As a woman in midlife, the need to embrace resistance and strength training hasn’t escaped me. Well-meaning friends offer up advice on an almost daily basis, colleagues wax lyrical about Hyrox, and a growing number of resistance band workouts pepper my social feeds. Scrolling through the seemingly endless stream of plank and Pilates wall challenges, I notice Pvolve. Mainly, I have to admit, because its front woman is none other than Jennifer Aniston.
Pvolve promises “transformational total-body toning” and if Jen at fifty-six is anything to go by, then it’s got to be worth a shot. A devotee for years, she loved the concept so much she’s said she, “just had to join the company,” and is now a spokesperson and ambassador for the brand.
Pvolve’s early followers were in their twenties and early thirties and included the likes of Victoria’s Secret models, however, Pvolve’s demographic is now, “skewing older”, according to chief training officer, Antonietta Vicario.
“Jen definitely brought more people around her age to us, but the low impact nature of what we do really appeals to women in their forties and fifties. It’s chicken and egg.” she says.
A new study from the University of Exeter Medical School published just last month and funded by Pvolve is also fuelling the brand’s popularity with women 40+. The research found that the training method can improve a range of common physical issues that affect women in menopause and is actually more effective than the government’s recommended 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week.
What is Pvolve?
Pvolve stands for “personal evolution” and promises functional fitness at its best. It pairs low impact movements, which originate from physiotherapy, with resistance band equipment to sculpt, strengthen and restore the body without the wear and tear of high impact exercise.
The brand’s founder Rachel Katzman had tried almost every fitness fad in New York City in a bid to lose weight. A punishing training regime was making her scoliosis worse, intensifying her back and hip pain.
Then she discovered functional fitness classes, where the focus was less on pushing her body to its limits and more on exercises which mimic common movements. Bending, twisting, lifting and loading worked for Katzman, her muscular skeletal pains went away and aesthetically her body started to look the way she wanted it to.
She started filming some of her workouts and soon opened her first Pvolve studio in New York. Now there are over sixty studios open or in development across the States and Canada and, I’m told, the UK is most definitely on her wish list.
Moving through menopause
Like many Pvolve devotees, I occupy the perimenopausal age bracket so the results of the Uni of Exeter’s recent study made me sit up and listen. On my quest to understand how much faith I should place in the study, I spoke not only with Pvolve’s team but also with a range of experts who shed light on what happens to the body as we age and how the workout might influence common symptoms.
I read horrifying statistics, for example that muscle mass and strength decline between three and seven percent from our late thirties, contributing to an alarming rise in osteoporosis and sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) in menopausal women.
Dr Jan Toledano, founder of the London Hormone Clinic explained that, “whilst things like fitness, genetics, nutrition and alcohol consumption affect bone loss, hormones are the main player. Oestrogen is the most important hormone for bone integrity and its decline at menopause means there’s less bone formation and more bone loss. And, as oestrogen supports joints and soft tissue, we find more arthritis and joint inflammation. Testosterone decline also contributes to bone loss and muscle decline and makes it harder to build and maintain muscle mass.”
Toledano goes on to say that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can prevent and reverse all of this, but we can also help ourselves before we get to that point by ensuring we eat well and have sufficient vitamin D and by doing weight-bearing exercise which itself stimulates bone growth. “The key thing is to be aware of all this in advance and work to prevent it, instead of just waiting for it to happen,” she adds.
Health coach, Jodi Montlake, agrees. She explains that, “we may not want to think about the risk of falls and fractures and even death from them in our thirties and forties. These things are probably not on our radar but consider them we must. The sooner we start to build strength, combat muscle loss and work on balance and co-ordination, the better, especially if we want to live long, and live strong. Moving in the right way and being proactive puts the power back in our hands and means we can take control of our future selves and way of life.”
As a trip to the States to visit a Pvolve studio wasn’t on the cards for me, I became one of Pvolve’s international streamers. By doing this you can access the workouts from anywhere in the world and if you’re in the UK like me, you can get all the patented resistance equipment delivered from the brand’s online stockist.
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First impressions of Pvolve
On opening my freshly delivered Pvolve parcel, I sensed the product had been designed with a certain audience in mind. The branding is simple, yet stylish and the monotone packaging, classy yet contemporary. I pictured the lycra-clad New York in-crowd, working out in a whitewashed industrial unit with views of the city’s skyline, a world away from my rather chilly living room.
I had opted for the brand’s signature bundle – a sleek black precision mat, divided into squares with dots and numbers printed across it, a P-band and a P-ball. The band offers a pair of gloves, attached a bit like a toddler’s with a string – although this is less about keeping the gloves together and more about pulling them apart. And the ball? That too has a resistance band wrapped around it which initially looked far too tight to go over anything except my wrists (it’s supposed to be worn over the ankles and thighs.)
After a little hiccup logging on, which was speedily resolved, I started my programme. Head trainers, Dani Coleman and Maeve McEwan, introduced me to my bundle of equipment and the Pvolve Method, before we started work on strengthening and sculpting – building mobility, stability, and strength. This programme is Pvolve’s ‘bread and butter’ apparently, pairing functional fitness with their specially designed resistance equipment. From here you move onto progressive weight training and, if you wish, sculpting and burning. I decided to stick with strength and sculpt to begin with.
A cardio-lover at heart, I’m happiest spinning, swimming and generally getting sweaty. In lockdown, I became yoga obsessed and I’ve done my fair share of barre, Pilates and conditioning classes, but to be perfectly honest, I can find these workouts repetitive and even meditative, which, after a while, turns me off. Pvolve is a little different and it’s meant to be. Its approach promises variety and I’m told “no two classes will ever be the same.” The different equipment combinations, movements and sequences challenge both my body and my brain. Two workouts in one, it seems, which keeps me focused and engaged.
The other immediate difference I notice is the specific foot positioning and frequent hip rotations and mobility exercises – movements I’ve never intentionally put my body through before. However, chief training officer Vicario tells me I do these every day when I tie shoelaces, pick things up off the floor or get in and out of the car. These are, not that I realised it, movements for life, and for longevity and this is what sets Pvolve apart. Basically, if I want to be able to carry my shopping, hang out my washing and be active and mobile in my eighties, then I need to start working on this now.
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The Pvolve equipment
The precision mat certainly helps with this, and as I’ve progressed through the classes, I’ve begun to understand what the pattern of lines, numbers and dots drawn upon it are for. I’m sometimes worried that my positioning isn’t always where it should be and can certainly see the benefit of doing Pvolve in person, but the quality of the trainers – they’re all highly experienced and accredited – and their clear instructions are a good enough substitute, for now.
Along with the mat, the P-band and P-ball make frequent appearances in my classes and are exceptionally easy to use, and comfortable too. I may have winced a little on realising I had to wear the aforementioned P-ball between my thighs, but it was surprisingly easy to put on and stayed in place – no chasing it around the room in comedy fashion like I’ve done many times before in Pilates.
In fact, I’m so impressed by the quality of the equipment I’m tempted to go shopping for more; the foam roller, slant board and gliders catch my eye, as does their premium price tag. The signature bundle I’m using costs £290.49 and the bundle with all the extras will set you back £799.99.
The Pvolve Schedule
My suggested schedule involves 12 classes over a three-week period and even for a busy working mum, often frustrated by workouts being pushed down my priority list, this feels achievable. The sessions are relatively short, on average around thirty minutes, and, as I don’t have to leave the house to do them, there’s little excuse.
Full of enthusiasm, I did the first two workouts back-to-back and although I worried I’d be stiff as a board the following day, I wasn’t. In fact, I didn't ache at all and, more than that, didn’t feel as depleted as I can do after a long swim or spin class. The sessions grew in intensity though and I soon found that one a day was enough – I definitely felt the burn.
As there was little cardio involved, I thought I’d miss my heart-racing, but I found it pumping. Engaging muscle groups in ways I hadn’t ever done before energised me and although I’ve only done a fraction of the hundreds of workouts available to me, I haven’t once felt bored. I’m amazed by the variety of exercises that come from just three simple pieces of equipment and my own body weight, and I’m eager to discover more.
The verdict
The women behind Pvolve say the thing that sets it apart from other fitness regimes on the market is the fact that it’s science-led and science-backed and I have to say this does ring true. The precision of the movements, and knowing why I’m doing them, feels more satisfying than many of the workouts I’ve done in the past and I’ve enjoyed the challenge of moving in ways I haven’t done before.
I’ve yet to see the definition and toning that the method promises, although I’m hopeful that will come. I do feel stronger and more coordinated, both whilst doing the workouts and more generally. So would I recommend it? Well, the fact that I’ll be continuing with my programme is a ringing endorsement and although the equipment isn’t cheap, it looks and feels built to last.
More than that, and beyond all the marketing and hype, it does feel like I’m investing in my future. If keeping osteoporosis and muscle decline at bay is a tangible result of this, then I feel it’s worth it and so am I.
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