I think it is a misnomer to say that ballet, barre and pilates exercises make muscles lean while typical weight training makes muscles short, thick and maybe we are thinking the dreaded "bulky" here?
All these forms of exercise are resistance training, and as such, they work to strengthen muscles and improve their endurance: their ability to perform harder tasks, bearing more weight versus their ability to perform those tasks repeatedly. Resistance training is resistance training, it has the same effects upon muscles whether you use body weight (pilates, Ilaria's Bodystrikes, etc) or dumbbells.
What ballet and pilates type resistance exercises incorporate within the sequences of moves that typical weight training does not is stretching. So, if pilates seems to build leaner muscles than weight training it is because a lot of stretching is incorporated into the workout. You could do Cathe's ME workout coupled with several yoga workouts and get the same effect.
Don't be fooled: ballet dancers have extremely muscular legs, which seem long because they spend so much time pointing their toes and on pointe.
People making pilates DVDs and offering pilates workouts at studios all seem to have that currently popular "lean, dancer's body," which by the way, is actually solid lower body muscle, just skinny at arms and shoulders, because they are dancers already who have sought out pilates for several reasons: it is suited to help them overcome injuries and it features a high degree of isometric exercises which form the mainstay of ballet workouts and barre exercises. It is not coincidence that people drift towards certain types of exercise over others because they naturally have that type of body that lends itself towards certain activities and naturally choose that sort of exercise, which they find easier than other forms.
So, short answer: you can indeed do pilates, yoga, barre workouts and Cathe type weight training each week and achieve spectacular results as long as you are achieving a balance between adding resistance to the muscle (either through high repetitions of isometric exercises or adding moderate to heavy weights) and stretching it through yoga or pilates, etc. They are not un-complementary movements. Pilates focuses on all three glute muscles to a greater extent than most weight training DVDs and this will help create better aesthetic shape and stability if you are a runner. Pilates will give you a strong core that is complementary to any movement and sport or activity you choose to do. More athletes incorporate pilates and/or yoga into their training all the time because they strengthen stabilizer muscles that prevent injury during sporting performance and aid in balance while providing greater flexibility. You will not undo the work of one exercise type by engaging in another. It is all good. And your bones need it all. I wouldn't sacrifice weight training for an all exclusive pilates program.
Whether you achieve that "lean, dancer's body" does not depend upon whether you do pilates and barre workouts versus weight training. You can get that body, or an approximation to it, with both methods. How close you get to that popular ideal depends upon genetics, consistency of training, diet and nutrition and scheduling rest days for your muscles. It is equally possible to find a pilates instructor who does not double for Brooke Siler or Ana Caban as it is to find a weight training instructor who does.
This is my understanding. Cathe would probably tell you: do it all, shock your body!
Clare
