DARIEN – When Christine Partouche, a triathlete, began taking a low impact fitness method called Pvolve, she quickly realized how much the program helped her training.
“I got so much mobility out of myself from those online sessions than I did from my weeks of physical therapy,” she said, referring to Pvolve as having a “secret sauce.”
Pvolve is a franchise with 34 locations around the U.S. and Partouche recently opened Pvolve’s first Connecticut location at 326 Heights Road in Darien.
The studio, which is in the new mixed-use development in the former Noroton Heights Shopping Center, focuses on helping with everyday movement.
“The premise of Pvolve is functional fitness, which translates as being able to do things better in life. We train for life,” said Partouche, 51, a Greenwich resident. “We’re working on the muscles that you use in your everyday life.”
Pvolve provides a full body workout and can complement other kinds of exercise, said Partouche, who previously worked in the finance and fashion industries but was so impressed with Pvolve that she eventually decided to switch careers and open her own Pvolve studio.
“I didn’t want to sit at a desk all day. I wanted to develop a community. Building a community is very important for me,” she said.
The studio offers group classes, one-on-one personal training both in the studio and at clients’ homes, and virtual classes.
Signature classes include “Weight Training: Core,” “70s Theme Sculpt,” and “Sculpt: Cardio.” Two new classes being added next week include a Pilates and recovery class, and a sculpting and stretching class.
“We don’t believe there’s a one size fits all, so you don’t have to do one type of fitness all the time. A lot of our clients do a variety of things,” she said.
Pvolve focuses on using muscles involved with sitting as opposed to squatting, she said.
“You use different muscles for squatting than sitting. As we age, it gets harder to get from a sitting to a standing position,” she said.
Another type of movement Partouche teaches involves reaching above and forward as opposed to reaching straight up.
“When you’re putting away groceries in your kitchen, you’re going from the grocery bag by your heels and crossing over and going into the upper shelf in your refrigerator. You don’t reach straight up, ever,” she said. “So we really mimic those everyday movements.”
Pvolve, which opened its first location in 2017, also offers workshops with different themes, such as pelvic floor and mommy and me, as well as holding special events.
This article originally published at National fitness franchise ‘Pvolve’ opens first CT studio in Darien.
