ĒVO Training Collective — Attraction in Sacramento

Short review: This place is awesome and I feel great after going there for a year.

Long review: Like many folks, I got super sedentary during the pandemic. My old workout studio closed forever and I couldn't get myself to do stuff on my own. While I'm pretty active (I ride my bike to work everyday), I know I need something more. I was up to 300 lbs and felt achey all the time. I ate like crap and my knees hurt. I would side step up and down the stairs. Last year, I even tore my miniscus but still wasn't motivated enough to do physical therapy.

Last fall, I finally felt like I was ready to find some place to workout again. But I didn't want to be shamed for my weight or for my lack of fitness. I decided that I would look for the closest "fitness" place near my house and did a google search. I called them up and talked to Tovah. I shared my concerns and that I wanted to be fit for regular life, not for some fancy future ironman training. Also, I didn't want to be shamed for my weight or encouraged to lose it.

She was great and said that's not what they're about. They are all about helping people live well and be strong for what they need. I decided I would try... and mentioned I would love to do a 6am training. She laughed and referred me to Allison.

Allison is the early bird trainer and I could NOT be any happier with ending up with her. She is the epitome of encouraging motivation. I was kinda appalled at the cost (it's WAY more expensive than my past with $26/month 24 hour fitness) so I thought "I'll try this for a month". Well, I am hooked and it is worth every penny and more.

I have been going 2x/week at 6am to train with Allison for about a year. The change in my body has been astounding. No, I didn't lose weight. I'm still 300 lbs. But, I sleep without pain. I wake up without my feet hurting me. My knees allow me to walk straight downstairs without my usual side stepping. I am almost ready to start dancing and roller blading again.

Tovah was right. This isn't a gym which shames you or makes you feel like you need to lose weight to be healthy. I'm not there right now and that's okay. I can still get stronger. I have this feeling of pride when I do something I couldn't even dream of last year.

The other women that work out are great too and it's wonderful to see people at different levels of ability and working on their own specific needs.

This is personal training in a group setting. I've had personal training (couldn't afford that many sessions) and I've had group training (everyone doing the same thing didn't help me address my specific knee pain). I've also worked out on my own. This has been the best exercise experience of my life. I get personal training regimens on an app on my phone and go in twice a week where there is a small group (never more than 5 people) and Allison gives each of us specific pointers and support on how to do an exercise or how to modify for a specific injury or "this is your body today".

Allison also provides workouts for when you want to do something on your own and she's really flexible about what she can provide. Going on vacation for 4 weeks and want to maintain some sort of routine? She's got you with minimal equipment. Needing a little extra stretching cause some muscles are cramping up? She'll give you just the right idea. Feeling strong and not sure if you want to move onto the next weight? She'll ask "How is that weight feeling to you?" and help you move up to the next challenge.

Finally, let's talk money. I won't put exact numbers here since that may change... but let's just say I'm paying enough for a small car payment. But, it's worth it. Plus, you can use your flexible spending account to pay for it. It really...

Tovah is amazing and her training changed my life! I was not doing much exercise when she first introduced me to functional movement. I didn’t think I could do any of the movements, but Tovah was so patient. I couldn’t even do one burpee, squat or lunge, but every session she scaled each movement for me. For some reason by this time I would have given up, but Tovah kept nudging me to do a little more and I found motivation from her humor, her confidence in me and her dedication towards making me fit. I worked with Tovah for over a year and I could not believe how addicted I would become, and she made it so much fun! After a few weeks she introduced me to the barbell. My first reaction was to laugh. No way was I able to lift even an empty barbell. Slowly she taught me the proper form and technique and I absolutely love the barbell now. I now can do 100 burpees, 100 squats and 100 lunges no problem! Thank you Tovah...

I started training with Tovah last year in a functional fitness class and instantly fell in love with her energy, technique and knowledge. I’ve been injured several times by untrained, young, trainers pushing you to be faster and push more weight, so I’ve been really skeptical about going back to weights. Tovah will NOT let you proceed with an exercise if you’re not doing it correctly. (Thank you for that) Which equals = attained goals, laterality, improved range of movement, in a way that your body can healthfully adapt to positive change. Did I mention that she’s also the most fun you’ll ever have? Perfect...