For core, I love Pilates. A good instructor can make the class puke-your-guts-out intense, no matter what's your fitness level.

Sitting on my ass imagining myself at the Aikido class.

Second the Pilates. I especially like it because it's easy to tell when your form is correct and when it isn't. Because if you're not praying for mercy after 5 minutes, you're not doing right.

Probably. It's a strengthen-while-you-stretch style of exercise, much like yoga. I used to have terrible stiffness after runs, but after I started Pilates, I stopped having that problem. (These days I do more yoga, but the effect is the same.) I believe I'm younger than you are, and also female, so YMMV. But there's no harm in trying it out.

Yeah, Pilates is great. Be sure to wear your cutest leotard and put a pink scrunchy in your hair. Match your leg warmers for some extra flair. Estrogen supplements might also be helpful, if you're not on them already.

There are all sorts of workouts that you can do to build your core while without sacrificing your dudeness. Try this:

1. Do ten pushups with one leg raised, alternate the leg your raise with each rep, and keep your back straight

2. Flip over and do twenty situps, hands crossed over chest and gripping your shoulders, going down just far enough to barely touch the ground, and coming up just far enough to barely touch your elbows to your legs--keeping tension on the abs is the goal

3. Straighten your legs and do twenty flutter kicks (legs straight, toes pointed, six inches off the ground, small kicks like you were swimming)

4. Hop up on the pullup bar and do five leg lifts (legs straight, toes pointed, lift your legs until your feet are at eye level or higher)

Do as many sets as you can in ten minutes. Intensity is key but don't sacrifice form.

Lol. One of my coworkers has been giving me crap about driving a Mini CooperS. As I told him, being firm in the knowledge that I can kick his ass gives me a certain sense of security in my masculinity. So I'm not exactly threatened by yoga, piliates, or step aerobics classes.

That said, your ghetto core routine sounds intriguiging.

Bullshark testosterone, injected directly into the eyeball. Can't beat it. And if you try, my god, how we will fight about it.

I generally just wrestle bulls to the ground, hunt jaguars, you know. The usual. But yeah, if you like "Pilates", I guess that's fine too.

That's it, this thread is going to P&C!

...You mean it's not a disease, like rickets or shingles?

"Yeah, I was talking to Joe the other day and he's not doing so good. He's got a bad case of pilates all over his ass."

I would highly recommend taking at least a couple classes at a dedicated Pilates studio, even some one-on-ones, so you can get the basics of form down. A class at the Y won't be as good, since it's probably taught by someone who just took an 8 week course rather than actually study the practice extensively (not to mention you won't get as much personal attention). And DVDs are 100% worthless if you don't already know what you're doing.

That said, the basic gist of the moves is easy to pick up. It's doing them properly that's the hard part. Just keep in mind that if you can manage to coast through a class, your form sucks and you're not doing it right.

Said like someone who's too chicken to actually try out a class at a studio.

Plenty of women do Pilates. (Aside: Any man in a Pilates class would have to look at women with tight, lean bodies in Spandex! Oh darn.) But I've seen lots of men, too, and I think it actually works better for them, because they seem to approach it in the right way. That is: Like a workout, one with sweating and huffing and grunting, rather than some dainty way to pass an hour while lying on the floor.

For what it's worth, my old Pilates instructor was a former boxer. (And he was in his 60s, but had a better body than a man in his 20's. It's crazy what Pilates can do for you.)