My P.volve Personal Training Session

You guys know I’ve been an OG P.volve devotee since I first read about the method a few years ago. To be honest, I was initially drawn to them because their clients include Victoria’s Secret models. But as you may know, this premier fitness method goes so much further than helping elite models tighten up for the runway.

Quick refresher in case you’re unfamiliar: P.volve is a one-of-a-kind functional workout. The dynamic, elongating movements engage hard-to-reach muscles, open up the hips, and energize the body. This controlled, low-impact pace of training decreases inflammation and cortisol while still providing a burn-inducing workout. It’s clear to see why they’ve experienced such exponential growth in just a few years. 

In December, I achieved one of my 2021 goals, which was to have a private training session with my workout inspiration, health role model, and ab goals Maeve McEwen. Her resume is impressive – she’s a senior trainer, dancer, model, corrective exercise specialist, and health coach. Through her personal training and Instagram content, she encourages people to empower themselves through functional movement. 

For our personal training session, she led me through a full body workout that focused on maintaining proper form and engagement. To enhance the exercises and further activate the muscles, we also used some signature P.volve equipment: the mat for proper foot placement, the yoga mat to protect my knees, the heavy ankle band for lower body, and the p.band for arms (that added resistance burnsss). With each precise exercise, I could feel every one of my muscles in my thighs, glutes, abs, back, and arms firing up. 

Here are the pieces of gold that Maeve shared throughout our session that we can all apply at home to make the most out of every workout.

Ground the standing leg

We began with a leg lunge series to warm up. We started stepping straight out to the side, then, we switched to stepping inwards to a 90-degree internal rotation. The changed position in my working leg caused the weight on my standing leg to shift. Maeve told me the focus stays on grounding that standing leg the whole time, making sure your weight doesn’t shift, even though the working leg has changed positions. We can be mindful of this by focusing on balancing on the tripod of the standing foot (which is the big toe, pinky toe, and heel.) I felt the movement intensify and my balance improve once I grounded the leg, and it also made the whole series more seamless.

Engage different muscles to power you through each move

During this same exercise, she gave a helpful quick tip to properly utilize each muscle group. For moves that are going out, like stepping out to the lunge, we want to focus on the outer thigh especially to pull us out to that position. For moves where we’re going in, focus on engaging those notoriously difficult-to-target inner thighs to pull us back in. We also want to engage our abs at all times. This is important, because Maeve attributes dedicated core engagement for her defined abs. Noted!

Push the mat away

Maeve gave me an excellent tip for the all-fours position and plank, two foundational base positions that are a starting point for many exercises. When I looked sideways into the mirror, I could see I was sinking with my shoulders. She told me to imagine that I was pushing the mat away with my arms. I instantly felt my upper body and core engage more, my spine was straighter, and I felt a lot more burn during our mat work.

Don’t lock out the knee

As dancers especially, we’re trained to keep our knees straight in hopes of reaching that coveted hyperextension in our legs. Don’t lock out the knee, though, as that may stress and excessively arch the spine and make it more difficult to engage the core. Leave the hyperextension behind, but definitely bring that beautiful ballet posture to your workout.

Really reach as far as you can with every movement

Each movement in the P.volve catalog is specifically designed to strengthen, sculpt, and stretch your body for a naturally beautiful shape. That’s why a fundamental principle of this method is that there’s more reaching (eccentric) exercises rather than contracting (concentric.) This is also why you won’t find any burpees or weighted squats (rather, p.sits) in the workout regimes. Maeve told me to capitalize on the stretching aspect, and reach even further with each repetition to maximize the potential of the exercise. With each centimeter further that we extend, we're stretching and lengthening the muscles. This helps prevent injury, improve range of motion, and allow us to move more effortlessly in everyday life.

Thank you Maeve for all of these valuable tips!

As for a bit more about my overall experience, I also met the managers Madison and Nelly – they are so kind, sweet, and courteous. They gave me the most adorable little goodie bag with a P.volve sweatshirt, the CUTEST p.volve scrunchie, Arrae debloat capsules (a life saver after dining out multiple nights in a row!), and a Bliss sunscreen—along with a cute handwritten note.

I’m so grateful for this method and that I got to meet Maeve, Madison, and Nelly. Thank you all so much!