The P.volve Recovery Series will highlight users’ injuries and how our workouts helped them successfully get back on their feet. These stories are real accounts of how low impact, resistance-based workouts help move the body the way it's meant to move to properly strengthen muscles and prevent any future pain or injury.

So often, an injury like a sprained ankle will knock a person weeks out of their workout regimen. But a regular streamer, Taylor, found comfort in the fact that her P.volve workouts both helped her recover from her injury and keep her on a consistent workout schedule. “I broke my ankle this spring and when I found P.volve, I was able to actually do it. It kept me sane!” she told us. Ahead, learn more about her experience and how working out with an ankle injury is possible with P.volve.

Tell us a bit about your injury and how you discovered P.volve.
I broke my ankle this year in March. It was pretty much the cartoon slip on a banana peel-style fall and I came down on concrete with my ankle and foot under me. Along with the break, I sprained my ankle really badly due to the sheer force of falling on it. I have always been incredibly active so being confined to crutches truly was one of the more mentally excruciating things for me. I knew I had to find something to keep my body moving for the sake of my sanity. 

I had listened to Rachel a few weeks before on "The Skinny Confidential" podcast and I remembered her mentioning P.volve so I started looking into it more. I listened to every podcast possible and read every article on P.volve and P. After learning that P.volve is all about "prehab" and strengthening the posterior chain, I was convinced it could only help my recovery. I started with the "Do It On The Mat!" workout and probably did this workout for two-weeks straight every single day until I could begin to gradually weight-bear. I then progressed to more and more workouts and was completely hooked. I was prescribed a ton of formal PT for my ankle, which did help but all the exercises were incredibly boring (think stationary bike, basic squats, lunges). I chose to do P.volve nearly every single day instead! 

What’s the biggest way P.volve helped you recover? 
The biggest way that P.volve helped me recover is that it truly changed my perspective on working-out. I used to be addicted to high intensity workouts. I have always been in good shape and loved being strong enough for pull-ups, pushups, squatting over my bodyweight, etc. But after breaking my ankle, I really had to slow down and P.volve not only helped me do this but made me actually enjoy doing it. For the first time, I really believed in all of the movements I was doing from a functional standpoint as far as strengthening my ankles, knees and hips but also saw incredible results pretty immediately. A few months into my recovery when I could have started to run or do Crossfit again, I actually had zero desire to return to those activities.

I had seen and felt such great results from not doing such high intensity activity that I decided to continue down the path of more intentional and slow workouts! Aside from slowing down, P.volve also helped me to not only regain but gain more strength and balance in my ankles than I ever had prior to my injury. The focus on stepping and balance was perfect for recovering from an ankle injury!

How does it differ from other workouts you’ve done or planned to do after being injured? 
Prior to doing P.volve, I did Crossfit pretty religiously and loved it. I loved the intensity, the strength I built and the group atmosphere. I have always had an athletic build and swam competitively growing up. However after breaking my ankle and literally only being able to do P.volve for a month, it totally transformed my Crossfit body. I started to see incredible ab definition (and a line down the middle!) for starters and was pretty hooked. My muscle mass totally leaned out and I have more lean muscle definition that I have ever had without all the physical exertion I was reliant on. 

I was afraid I would lose most of the muscle mass in my arms but feel like I have actually leaned them out even more than when I was doing 100 pushups a day! It's hard to say no to any exercise when you can see incredibly results in your arms, abs and butt! Not only do I love that I have seen more results from P.volve than any other workout physically, but it also feels good. I love that stretching is incorporated into each movement so I feel longer and taller each time I do a workout. 

Aside from the physical aspect, how did the workouts help you mentally or emotionally?
I used to rely on [feeling] "workout high" mentally and physically. Since being injured, I have embraced slowing down and really being intentional about my movements and workouts. I think as we age we are all so reliant on the constant state of being busy and doing it all and P.volve has really made me realize that you can see better results by slowing doing and being intentional. I no longer seek the "workout high" that I used to love and rely on and instead decompress with P.volve. One of my favorite ways to start my day is with coffee and a P.volve workout from my own home.

What were your favorite streaming videos and/or pieces of equipment to use?
Some of my favorite workouts that I go back to are: Focus On The Middle!, In & Out With the P.ball, Glide Your Way into Summer, Indirect Abs, See Us Shaking, Rotating Does The Trick, Glute-Centric, Love to Feel That Tempo and Total-Body Tilt. Essentially, I love them all! My top pieces of equipment are definitely the gliders, the p.ball and the p.band.

How do you think the workouts will continue to help you recover and become stronger in the future?
As of right now, I have zero plans of returning solely to high intensity workouts. I will still occasionally do a treadmill class and only power walk but I want to continue to get stronger with intentional workouts like P.volve. 

I have continued to P.volve since this spring and stream from our extra bedroom ~5 days per week. I hope to continue to strengthen my posterior chain and especially my ankles to avoid future injuries that I am now much more prone to. I love that P.volve continues to evolve and strengthen all of the areas that in generally women want to focus on—abs, butt and arms.

Stay tuned for more to come from P.volve Recovery. Until then, read about why you have sore hip flexors or find low-impact workouts on our streaming platform.