P.volve trains your body from the inside out to help you look better, move better and feel better in your everyday life. Join us in celebrating our members who have taken control of their stories and transformed their lives with the help of our method. 

Meet Anna—a career-driven mom who put her passion for movement to work with P.volve. Amidst a packed work schedule, kids and everything in between, Anna still wanted more from her workouts and knew there was potential to feel stronger every day. 

Anna’s story is one we can all relate to as we look for time, answers and results from our routines. Read on to learn more about Anna’s two-month program with P.volve, and how the changes she made with trainers impacted her entire life in the long run. 

Tell us about your experience with P.volve. 

This was one of the best, most supportive, well-rounded experiences of my life. Zach (my personal trainer) is so incredible at focusing on your form, providing an in-depth description of what you should be feeling, and he comes at it from such a warm and supportive space. He challenged me, pushed me and taught me so much that I can carry forward into my future workouts. Working out with Zach one-on-one was so transformative. He taught me how to deeply engage in each movement, move slowly and intentionally to create the mind-body connection. For me, this offers the most accountability and Zach did an awesome job varying each workout based on what I wanted to focus on day-to-day. 

Alexia (my nutrition coach) helped me to grow so much as a person. Not only did she provide me with amazing nutrition information, but she explained it in a way that really resonated. When I first started, I thought this would be the sole focus of our time together, but I was so wrong. The lessons she taught me helped me to work through deep seeded behaviors, increased my confidence and helped me to focus on each moment at a time. I honestly felt like I was on fire! 

Describe your workout routine before working with Zach and Alexia. 

Over the course of the two months, I worked out with Zach 2-3 times a week, did Live Virtual Studio classes 3-4 times a week and did one on-demand workout per week. Each of my workouts were 45-60 minutes long. I also took my dog for a short 15 minute (but fast-paced!) walk daily.  

Prior to this, I streamed workouts with P.volve seven days a week. Each of my workouts before were about 30-45 mins. I’ve been working exclusively with P.volve since July of 2019. One of the things that surprised me the most was that even after the first session with Zach I was feeling each movement so much more than when I was exclusively streaming. I also burned about 100-150 calories more in my personal training and the Live Virtual Studio Sessions, than when I was exclusively streaming. I love that if my day is getting out of hand, the kids or work isn’t cooperating I can fit in a streaming workout at any point throughout the day. Sometimes I would do a quick 15 min workout between meetings and then a 30-45 min workout at night after the kids are in bed. I also love the programs available. It makes it less of a question about what I should do next and helps provide some direction. 

Before this, I had only taken one Live Virtual Studio class. I was intimidated to do them because I had been doing everything on my own for the first year with P.volve. The trainers at P.volve have such an amazing attention to detail. It surprises me every time that they can provide corrections in such an supportive/natural way in the classes that don’t make you feel badly about yourself. This is such a great way to learn how to improve your form, mix up your workouts, be challenged in a more affordable way. 

What were your personal goals coming into this journey?

My personal goals coming into the challenge were: 1. Feel more confident 2. Continue to Tone 3. Develop a consistent meditation practice 

Describe your relationship with your trainer and health coach. 

I was so nervous to meet Zach and Alexia. These are people I’ve been watching from my computer for over a year. But, from the first time I met Alexia and Zach via Zoom I could tell that I was in such good hands. Both are just so warm and really light up the room. Throughout the two months, they made themselves available if I had a question, wanted to share in my little victories or support me if I was feeling uncertain.  

A prime example was when Zach suggested I take Stephen’s class in the first week. I confided in him that I wasn’t ready for it. I was scared that I wasn’t good enough to do it. Zach sent me a voice memo within minutes that letting me know that we’d work our way into that. 2 weeks later I was feeling up to it and I was so happy I got there.   

I had a lot of different nutrition habits from all of the years of trying different diets, which Alexia helped me to strip away. She told me I needed to increase my protein intake quite significantly. For the first 1.5 weeks of this I asked her if I could text her a photo of each of my meals because I was just uncertain how I would do this. She always responded, would provide suggested tweaks and always came from a place of support, never judgement.  

What challenges did you experience within the two months? How did you overcome them? 

During this time, I was interviewing and ultimately got a new job, started a side-hustle, got my kids back to in-person learning and was generally stressed out about COVID-19 and the election. This challenge was a major reason why I was able to maintain my sanity. Having the workouts and my coaching sessions to help reduce stress we’re game changing. I know I will have many more stressful moments in my life and I’m so hopeful I can channel this experience to get me through them.   

Describe your diet and how it differed from what you did before? 

In the past, I tried several different diets. For the last year I had been logging my food and was able to lose 20 pounds. One of the biggest gifts Alexia shared is how you eat is how you live… I can be controlling and what I didn’t realize was the act of daily food logs was just creating this false idea of control, which is not a behavior that I need to fuel.  

Before working with Alexia, I was eating a lot of fruits and veggies but very little protein. I was always waiting for my next meal. I even thought that in order to slim down I would just have to get used to being hungry all the time. Alexia taught me to increase my protein while maintaining the fruit/veggie intake. By doing this I’m eating more than I was before and have lost weight. I’m no longer hungry all the time.  

She also taught me to walk away from coffee, which I never thought I’d do. She suggested that I switch to matcha a few days a week. I did it for 3-4 days in a row. Then one day my youngest son didn’t sleep well, so I was exhausted! I decided that I needed coffee that day. I drank it and then an hour later I crashed. I never knew that I had those crashes because I had been drinking a cup of coffee every day since college. Matcha is just a much steadier energy. I’ve switched to one cup of matcha every morning and I haven’t had coffee since September! 

 

How did you incorporate each class type into your schedule, and which did you love most? 

Strength & Sculpt is by far my favorite class type. It’s meditative for me—everything is controlled, I focus on my breath and engaging each muscle. I leave these workouts feeling engaged, focused and calm. 

I’ve learned to embrace the Recover & Stretch classes more than I had before. Celestine’s are so good—I’ve learned to listen to my body and give myself one Recover & Stretch day a week. On these days I’ll usually take the dog for a long walk.  

I have a love-hate relationship with Cardio Burn. I love the challenge, but now if I do Cardio Burn, I try to keep it to a 30-minute class and then will do a 30-minute Strength & Sculpt after.  

What were the biggest changes you noticed throughout the two-month period and when you finished?  

The biggest changes physically are that I’m stronger. I no longer have chronic pain in my shoulder or hips, my balance is better, I’ve got much more tone all over my body but it’s most apparent in my stomach & arms. The mental changes that happened surpass the physical. I am more confident than ever before, I’m happier and I feel like I’m stronger mentally because I pushed myself out of my comfort zone.  

What did you learn both about exercise and nutrition during this time? How will you apply those learnings in the future?   

During my workouts I learned to conduct each movement with intention, finding the mind-body connection. This has helped to increase the calories I burn during workouts and really helping to increase the tone I’m seeing.  

There are way too many to say. The biggest ones are that I’ve learned to tune into what my body is asking for, eat until I feel satiated, when I’m stressed and my mind is telling me to go eat, I take several deep cleansing breaths and if the craving is gone, I move on. If the craving is still there, I indulge it. The thing I’m happiest about though is that I am no longer food journaling I don’t feel controlled by food anymore.   

Was there anything about P.volve that surprised you? 

I thought that the trainers wouldn’t be as warm and supportive as they are. I also didn’t think I’d get the full experience over Zoom. I’m still shocked that the trainers can pick up on, what I think are subtle form issues, over Zoom. I also thought that Alexia was going to put me on a restrictive diet. I couldn’t have been more wrong; she gave me the tools to really find moderation.  

Are you happy with your results? 

I’m enamored with my results. I never thought I’d have the mental changes that I have. It’s my goal to continue living with the tools that Alexia taught me and the knowledge that Zach gave me, continuing with 45-60 min workouts daily for one year to see how my body changes.  

How would you describe P.volve in 3-5 words? 

Empowered, evolving, supportive, focused and obtainable. 

Any advice for someone that’s considering P.volve?  

This is the only workout program that I’ve ever stuck to. I leave the workouts feeling looser than I did going in. The programs are strongly rooted in functional movement to help get your body to move in the most optimal way. The best part is that there are programs for each level of experience and the platform variety (streaming, virtual studio or personal training) can fit into anyone’s lifestyle.   

Explore more of Anna’s journey here. To start taking control of your story, get 30% off all equipment kits.