P.volve Review: Functional Fitness Program & Ultimate Fitness Set

A fitness streaming platform focused on purposeful, precise movements that will make you feel good…for a lifetime? Sign. Us. Up.

The P.volve method is founded in the science of functional movement, meaning that instead of straining your body and mind with every heavy rep at the gym, your at-home workout feels rejuvenating while encouraging and targeting full-body toning and definition. Stephen Pasterino, P.volve’s founder, took his 15 years of experience in the fitness industry and his expertise in applied functional science to create a program designed to help you discover your best self — your strongest self, your most confident self, your healthiest self.

Needless to say, with an abundance of streaming options available in our increasingly digital age, taking a closer look at the core of a program’s founding and intention can be reason enough to give a new fitness program a go. Cue the science and soul of P.volve.

P.volve is the culmination of founder Stephen Pasterino’s life’s work in the fitness industry, and represents his entire philosophy built into an easily utilized subscription plan. P.volve‘s fitness program features functional-fitness and resistance training exercises and workouts that tone the body’s muscles naturally — without overextending or risking injury.

Beginning any new workout program can be daunting. Will I be able to keep up? Will I understand the technical moves in a functionally-focused fitness class? What even IS functional fitness? I’m no newbie to the fitness arena – as a certified Personal Trainer through the American Council on Exercise and former CycleBar spin instructor, I’m well versed in the questions, doubts, excitement and curiosity that come with beginning a new fitness plan.

Thankfully, P.volve does an excellent job onboarding its new community members by giving them access to information on each of the standard moves that are revisited in most workouts, like the p.stance and p.sit. When you order equipment, instruction guides accompany each piece of branded equipment like the p.band and p.ball. If you prefer watching video tutorials to get your bearings, there are streaming options for that, too. Because I was familiar with P.volve before trying their streaming platform, there wasn’t a huge learning curve. If there was, I feel confident that the company’s resources would have given me the information I needed to be set up for a successfully sweaty first workout. You can even schedule time with a trainer one-on-one before you dive in, ensuring you’re moving in all the right ways to avoid potential injury.

Activating your membership couldn’t be easier. Simply plug in your login credentials, pick a membership plan that makes the most sense for you (while bearing in mind there’s a discount when you sign up for multiple months at a time) and you’ll be greeted with a personalized P.volve dashboard. This will be your home base: where the platform will track your workouts, including your weekly activity and your All Time stats (how many workouts and how many hours you’ve moved with the P.volve community).

My go-to move when beginning a new streaming platform is to dig through their video library, saving workouts I want to try. I recommend this tactic for anyone who has experience in fitness and wants a preview of the type of workout you’re going to start, to understand the variety and options at your fingertips AND, most important to me, to understand the flow of the classes. Call me type-A, but as a recovering cardio junkie who is used to the go-go-go sweat session, I like to mentally prepare myself for how quickly we’ll be transitioning between moves, if I’m going to be in a bind when strapping on my equipment, etc.   

On the flip side, if the question of what even IS functional fitness? resonated with you, browsing P.volve’s video library is an excellent first move after getting familiar with their tutorial videos. With over 30 Foundation (beginner) videos, newcomers to this type of movement can comfortably start building strength and – let’s be real – getting a great sweat in while doing it.

P.volve claims that their workouts promote increased day to day strength and (yes, you’re reading this correctly) can benefit women’s sexual health — and the science behind these claims is actually baked into the foundational movements of P.volve‘s fitness program.

No, they’re not saying you’ll become so physically strong that you won’t be as fatigued in the act (although that’s another possibility). What they’re claiming is that for women, increased core and pelvic floor strengthening as promoted by the key moves in P.volve can improve symptoms of PMS, reduce period pain, aid in post-pregnancy recovery, and, quite literally, increase your pleasure during sex.

As part of the brand’s educational mission around health and wellness, they interviewed, Carli Blau, a licensed Sex and Relationships therapist who specializes in women’s health, and Dr. Amy Hoover, P.volve’s Doctor of Physical Therapy and the owner of a wellness practice that specializes in pre and post-natal care and pelvic floor disorders, on their blog. In their deep-dive, Dr. Hoover explained, “It can take up to 6-8 weeks of consistent exercise to build muscle, but you may feel changes within a week or two of starting pelvic floor strengthening. The most important goal early on is to be able to understand and feel what you are doing so that you can do it correctly.”

So, wait — You’re telling me that while I get toned in a way that feels good and effective, it isn’t leaving me destroyed after over-exerting myself physically? And you’re saying that this not only promotes a stronger mind-body connection, but I’m also strengthening my internal muscles and possibly improving my sex life?

Yes, that’s exactly what P.volve and licensed professionals are telling us. Add it to the reasons you should give their platform a try.

I’ll be honest: I was nervous to try the p.ball. I pulled the slightly deflated contraption from its beautiful, gray package (yes, each item in the P.volve Ultimate Set comes in its own individual bag) and looked at it.

Was this itty bitty strap really going to fit around my thighs?

This is precisely where the handy-dandy guide came in – once I read the instructions; which told me to secure the strap around my ankles and shimmy it up my legs until the ball was in the proper position, my concern dissipated.

My first P.volve workout using the p.ball left me unbelievably sore. Sore in places I didn’t know I could be sore. I mean, really, do you use the tiny muscles at the very top of your inner thighs everyday? Yeah, me neither.

While I was slightly annoyed by how sore I was, it was a sign that I was activating muscles I ignore regularly. Hint, some of these might be those pelvic floor muscles that most fitness programs don’t focus on, but are actually crucial for women’s health — far beyond having a great sex life (though we aren’t ruling that out as a plus).

Now, let’s talk about equipment other than the signature p.ball. The p.bands which strap around your ankles and create resistance between your legs, the hand weights, ankle weights and gliders are all high-quality, durable products. Another plus? They’re neutrally colored so if you’re like me and they’re in view most of the day based on your home layout, they aren’t total eyesores. When it comes to repeating movements because they’re impactful, as you do frequently in P.volve’s workouts, adding in the equipment gives a little extra oomph to your workout — to change up the routine a little and keep things fun and refreshing.

Throughout my 30 day trial, I tried workouts that made my heart race, that left my triceps shaking (from all of the planks), that let me be comfortable but intentional with each slow, steady, mat-centered movement, and more. In short, there’s something for absolutely everyone in the P.volve library — even if you’re like me and sprain your ankle the week you activate your membership.

If you’re missing in-person fitness classes or are looking for extra accountability, P.volve’s virtual studio is free to all members! You can even get a few friends to sign-up for the same class and make it a workout party.

All in all, the list of reasons P.volve is a fantastic platform is incredibly long, and this is coming from someone with a very discerning eye where physical fitness is concerned. It’s all too frequently that you hear someone injured themselves in a class because of improper form, but with a heavy focus on form education and small but powerful movements, P.volve delivers on their mission to improve your fitness for a lifetime.