Anyone else doing Caroline Girvan's EPIC programme?

I agree, she never shuts up! I binned yoga with Adriene due to the inane chatter, I much prefer Kassandra, plus her sessions I find are more of a challenge.

I might try the lunges tomorrow, it sounds like they are less scary than they look. I will go slowly though. I’m with you in the sweaty feet, I ended up buying some yoga socks which have grips on the bottom. Sweaty hands are possibly worse, I was slipping and sliding during the push ups, no doubt doing them badly, so have now brought a towel to cover the mat.

Chickened out of the lunge session today and did a mini abs session from Rebecca Louise as well as a power yoga session with Kassandra. I still managed to sweat loads with the yoga, so I feel I’ve had a “proper” workout.

I may try to lunges tomorrow, but I saw the preview with the lock and just though no. Plus, what’s this I hear about a lunge to a pistol squat? Possibly worse than the burpees.

@BigButtons if you do the lunges today let me know how you get on!

Thanks for that flowerarranger. I do feel that Caroline girvan never does enough targeted abs exercises for me so add on a quick abs session most workouts.

I always add in a little mini abs workout along with the EPIC. Usually one of Rebecca's, especially this one, which I love:

Plus a few Russian twists and sit-ups for good measure. Obviously turn down the sound LOL... Love her enthusiasm, but the endless chatter is all too much!!

I started the 1 week complex series yesterday and already have to have a rest day tomorrow

The first day was a leg day, basically 40 mins of lunges and squats. Today was upper body which I actually managed much better. But man my buns hurt from yesterday And tomorrow is glutes day, no way I can get through it when I ache like hell from yesterday! So, tomorrow is going to be a stretchy yoga day and I’ll tackle the glutes on Thursday.

I have strangely come to enjoy lunges… maybe I’m experiencing Stockholm syndrome I do struggle doing them but I’ve noticed my balance has improved hugely in only few weeks. I find it very motivating.

I can do squats, yes. I will what the lunge one tomorrow while eating crisps to see what she’s targeting and find a squat workout instead, maybe LWR that you’re recommending. Or modify the hell lunges and turn them into squats.

My ankles i think are stiff because I don’t walk anywhere near as much as I used to. I’m trying to remedy this and do 10k steps every day this week. Not least because we’re supposed to be hiking in the mountains next week and after wimping out of a 3 hour trail about half an hour in last year I realise I need to build my stamina up again. I used to walk so much every day and everywhere (no car) and with the various lockdowns I’ve got out of the habit.

The very worst exercises are those Bulgarian split squats (with the back leg up on a chair) - I hate those with a passion.

Just want to add that many of Anna's HIIT workouts (Growingannanas) include lots of squats. And not too many lunges...

Weak or stiff ankles: have you tried wearing ankle (and wrist) weights? After a while you'll barely notice them but they are very effective in strengthening the joints.

Did the back and biceps today, not too bad, I managed all the moves pretty easily and did extra stretching before and after.

Tomorrow is lunge-tastic day and I’m thinking of swapping it out for another leg day further along, until my knee is a bit less sore. They’re all going to have lunges in them, aren’t they?

Thanks for this @FlowerArranger, I’ve just done a set of each and my shoulder already feels better. My ankles are really stiff though, I wake up each day with tight Achilles’ tendons and need to stretch them in the morning. No idea why! It’s a novelty from this year. Probably because I walk a lot less, what with WFH, also I’ve not been using heels much at all. I’m not sure if that has an impact too.

Try these stretches from Cori of Redefining Strength - she really knows her stuff:

I’m attaching a photo with the timings for each stretch so you can skip the explanations after you’ve listened to them.

Ha! I've been doing epic heat with my husband - up to about number 38 I think! Love it - I've always exercised, but this has pushed my fitness on another step, and although my weight has stayed the same (I'm not trying to lose any) I definitely have slimmer legs and bum. I'm 56, and use 7.5kg or 10kg handweights now. Very occasionally the 5kg for front/side raises.

Did you manage the glute bridge to backwards legs one? Thanks to the sweat running into my eyes I couldn’t quite see if her bum touched the ground before curling my legs back, tried it from a bridge position and reckon I pulled my left bum muscle then. You were right to skip the lunge 180s, my knee woes stem from those, I am certain of it.

I got them from Decathlon, these with these.

I only got 2kg and several 1kg so I can go up gradually. The bar alone weighs something like 2kg, so that plus 2x2kg weights come to 6kg.

Sorry to hear you hurt yourself, @Melassa. Maybe try some easier weight-based exercise for a while and slowly increase the weights? Rebecca Louise has lots of arm workouts, generally just 10 minutes. That's what I did before I discovered Ms Girvan...

Which adjustable dumbbells did you get? I need some as I'm accumulating so many normal dumbbells, I'll run out of space pretty soon!

Don’t worry @BigButtons, it was probably my bad form. It was unbearably hot yesterday and I probably rushed through a couple of moves instead of doing things properly. There were also a couple of moves I struggled to do and probably tried to hard (and still did them incorrectly). I have to resign myself to the fact that some things I am no longer agile enough to do and stop at a reasonable modification instead of pushing myself to try and master them.