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.

How many burpees can you fit into 20 seconds...

About 4! If with a push up I might scrape 3

Depends if it’s chest to floor or not😂

Definitely not a chest to floor one! Any push ups in complexes are at most halfway, past the first one perhaps. If that.

I am cuffed to note that I am able to more and more full push ups. Still have to modify after a while. Can’t do a tricep one. Oddly I can do the ones where you put your fingers together and push up from the forearms. I must be doing them wrong 🧐

Hi everyone,
I've been following your thread but not posted before...
Based on a recommendation a while ago, (August?) I did the EPIC beginner workouts and have been doing EPIC Heat since.
I'm on day 42 . Can't quite believe I've made it this far!

But now I'm starting to think what to do next, in two weeks time. Restart EPIC Heat with heavier weights? Do a different EPIC? Try a different trainer?
I struggle with time. I really like the 30 minute workouts.
Advice please!

My advice would be not to overthink it

It's great that you've done an entire programme. You must be so much fitter!

Redoing EPIC Heat with heavier weights sounds like a great idea, particularly if this fits in with your lifestyle. And/or dip your toe into one of the other EPIC programmes when you have more time, e.g. substituting an EPIC Heat legs workout with a similar, longer one from another EPIC series. Or one of Caroline's stand-alone workouts.

I also work out with other online fitness trainers as otherwise I get a bit bored. Or sometimes I just don't feel up to a full CG session... My other go-to trainers are Growingannanas and Jake DuPree who mainly do HIIT. I also swear by a few specific workouts:

• Lucy Wyndham Read's Thighs & Glutes
• Rebecca Louise's Best Abs
• the Bowflex 3-minute plank

Finally, whenever I'm unsure whether I'm doing a particular move right (e.g. push-ups), I check Redefining Strength. This lady, Cory, explains all moves really well.

Hope this helps

Hi @stilllockeddownnowheretogo I think Epic 3 is 30 minutes sessions, I remember someone mentioning it further down the thread. I too struggle with fitting anything longer into my day, some days I find it hard finding 30 mins plus warm up, so I do a quick plank or thigh session mentioned by @FlowerArranger

Well done on getting to day 42! I’m still languishing in the first half, did day 21 glutes today, looking forward to the upper body one tomorrow despite my shoulders still being sore from the full body. Can I ask, did you find you were getting fewer sore muscles as you progressed? I think I’m getting stronger with every session then Bam!, a session which cripples my triceps, shoulder, glutes or whatever the muscle du jour was.

@Melassa that’s a good question about getting less sore. I suspect the answer will be ‘no’ simple because the sessions get incrementally harder. I am finding that I might have a week where I really struggle then the next week it seems easier- perhaps because I am stronger- and then she will up the stakes again so I struggle and hurt again!

Thanks everyone! So great to see your responses.

@FlowerArranger, you're right I shouldn't overthink it. But I've done much better at sticking to this program than any others and I want to keep on a roll.
I want to know what I'm doing next, so I don't spend weeks faffing about and not doing any workouts. And I know me, I know that if I don't have someone telling me I must do a glutes workout, or a HIIT, that I will wimp out and do arms / rest day wayyyy too often .
I think I will take a week off and try your suggestions - those are great. My planking is usually terrible - maybe I'll have improved post-EPIC Heat??

@Melassa, interesting you ask about soreness - it really has varied! I was definitely sorest after I did EPIC Beginner. With zero weights. Maybe because I'd been doing different exercise prior - mostly cardio cycling and running.
I haven't really hurt much during EPIC Heat at all - I've had limited weights though so maybe wasn't challenging myself enough. I got new weights in week 6/7 and I had a bit more soreness after that (arms) . There have been weeks / workouts where I've felt amazing and really enjoyed it (a couple of the full body weights sessions in particular), and then there has been a similar workout the next week where I've struggled. I think Caroline really does vary the type / intensity of the workouts so you can never really tell what's coming next.

Oh, and I agree with @BigButtons! I definitely am fitter / stronger, and think I'm doing great, and then suddenly I'm struggling to do an arm press...
Overall I am fitter / stronger. I am a bit worried about my arm / shoulder muscles which are bigger, but love the effect on my legs / thighs. Could do with some more abs / better waistline.... Have any of you seen your arms / shoulders increasing in size? I don't want to get bulky there, but do want to lose the bingo wings.
I really need to lose some of the fat on top of (what I hope is) muscle, but cannot stay away from the biscuits / crisps / chocolate. Sigh. Maybe this thread will give me motivation!

@stilllockeddownnowheretogo I am tighter but bigger, if that makes sense. My legs build muscle very quickly anyway, so although my lower thighs are smaller my upper thighs are bigger. My hips and waist are smaller. My shoulder and arms definitely much bigger.

Day 26 Heat- posterior chain. No hip thrusts @Melassa! A thousand RDLs. It was fine though, went really quickly. I used 8.5kg weights to CG's 15s. I could have gone heavier but didn't want it to pull on my back.

I then did the bicep add on which I quite enjoyed- mostly 5kg, with some 6s thrown in. I will probably do this one once in a while as I like the short ones that really concentrate on one area only.
What I do appreciate is that she is giving much more detailed advice on form and reps. Much more so than at the start.

I've switched to doing Epic III but a week behind rather than live as I'm WFH this week so can fit in a longer session. Did Upper body complexes today and found it OK but I do find she focuses a lot on shoulders and not so much on arms. I didn't even attempt her pike push ups though - just did some tricep exercises instead 🤣

I know you-all LOVE a good plank challenge!

So, here is one that's a bit.......... different:

The fun starts about 57 seconds in...

I agree @BigButtons, I do like her in depth explanations in EH. Thank goodness for no more hip thrusts, although I did some yesterday in the glute session and they weren’t too bad. I do find that some of her sessions are deceptively easy, I can do most of the moves and am not sore the next day, then she hits you with a difficult one and and you!re back to struggling with exercises and soreness/stiffness afterwards.

I got the book today, I’ve just been reading through it and have tried to relieve my knee ache with my thumbs and it seems to have worked. I will see tomorrow in my warm up if it’s really gone or just pretended to go away. It’s been most interesting flicking through the pages.

No exercise for me today, it’s been a long and exhausting day with trying clients. Wine has been drunk but I’m back in the wagon tomorrow.

OMG at that plank @FlowerArranger

@Melassa sounds like you earned that wine!
With the massaging you need to keep at it for a bit. I can find sore spots I didn’t know existed.
Hopefully you will find it really useful. The older I get the more I rely on it to fix my twinges😂

@Anjelika and others, I'd love to hear your review of the EPIC III series, any sessions you do. What is the video / workout length in minutes? Does it seem like a lot longer than the Heat workout...
This morning, when I was about 80% through, I was wondering how I'd feel if I had an extra 10-15 minutes, or worse a double workout to complete! And I couldn't have done it. Are the longer workouts less intense? I think I prefer 30 mins of effort and it's all over.

On the hip thrusts: do you all do them on a hard dining chair, or a softer sofa?
Seeing Caroline's clear plastic chair, I've been trying to use a dining chair - it has a covered seat but not very cushion-y. And I couldn't do them at all, it hurt too much on the top of my back / the part leaning on the chair, and I really wondered if I was doing them correctly... (I changed to glute bridges from the mat instead)
But then I saw she has a different grey cushioned chair, and I tried the last session of hip thrusts using my sofa instead, and could do them much better - I really felt it on leg muscles.
How do you do the hip thrusts? Do you struggle? Is it ok to use the sofa?

@stilllockeddownnowheretogo I was dreading trying the Epic III ones as a) they are longer and b) from what I've read online they are supposed to be pretty tough! The 2 I've done this week were only about 45 mins each and didn't feel noticeably longer. The leg pyramids day 21 wasn't that hard really. CG only uses 1 dumbbell for each exercise and I did the same. It was my heaviest but was I think maybe a bit too light. If I did that one again I would have 2 for the squats and stick with 1 for the Bulgarian lunges!

Yesterday I did day 22 upper body complexes and it was fine. I didn't attempt the pike press-ups though and my triceps didn't feel particularly challenged. It was more about the shoulders. I'm WFH this week so it's way easier for me to fit in the slightly longer sessions. Saying that, over the past few weeks I've been picking out routines from Epic II to do and these were 52 mins each.

@stilllockeddownnowheretogo I do my hips thrusts from my sofa

@Anjelika That's really interesting to hear your views on Epic lll. I am on an over 50's FB group and to hear them talking you would think it was absolute murder and so very very much harder than heat. Mind you they do use crazy weights.

I am wanting to build muscle in my arms and shoulders more quickly. I am impatient yet I can't lift heavy enough for that to happen- and don't want injury. What I am doing is trying some of the shorter isolated session with heavier weights in the hope that it will give my muscles a bit of extra oomph. I do swap them immediately if my form fails.
I shouldn't be annoyed though as I can lift so much heavier than I could when i started in July.

Hi, I haven’t checked in for a while but have been toiling away with Epic Heat. Completed day 27 today which means I’m half way through!

I didn’t do Day 25 EMOM, it looked way too jump heavy for my sensibilities. I used our Carol bike instead, followed by the 3 min Bowflex plank. In fact I have decided to do that instead of the Hiit/Emom sessions. At least for the time being.

EH day 24 (Beastmode full body)was tough in my books. Made me really ache afterwards. It may have contributed for me to ditch the EMOM day . Having said that, I quite enjoyed the sesh and I’ve noticed the tough full body sets give me the best euphoria hit for the day.

@stilllockeddownnowheretogo I use a Bosu ball for hip thrusts. We do have a padded gym bench at home too but I prefer the bosu ball.

This reminds me of something that I wanted to ask here too - when doing hip thrusts or anything else where you need to place the dumbell on your lap - how do you stop it rolling up and down? I’ve tried with a towel and without but my dumbell doesn’t stay in place at all.

@BigButtons lol I am on that FB group too and that is where I got the impression it was WAY harder than Heat and YES the high weights they use on there!!! Makes me think I should be lifting heavier. I probably should for legs but can still feel it the day afterwards.

To be fair I don't do any of her HIIT routines and those do seem quite tough. I run twice a week and just want to supplement the running with some strength training.

@wetpants it’s funny. I found day 24 pretty non taxing. Other days that people have enjoyed I have really found a struggle.
I am about to do day 27.
Since I got to this point in Epic 1 before switching to heat that means I have done 50 days😃.
I have to steady the dumbbell with my hand during hip thrusts .