Anyone else doing Caroline Girvan's EPIC programme?

[BigButtons]

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.

@Bw3344 - if your legs require work, I recommend Lucy's Thighs & Glutes. Do it every day for a month and report back. Add in Rebecca's Best Abs and you'll be laughing!

EH day 12 done, the antagonist one. Really enjoyed it! It went on a bit though, it’s about 37 mins long, the actual work out bit. Luckily I had started bit early today as otherwise my carefully planned morning routine could have gone awry.

I’ve just done day 12 heat too.
I tell you what makes me frustrated is how little gain I am making weights wise with some arm exercises.. chest presses, big weights improvement, flies up 1 kg, bicep curls up 1 kg, shoulder presses- up 2 kg ( just).
I did manage pretty much a whole round of push ups though ( not the deep wide ones- she can f* off with those). Then my arms got too tired.

I liked the dead bugs though- good bit of tummy training there.

Hi @Boopear and @Bw3344!

Started Heat today. Loved it. Short, sharp and sweaty. Planning to flex a bit more this time and add some different workouts in between the Heat days but we will see. I like not having to think what to do next so if my brain hurts ill just follow the schedule.

I am very tempted to go back to Heat. I went to Heat week 4 then started Epic III when it dropped as FOMO. I really liked Heat - hard but so hard enough that it feel like a continuous impossible mission.

EPIC III is maybe what I should be aspiring to! Just tried Legs Day 7 and wimped out 1/2 way through as my legs just refused to go on Anyone else also in the EPIC III endeavour..?

I can't write not so hard that it feels..

(And hello to everyone and thanks for the welcome!)

EPIC Day 7 complete! Legs, legs, legs. Actually quite enjoyed it even though quite repetitive. Bulgarian split squats are my nemesis! But liked the side lunges. Still don’t need my new 10kg weights tho..!

I’m about two and a half weeks in to a more focussed exercise programme and I can definitely feel the difference. Less bloated/leaner middle. Stronger arms, although still lots of loose-ness to be rid of. All going in the right direction.

@ManxRhyme I’m really enjoying the length of the Heat sessions, even with a separate warm up tagged on it’s over in 45mins. Albeit 30 of those minutes are savage.

@BigButtons nice work on the press ups.

Keep going ladies!

@ManxRhyme I feel the after effects of heat in my muscles much more than with Epic. It’s shorter so that I can give it more perhaps.
I am making sure to do leg and shoulder yoga nearly everyday or I would seize up😮
Mind you LWR thighs one still kills me every time too.

I will report back on soreness tomorrow! Though I've had my covid booster today so that may be a confounder. I'm much better at making sure I stretch properly after now. It makes a big difference to my soreness after.

@ManxRhyme good luck with the covid booster reaction. How were you with your first 2 doses?
I am wondering whether reactions to the vaccine improve with each one- I’m certainly hoping they do🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
I ached so much during the night. I am sure it’s related to this lingering bug. I can do the exercises ‘ok’ but by the evening I feel like Riga mortise has set in. I get lost viral aches quite badly anyway.
Loads of my friends are coming down with this. 2 weeks and counting for me😟

Thanks for the growinganananas recommendations. Did one of hers this morning and enjoyed. No weights allowed atm as recovering from neck injury. Does anyone have recommendations for workouts similar to Caroline Girvan or Growinganananas which are available offline (to download or on dvd)? I think I can download with youtube but only for 48 hours. Going somewhere with very limited internet for six weeks. I also won't have weights so need to be body weight.

Hi all, finally got around to doing EH day 11 and for penance for missing a couple of days I did RL abs and the 3 min plank session too.

I’m impressed by those of you using heavy weights, I can’t seem to go beyond 6kg for arms (except for flies etc when I need to go lower) and am finding 8kg a challenge for legs. Not so much the legs themselves but just holding them when in a squat or a hold. No doubt I need to be patient but the leap from 6 to 8 has been harder than the leap from 3 to 6. I’m also now the proud owner of a 12kg kettlebell but goodness knows when I’ll manage to use that! I’m trying to push through with the heavier weights anyway, hoping that they will become easier sooner than later.

@Taytotots no idea re downloadable, I think the ones where you can download a series are payment only? I looked to see if the Epic series was downloadable from not YouTube but all I found was an introductory pdf complete with diet tips. The only DVDs I have are Jillian Michaels from years ago, I don’t know if anyone is still doing them now that everything is online.

@Taytotots - you can download from YouTube if you pay from (I think it's called...) prime.

I've sometimes seen old exercise DVDs in charity shops, maybe worth a try if you've got time to browse.

Or ask on Freecycle or Nextdoor if anyone has some old DVDs gathering dust somewhere.

Day 13 coming up for me. I've just had a look at what to expect. 'advanced lower body' looks more like a hiit day to me. Gawd.

She's using a 25kg weight. I shall attempt my 12kg kettlebell.

You are brave @BigButtons, watching it first. I prefer not to know what’s coming up or I will only find an excuse to avoid.

I almost feel I should do day 12 as well this evening, but I probably wouldn’t be able to move tomorrow

oh I say!!!!! Day 13.
That went the quickest of any CG session so far ever.
It was bloody brutal- leg shockingly brutal, trisets on same leg at a time, but at the same time really enjoyable- how is that exactly?
Perhaps I am a masochist.
It is one I will return to for sure if I want a damn good and effective leg session. I could feel my quads growing I swear!

Oh really? Interesting. I was intrigued by her use of advanced.

I will do day 12 tomorrow first thing and look forward to day 13

@Melassa without the squats and lunge tortures we have endured over previous weeks I couldn't have done it. It hurt like buggery- pretty well all quad work. There were one legged wall sits- they felt like a rest!

😂 25 kg weights. I'll be sticking to my piddly 5kg I think. I'm the same @Melassa with weights. My wrists can't handle much more than my current 5kg. Not sure why but life will be a bugger if I get a wrist injury so not going to push it.

Legs not sore from heat 1 yesterday but I could feel my shoulders burning from the superior shoulder workout. The booster jabbed arm was not happy. Shoulders a bit achy today but not sure from the jab or the workout. Either way I'm going to have a stretch and an early night tonight.

Well ladies I did day 2 of Caroline's Beast Mode yesterday and then because the third day is all body workout I caved and said I'd rest.... clearly I am now addicted to exercise (never thought it ) because I ended up doing 2 blasts of 10 minute workouts for my legs and upper body!
I've felt much better these last couple of days - the upper body one was so easy compared to when I first started I couldn't believe the change in me!
I have been sore for 2 days after her leg workout... I'm scared to look at the epic ones!

@Bw3344 yes she is addictive and because every routine is different you never get bored🙂

@Bw3344 It’s really rewarding to notice the improvents!

No exercise for me this morning as I had to drive my son to school early, it’s a 20 mile round trip so eats into my morning routine. I was aching quite a bit from the previous session so skipping today suited me fine.

Day 14 whole body later.
Oddly I have had no doms from the quad workout.
I found one of her really early videos for a quick arm sesh. I couldn’t complete it all- too many reps at the weight I was using but it really worked my arms and suddenly the muscles seem to have popped. Hurrah!