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.

I watched her Q&A session. I was surprised she only did 5hrs a week to be honest. There is hope for me yet!

Today glutes are screaming, yesterday I was so worried about stretching my calves I forgot the glutes. Still, it is somewhat encouraging, hopefully this means that at some point in the not too distant future I’ll have buns of steel!

@Melassa I'm going to do day 21 in a minute. I think you will hate it- all glutes, all of it.

OH MY WORD.
I can not feel my backside or my legs.
The first 50% of the session was hip thrusts with a band and weights from the sofa.
Foolishly I upped my weight to 13.kg, which although fine for the sumo squats was an absolute b*!£$rd for the hip thrusts.
I'm sure it's getting both harder and longer!

I also swore a lot and stuck my fingers up at the tv

@BigButtons - are you sure this is still fun?!!

I did EPIC Heat Day 12 (opposing upper body), Bowflex plank, plus part of a short (new!) RL abs, and half of one of Caroline's abs. I'm whacked but energised, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Maybe it's time to cut yourself some slack

[quote FlowerArranger]@BigButtons - are you sure this is still fun?!!

I did EPIC Heat Day 12 (opposing upper body), Bowflex plank, plus part of a short (new!) RL abs, and half of one of Caroline's abs. I'm whacked but energised, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Maybe it's time to cut yourself some slack [/quote]
It hurts but I know it is doing me good.

As I understand it strong glutes make a huge difference to knee strength and stability. My knee pain has pretty much gone since starting the Epics. I would never have believed it. I have had niggles from a knee injury I got in my teens.
So when the glutes hurt like today I just think of all the good it is doing to my whole body and that keeps me going.
I also feel immensely proud when I complete a session, that I didn't give up even though it was tough. It helps with mental resilience ( and I really need a lot of that atm).
There's an awful lot that could drag me down about myself but this has been one thing that's done nothing but make me feel proud and that I have some degree of control with how my body looks as it ages and the making of stronger bones too.

Oh, I totally get it @BigButtons

Just thought that maybe you were moaning just a tad more than usual

@FlowerArranger CG always makes me moan. I don't get the FB peeps aways jolly about the amount they have suffered!!!!!

I just did Epic II Day 29 - 52 mins of upper body complexes. Would def recommend. Felt like a good balance between all upper body muscles!

Hahaha! I also whinge about CG. I’ve not managed to squeeze in day 18 today, maybe I’ll try it a bit later but it’s been a long day and I’ve had wine. My glutes still hurt, they probably will until day 21 when it will all start again. 50% hip thrusts you say? Pure hell. It was the hip thrusts with band that I reckon did for me, I found it hard to complete the second set of reps after the hold. And I was only using 8kg, kudos to you @BigButtons with 13kg!

[quote BigButtons]@FlowerArranger CG always makes me moan. I don't get the FB peeps aways jolly about the amount they have suffered!!!!![/quote]
More moaning opportunities for you, young lady…

@flowerarranger- plenty to grumble about there😂

I managed to hold a static three minute plank yesterday. It was my shoulders that fatigued the most though.

i shall wittering on for accountability, even if only to myself!
Day 22 done today @FlowerArranger although challenging with the endless push up staples ( which I did my best to do) I did actually enjoy it . No moaning or swearing at the tv today. Tomorrow is bulgarian lunge day though so there will probably be swearing involved at some point and many pained facial expressions.

This is old but a good one - just a few hip thrusts (no weights!) and no lunges!!!

And a nice little fun filler from Rebecca from yesterday - abs with weights:

I did both of these today, plus the 3-minute plank.

I did too many hip thrusts to count with day 11 heat today. DS was nagging me worried that the dumbell would hurt my hips bless him.

I find that with planks, the bit that hurts now are my elbows!

Day 23 legs. Was ok. I went too heavy with the weights to start with. Although I could lift them fine they pulled on my back too much during the endless RDLs so I dropped back down to 7kg and that was much better.

My right knee is complaining. I went to my trusty trigger point book and found loads down the side of my right leg( where they usually are) pressed on one and it sent the pain straight to the knee. I will be massaging those tonight .
I did the weighted abs afterwards as I really like that one.
Hope everyone is ok🙂

Yes my elbows hurt too with planks. And bizarrely the sides of my feet too with the side planks.

Finally did day 18, but my heart wasn’t in it so I went with fewer reps and practically checked out due to distractions about halfway through. I might try a bit of it again tomorrow.

@ManxRhyme I’ve started using a thick towel for the hip thrusts since I went up in weight as it was getting uncomfortable, plus I was worrying about the weight pressing on an artery or something.

@BigButtons trigger point book? Sounds intriguing. I used to do a fair amount of acupuncture for my bad back and sore shoulder, so I’m a great believer in pressure points or points of any type. I will look it up online, thanks for the tip!

@Melassa I used a towel too this time. Surprisingly my glutes are OK today. I need to up my weights but I haven't the time to get new ones.

Did the upper body workout today and it went by quite quickly. I can definitely do much better push ups now and even managed a pushup hold for some of it. Unthinkable just 3 months ago.

I agree, I can do so much more of everything. I do the 3 min plank routine most mornings and it doesn’t even hurt anymore! I’ve always hated low planks but they no longer faze me.

I’ve decided I’ll redo day 18 tomorrow before going to the office (if I manage to get up a bit earlier and down 2 coffees). I liked a lot of it but just couldn’t be bothered today, now I feel guilty.

@BigButtons - have you thought about giving the CG leg and gutes workouts a rest for a bit and instead focus on floor based workouts. Lucy has another one which I find useful, particularly if done more slowly and with more reps. You could also add ankle weights and/or resistance bands to make it more challenging.

@FlowerArranger leg weights are sitting in my eBay basket😃

@Melassa I have owned my copy for about 16 years. I refer to it whenever I have pains that I think are muscle related. It started with me having very bad toothache years ago. There was nothing wrong with my teeth. I eventually found out it was due to knots in my maseter. When ever I get it now I can always find them and I massage away.
With my knee I know it is knots in the vastus lateralis. The book is my bible.
books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Trigger_Point_Therapy_Workbook.html?id=DLb7ShX-gskC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=1&redir_esc=y

Thank you! Found it on Amazon by the same authors in Italian, might pop to my local bookshops to see if they have it (I hate giving money to Amazon if I can avoid it). It’s in my basket just in case.

@melassa You won’t regret it- it’s amazing and has saved me from spending money on massages and treatments and being in pain . I also like knowing what is going on.