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Original poster

Anyone else doing Caroline Girvan's EPIC programme?

894 replies

BigButtons · 22/07/2021 15:50

I thought I was pretty fit and toned. I have exercised consistently most of my life: weights, cardio, hit, running etc ( now 53). I have just finished day 8 of EPIC and feel like a complete wuss. It was the lunges one. I wanted to be sick even though I was standing infront of a large fan the entire time.
How do people actually manage to get through these? I have just looked ahead to the burpee day and feel like I am simply not up to this. Sad

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Original poster
BigButtons · 02/09/2021 16:18

@AnnaDyne
@FlowerArranger gives great advice.
CG is very hard- even for those who think they are fit and strong!

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Original poster
BigButtons · 02/09/2021 16:19

True about the hips and ankles. I’m pretty sure much of my knee issues were due to weak hips.
LWR does a killer thigh workout, all lying on the floor!

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FlowerArranger · 02/09/2021 17:34

Ah, thanks @BigButtons Smile

The killer thigh workout from Lucy is linked in my post above. It really is good!

Forgot to mention the importance of planks:

I do this one most days and boy, has it helped to strengthen my core Grin

And on days when I just want a good all round workout, there's the lovely Jake DuPree:

After all, this should be fun!!!

Original poster
BigButtons · 02/09/2021 18:16

@FlowerArranger I’ll do the plank one this evening and the legs one too. I’m
More likely to fit the plank one in daily since it’s only 3 mins. Nothing else CG wise for me today. Straight from teaching into my teens at home. I will get no peace until I go to bed.

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Melassa · 03/09/2021 08:14

I did the Heat day 1 yesterday, blessedly short! Although after nearly 3 days of being immobile and hunched over my laptop I did notice my fitness had slipped already. How quickly you lose it after a certain age! I wasn’t overly impressed with the Heat warm up, but maybe only because I had got used to the Epic warm up which was shorter.

I will try day 2 shortly then I need to go to the office

Melassa · 03/09/2021 10:10

Just did heat day 2, unlike yesterday I didn’t really break a sweat, although my arms are a bit trembly. I like the short sessions, quite apart from anything seeing the ticker rapidly get to 50% is heartening, on the Epic series full body days it seem to linger in the teens for ages!

AnnaDyne · 03/09/2021 12:02

I did day 1 of the Epic Beginners today which was too lungey for me really. I'm hoping this is because it's a lower body one and day 2 isn't a lower body one. ( My knee issue also caused by misaligned hips).

I also did Lucy's thigh workout which was short and good! (I need short or I get very distracted)

I might try a few more of Lucy's too, as I quite like her.

Moonflower12345 · 03/09/2021 14:31

Ooh Epic 3 from Monday! Yay!! I did hope she would do another series but wondered if she'd start it when kids go back (she has kids herself too).

I'm 2 weeks into epic Heat and enjoying it a lot so will give it a couple of days to decide whether to stick with that or start epic 3. I like doing it the same day as everyone else 'live' but I am not keen on the Thursday rest day so might wait a week or 2.

Original poster
BigButtons · 03/09/2021 15:12

Ineteresting re Epic 3. I wonder if it will hour long sessions again? They are unworkable for me atm. I am squashed between my teens' demands, being a taxi, working and visiting my mum who is freshly out of hospital. She fell again last night and cut her head open.

I don't seem to have a spare minute and it's so frustrating. I am determined to fir in epic heat day 2 arms this afternoon and do one other over the weekend.
I need it to de-stress ( I will also be using alcohol later to the same ends)

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Original poster
BigButtons · 03/09/2021 15:15

@Melassa I know! During the hour one the bar doesn't move very quickly and I get so close to giving up before 50%.

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FlowerArranger · 03/09/2021 15:47

Hey @BigButtons - give yourself a break! You deserve it Smile

Just do half a CG and, if you want, supplement with a short Rebecca, Lucy, whatever. The other CG half will still be there the next day.

Incidentally, if you search Lucy Wyndham Read Pear Shape, you'll find lots more great leg workouts. None more than 10-15 minutes.

ManxRhyme · 03/09/2021 16:14

Oh decisions decisions. Should I do epic 2 next, skip to epic 3 or do epic heat instead as I'm so time pressed now that kids are back at school and the hamster wheel of extracurricular stuff have restarted?

Did day 40 HIIT with dumbells yesterday and because i was short of time today, I did it again today 😂 my fav of her HIIT sessions I think. Intense but not crazy esp if you go low on the DB weights.

Original poster
BigButtons · 03/09/2021 16:24

@ManxRhyme ooh- I'll bear that in mind re day 40. Am about to do day 2 epic heat and try and destress myself with dumbbells.
I thought my legs would really feel it after day one, but they've been fine.
If I remember to pull my abs in today then I'll get a bonus abs workout at the same time- win win!
I suppose it depends on the length of Epic 3 workouts? wee are all time poor now so maybe she will make them all shorter?

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ManxRhyme · 03/09/2021 16:43

I've still got 2 more weeks of epic to go so will wait for the feedback re epic 3.epic heat sounds so appealing time wise.

Original poster
BigButtons · 03/09/2021 17:14

ouchie ouchie that shoulder routine was painful! I started with 5s quickly dropped to 4s and went back up to 5s for the last couple. My shoulders were literally hot! Not sweating, just pain!

I chuckled at her intro "If you find this really hard then .....good"

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Moonflower12345 · 03/09/2021 19:06

I have done epic 1 and 2 and now heat and really really love the shorter workouts. I'm so much fitter now that it isn't that they seem easier, they are still hard, but they fly by. I struggled a bit towards the end of epic 2 as some of the workouts felt really long, so interested to see how long epic 3 workouts are. I think I'll decide then what to do about switching from heat.

ManxRhyme · 03/09/2021 19:55

Thanks @Moonflower12345. I think I'll do epic heat next. Autumn term is always a bit of an assault course for me anyway and I don't want to start dropping the exercise because I can't fit it in.

Original poster
BigButtons · 03/09/2021 21:12

I feel bad a bit because I want to finish Epic but the time is just too long. Think I will keep going with heat, but it feels wrong 🥴

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ManxRhyme · 03/09/2021 22:25

I'm finishing epic definitely. Even if I have to stretch it out over the next few weekends. We've come so far!

Melassa · 04/09/2021 08:25

@BigButtons

I feel bad a bit because I want to finish Epic but the time is just too long. Think I will keep going with heat, but it feels wrong 🥴
Me too! But I am really pushed for time in the week.

I will do one today, but unsure of whether to do the Tabata HI IT on day 35, or just go to day 36. The Heat shoulder session yesterday was more brutal than it seemed, today I’m pretty stiff. Hmm might bite the bullet and do the Tabata. I’ve seen on Heat that day 5 is burpee bonanza 😬

Original poster
BigButtons · 04/09/2021 14:19

@Melassa my shoulders are a tad sore today. I looked ahead to the burpee bonanza. Yikes.
I carry won’t be doing it her her speed!
What weights are people using for upper body work?
I can’t seem to get past 5kg for shoulder worry and often have to drop to 4. Mind you I think I used to have to drop to 3s so I suppose that is progress.
How she lifts those weights is beyond me.
I would love to have cut shoulders. They have much more definition now but no actual muscle demarcation. I know thati being impatient.
I have finally been let into the general FB group. Someone posted a before and after photo of themselves and quite honestly I thought the after photo looked awful. Really extreme and not ‘healthy’.

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Melassa · 04/09/2021 16:08

I ended up doing the day 3 of heat instead of the Tabata. Too hot today was my excuse…

Mind you I was out of puff and sweating profusely with the leg day, so I don’t feel I missed out by not doing the HIIT. I think the Heat is a bit harder, I don’t know how or why, it seems to be similar to the regular Epic, yet I ache from shoulder day, which didn’t really happen with Epic 1.

@BigButtons I use 6kgs for most arm exercises except for flies and lateral raises or anything else I can’t manage. My lighter weights are 3kg, I need to invest in something in between, and maybe something a bit heavier for the many of the leg exercises. I will pop into Decathlon tomorrow and see what there is.

Original poster
BigButtons · 04/09/2021 16:26

@Melassa I think heat is more concentrated so feels harder and is harder. I mean 40 mins of JUST shoulders didn’t happen in epic did it?
Wow you used 6kg for the shoulder day? Very impressed indeed. My right shoulder is noticeably stronger than my left. I could up the weight for my right but then I’d end up having one beefy arm and one skinny one😂

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FlowerArranger · 04/09/2021 16:53

I mostly use 5 kg, plus 8 kg for easier stuff or if I'm feeling particularly strong. My next purchase will be 10 kg.

I still occasionally use my 3 kg for this one, which is a great little leg workout with handheld 'light' weights (I suspect Sadie is probably using 2 lb or something flyweight Grin):

Melassa · 04/09/2021 17:03

I only use 6kg for the various shoulder presses and Arnolds etc. For the lateral and frontal raises I use 3kg, although I did attempt a front raise with 6kg. I managed very few though! I also have a much stronger arm so I am careful to do the same reps both sides, even if I finish sooner on one side. I also don’t want unbalanced arms, legs, glutes.

One thing I did notice today is I put a dress on I’d not worn for months and it was tighter across my shoulders and back. I wonder if it means I’ve beefed up there?