I know what you’re thinking: not another *trendy* workout class. I get it. However, Pvolve brings something different to the table, not just aesthetics.
When Rachel Katzman and Stephen Pasterino co-founded Pvolve in 2017, they aimed to develop a fun traditional workout that doesn’t break you down and pushes your body to the limit. And many would argue that they’ve done just that. Pvolve is a science-led method that combines low-impact functional fitness with resistance-based equipment to deliver results beyond a typical workout, which yields positive results like a strong, sculpted physique, plus increased mobility and better posture and balance to help you live a better life.
Additionally, Pvolve is a science-led, clinically backed fitness method that pairs low-impact functional movement (mimicking how your body moves in everyday life) with resistance-based equipment to activate major and surrounding muscle groups. This enhances physique while improving strength, mobility, and stability, perfect for establishing good holistic health.
However, I was still skeptical of the workout, even though I’ve heard rumblings throughout Los Angeles singing their praises. However, my hesitation quickly dissolved once I had experienced a class for myself at their studio in West Hollywood.
I was invited to take the class in partnership with Nutrafol, as Pvolve wanted to partner with the #1 dermatologist-recommended hair growth supplement brand to explore how the root causes (like hormones, diet, and stress) can lead to increased hair shedding with a special focus on the often overlooked ways menopause can impact on hair health as we head into Menopause Awareness Month this October. This partnership interested me because I’ve been struggling with hair loss and thinning due to grief, and I have been trying to find healthy but effective ways to grow back my hair.
The Workout:
At first, I was intimidated when entering the studio. I saw a square mat with many different numbers, a resistance band, a ball, and several weights. I didn’t know what kind of workout this would be. I immediately understood how the P.3 trainer was central to the workout. As a build-up, we used the P.3 trainer to do several movements, such as plank shifts, bicep loads and reaches, and leg reaches, helping to establish our core and develop leg strength. To my surprise, we also did a lot of stretch movement during the full-body resistance workout.
After my exhilarating workout, Carly Segell, I spoke with the popular instructor about what I just experienced. “So in today’s class, specifically, we did like a burn class. So, it’s a mixture of low-intensity and high-impact. In this class, you were mainly focused on staying low-impact in terms of jumping around. We don’t want to put too many other joints. We don’t want to, like, do too much in terms of bouncing around on our knees and on our limbs. But to push for cardio and get the heart rate up, you have that option,” Segell tells me after class.
She continues, “We work on agility training and balance. We did a lot of balance today with that P3 trainer. We like to focus on building strength through tension.”
Segell made it clear that no matter the type of class, you’ll experience a full-body workout that will guarantee to get your blood flowing. “Every class will always start standing. We’ll kind of get the blood flowing. You’ll always get arms, chest, abs, you’ll get the back side, and you’ll get legs. You’ll even gain ankle and calf strength,” she exclaims.
