5) The circuit exercises are difficult to perform in a crowded gym. They require rotating rapidly between two or more pieces of equipment, and it's hard to do this without inconveniencing someone.
6) Finally, a word about the pay website - it sure looks like a beta version to me. I'd recommend waiting for version 2.0 before considering joining.

So if you are reasonably fit and looking for a challenge, and you don't mind some minor irritations, I think it is a great program.
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41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Liked the book, love the CD, December 3, 2005
The only reason I didnt give the book 5 stars is that the CD is much more effective. If you are already sold on core training and looking for a comprehensive exercise plan, just buy the CD. The extra money the CD costs will save you many hours trying to understand. Getting all the exercises right from a few photos is difficult. And the CD has pdf files for the exercise logs, just print and your exercise logs are ready. A big time saver because there are about 50 exercises in each phase of 3 phases. Buying the CD will save you time and ensure more effective exercising.

The CD videos give you a clear visualization of the movements and the timing needed to perform correctly. They are short clips, with both front and side views. From using the book some two months I was confident that I was close to doing most things right. I wasn't. Even my trainer guessed wrong on the one exercise I asked him about. It was a pylometric exercise, and figuring pylos out from a few photos is not going to happen - unless you are a Michelangelo of physical training. Even the exercises that were similar to what my trainer had shown me were not completely like my assumptions. For example, exercises that I assumed were isometric, were not. Many of the exercises were more powerful and graceful than I had imagined.

The plan depends on 7 different kinds of exercise. They are:

1. Movement Prep 2. Prehab 3. Phsyioball 4. Elasticity 5. Strength 6. Energy Systems Development, and 7. Regeneration.

One reviewer complained about the nomenclature of the exercises. The renaming was necessary so that the objective of the exercises is clear. For example, "movement Prep" is stretching, but it is stretching with the purpose of developing the flexibility to move. "Prehab" is exercises to strengthen shoulders, hips, and spine to make them injury resistant and its a great concept - do your "prehab" exercises and avoid doing ""rehab" exercises.. "Elasticity" is not called "pylometrics" because "Elasticity" emphasizes the objective of elastic muscle to achieve speed and strength. And "Energy Systems Development" is a plan to develop capabilities to challenge your lactate threshold(3 mins) of high intensity), your alactate threshold, 12 seconds of high intensity, and your aerobic threshold, intensity beyond three minutes. Renaming was necessary to make the theme of this exercise program clear.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Can't say it works if you can't make heads or tails of the workouts
Somebody take note for the next edition. Scrap the entire Worksheet section and try again. There's no way to make sense of this bizarre confusion of grids and lists... Read more
Published 1 month ago by M. Fisher

2.0 out of 5 stars Great In Concept, Exceptionally Difficult To Actually Use
This is a great book in concept, but next to impossible to actually use unless you bring the entire book in with you and/or memorize all the workouts, routines, and exercises... Read more
Published 3 months ago by W. Hall

5.0 out of 5 stars Life changing book!!
I was refered to this book by a friend at my gym. I had hurt my lower back surfing and was in a lot of pain. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Brett H. Deinum

5.0 out of 5 stars The Core Performance
The book was recommed to me by a Chiropractor. I received it very quickly and I'm enjoying this book. Thanks
Published 5 months ago by Angel M. Dadabo

5.0 out of 5 stars Great information, very challenging to incorporate all aspects though
The book in a nutshell - instead of doing the same boring routine every day strengthening the large, showy muscles, grow the "core" muscles that support the larger ones. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Stronger Faster

5.0 out of 5 stars Core Performance- By Mark Verstegen
Great book with practical ideas to get your body moving and in shape. Pre movement activities phase is especially helpful for people who haven't been working out. Read more
Published 6 months ago by bobrum

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent - Easy to Follow Color Photos, Motivational, Novel
This book is an great guide to a "new" (potentially) way of thinking about exercise, including preventing injuries, regenerating your body after workouts, and changing your... Read more
Published 9 months ago by J. Cromer

3.0 out of 5 stars Solid book however, a little out-dated
This is a good book, very easy read. I heard a lot of good things about this book, and finally made the purchase. NOTE: book was written in 2004, so keep that in mind. Read more
Published 12 months ago by JMJ

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book for Serious Fitness Users
This book is great, because the core is so important. In this day in age you hear so much about hip replacements or backs being thrown out. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Jesse M. Festa

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic results!
This program has helped me lose the "last 10 pounds." My muscle tone has improved by leaps and bounds as has my balance and flexibility. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Sally Glade

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