Whenever a new client walks into the studio, I can pretty much guarantee the following question will come out of their mouth: Can you pair P.volve with cardio? The short answer is yes, but you all know I’m not one for short explanations.

I wrote a separate blog post a while back talking about my whole approach to cardio and how I don’t encourage clients to use cardio as a means to get in shape. Rather, clients should get in shape in order to do more cardio, and only if they really enjoy it. P.volve is the best form of functional exercise you can do to train your body and create a solid foundation through proper joint motions and muscle activation. Only then would someone be able to add cardio to the mix, and it’s important that they still hit some P.volve moves before performing their cardio of choice.         

Cardio is by nature a repetitive task on the body, so before getting into those stress-inducing motions, you have to fix your function. Doing any sort of cardio without having opened up the body puts you at risk for injury and dysfunction, which I have found to be the number one cause of bulk, inflammation and poor posture, amongst other issues. Rooted in functional science and physical therapy methods, P.volve is first and foremost focused on opening up the body, lubricating the joints, and activating and stretching out the muscles. Thus, doing P.volve pre-cardio will not only warm up your muscles and get the blood flowing, but it will help to open your hips and spine while also loosening up the ankles to ensure proper joint motions and functionality.

Secondly, doing P.volve pre-cardio will ensure your glutes are activated, which is incredibly important to limit bulking and swelling in the legs that comes from quad dominance. When your hips are tight or weak and your glutes are dormant (which most people’s are, as an unfortunate consequence of having desk jobs), the body defaults to relying on the quads to propel the motions through exercise. This will not only cause your leg muscles to bulk over time, but it will leave your butt relatively flat as well as perpetuate this dormant glute problem. The glutes are the strongest muscle in the body, so you can image how much stress your body has to go through to compensate for their lack of engagement.

Luckily, hitting a P.volve workout before your cardio (or any other form of exercise) will ensure your body is prepped and primed to take on those motions, reducing chances of dysfunction. For runners in particular (it is marathon season!), P.volve is amazing as it replicates the motions of running in a slow, controlled manner that ultimately improves joint stabilization so you can better crush your race. 

So, can you do P.volve with cardio? Absolutely; if you insist on keeping cardio a part of your fitness regimen, then as your personal trainer, I would have to insist on making P.volve your pre-cardio go-to. Just keep in mind that cardio is great when you have the proper biomechanics and muscle activation, but without it you can put yourself at risk for injury. I recommend you keep cardio to 2-3x per week (duration up to you), and try to choose from this list of P-approved cardio options! At the end of the day, my message to you is to build your foundation first, fix your function, then let the results speak for themselves.

Is cardio still a part of your routine? Have you noticed P.volve improve your function? Let us know in the comments below!

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