Getting Started: Moves to Master Your Form
Our method is unlike any other. We don’t work out for the sake of movement; we do it to activate and strengthen your entire body so that you can improve your body’s performance, reduce everyday pain and look damn good.
The key to getting our method right is proper form. Your results lie in the details of your workouts: the positioning of your feet, the elongating of your torso, the angle of your hips. It can all feel awkward, uncomfortable or even confusing at first and might have you asking yourself how you can really know if you’re doing it all correctly.
As a general rule of thumb, make sure to listen carefully to the trainers’ cues and know that learning the vocabulary of our method can feel like learning a new language. That’s why we say it takes about five classes for things to start to make sense and for the technique to settle in your body. Be patient with yourself, tune into your sensations and over time, you’ll begin to see and feel mobility, stability and strength build throughout your entire body.
Head to the Moves to Master series on demand to start mastering all six moves below.
The p.sit is the most fundamental position that you’ll encounter in every P.volve workout. This position mimics getting into and out of a chair and trains the glutes, the largest muscle group in the body, to fire properly in all your day-to-day movements. Sitting for prolonged periods of time and poor posture often create weakness and imbalance in the lower body, so this is your starting point for activating the glutes to unlock amazing results. Pay attention to Maeve’s details to keep your glutes engaged, core tight and spine long.
The open step is an essential hip-opening position that mimics stepping out of a car. This position is one of the main ways we increase mobility in the hips, as it takes your hips through an external rotation to fire up the muscles of the outer glutes and thighs. Ensuring that your hips have good range of motion will help you access each and every muscle in the lower body and alleviate everyday pain caused by tight hips. Follow Antonietta’s cues for wrapping your thighs and keeping feet firmly planted into the floor.
The internal 45 position will help you increase your hip mobility to engage, stretch and strengthen the entire lower body. Our internal rotators are not often trained in a standing position, so this move is the key to start to develop better range of motion. Although this move can feel awkward at first, over time you will feel how balancing internal and external rotation will help you find support, ease and strength in all your everyday movements.
The closed step position is essential for opening through your hips and mobilizing the lower body. Similar to the internal 45, this move (though awkward) helps balance out a common predominance of strength in the outer glutes and thighs by strengthening the inner thighs and lower abs to restore balance to the hips.
Standing abs are the most functional way to activate your core muscles. Unlike typical abdominal exercises done on your back, these standing variations help you train your abdominals for how you use them in your everyday life through expanding, contracting and rotating movements. You’ll learn how to engage your core to protect your spine and move with the support of the abdominal muscles.
The shift back is the key to full-body activation on the mat. Unlike a traditional all fours position, this position shifts your hips slightly behind your knees to help you find greater glute activation and elongation through the front of the hips while keeping the hands in front of the shoulders. Master this move to see how you can take an all-fours position to the next level.