EPIC!! Losing, gaining and groaning with Caroline Girvan

[BigButtons]

New thread!

Thank you. Now my cat has come in with I think a leg injury. It’s shit storm bingo with me atm.

oh mine just had a leg injury too - she was yowling and limping on Saturday. Just lying there. I phoned the vet but couldn't get an appointment until last night. She looked a little bit better yesterday but the vet told me to bring her in.

It cost me £130 and they couldn't find anything wrong! She is walking fine today. So maybe give it a day or 2. Mine fell out of a window once and had a similar limp. It was a ligament injury that got better on its own (after another vet trip though of course).

@Itsnotdeep we were really worried last night. He wouldn’t even eat a dreamies! Come the middle of the night he was clearly fully recovered from whatever it was. I was intending to leave it a couple of days. Vets are so expensive. God knows what he did- he was completely lethargic, holding his leg strangely and wouldn’t eat. He’s had breakfast now and gone out! Bloody cats!

Sorry to hear about poorly mum, poorly cats and poorly posters.

I'm jealous - my legs are really resistant to change! Upper body looks good, but still plenty of improvement needed on legs. They have got better over last year or so, but still not great.

Did the upper body with the skull crusher finisher yesterday. Managed it in time with CG. Only a 5kg weight though.

@fishonabicycle 5kg is my limit for skull crushers!
I did most of the glutes one yesterday and then a heat full body. I am finding the need to exercise much more because of the stress of my home situation.
My supplementation with protein has stopped my hair loss!

Sorry to hear about your mum @BigButtons. I’ve finally made it back after my COVID break. It really wiped me out so no chance of any workouts. I tried a bit of netball training on Tuesday and then day 9 endgame full body today which felt ok apart from the 100 ab finisher. I did modify the straight leg lowers and reverse crunches as my hips/back wasn’t happy as more in the tuck position. I then felt bad that I finished before CG so did a couple of the straight leg ones 🤷‍♀️ I might try to squeeze in day 10 tomorrow.

Two workouts buttons! That's a lot. I did day 13 glutes and hamstrings today - did the finisher ok.

I usually do heavier skull crusher's (a 5 or 6 kg weight in each hand).

@fishonabicyclei I hate skull crushers. They hurt my hands more than my triceps! They are so many more effective tricep exercises for me.

Endgame day 24- horrid- every rep was horrid. There, I said it.
I do miss heat and will go back to that one when I'm done with this. Half way through endgame though- it's only going to get worse I'm sure

Oh god. I've got that to come.

I'm one day behind and doing that today. I just find each session too long - I get bored and start wishing it was all over. 49 minutes is too daunting. I do like the finishers though.

I liked the exercises in the glutes and core one too as they were a little bit different to the ones we've done previously.

Id really love to start a Caroline Girvan program. Where would you start if you were intermediate? I have been working out for 10 years and have done many Beachbody, Jillian Michaels and Les Mills workouts. I want to build more muscle and increase strength.

Hello @disappointed101!
I would start with her ‘beginners’ don’t be fooled by the title though; it’s not beginners and will teach you the moves. I would suggest Epic 1 after that- again the 1 does not mean it’s easier than any of the others . If you want a slightly shorter session with more cardio then try HEAT. Again shorter is not easier - it’s shorter because there are almost no rests 😂

Thank you so much!!!

I was about to start GC, as I love the idea of the flexibility of being able to do it at home and on my own time and people seem to rave about her workouts. .

I just checked the Caroline Girvan FB page and quite a few people are commenting that they do not see any visible results from weeks or even months of doing her programme. I also notice some people showing great physiques, but then when I checked their profile, they are either trainers or very fitness focused, where fitness is, and has been, a huge part of their life outside of the CG workouts.

I used to work out with a personal trainer two times a week a few years ago and saw results within a few weeks and within a few months had great muscle definition and weight loss. I didn't do any other exercise outside of the PT, nor did I make any effort with my diet, but I really saw great results.

I'm now wondering if I should just go back to a PT instead of doing it online, as I don't want to be disappointed after a few weeks of effort not seeing any real results, for me, being stronger or having more stamina does not trump getting physical results, however I really do love the idea of the flexibility and I love the shorter programmes too..

What have your experiences been, and are you part of the CG FB page and is that an accurate portrayal I have seen the last few days?

@themessygarden I have had amazing results since I started with CG last July. I am actually struggling with my legs really bulking up( the have had a tendency to build leg
Muscle quickly all my life ). My arms though were skinny little things. Now I have defined tri/ biceps , shoulders and back.
My bras are too small and many of my tops tight- I have very very little fat on my upper body so it is muscle. My tiny bust looks bigger as my pecs have grown.
I have no idea why people are saying they have no results. If you do the routines and challenge yourself with heavy enough weights/ feed yourself properly it would be impossible NOT to see results. I am aiming to cut back the weights I use on leg days to try and reduce the bulk bit and up the cardio.

By the way- those face groups are crazy. Take them with a pinch of salt.

I second starting with beginners @disappointed101, I used to do a couple of Jilian Michaels DVD before switching to CG for more variety and all workouts she posts are challenging. I’m on the facebook page @themessygarden and there is definitely a mix of hardcore fitness bods and people new to weight training. I hadn’t done specific weight training before starting epic 1. I would say the first 25 workouts started to firm me up a bit but no impact on weight, then the latter half I started to drop maybe 1/2-1lb a week, my husband started saying he noticed a difference well before the weight drop. I mix 3/4 CG workouts a week with 1/2 netball sessions and have not really changed my diet.

No day 10 yet but pleasantly surprised today to manage the full 60 mins on court after my 2 week COVID break, they even put me at centre so I must have more residual fitness than I thought!

Did day 14 today, which I’d bypassed because I saw the makers and just couldn’t face them that day. After pretty much 2 weeks of no CG I found the shoulder exercises a challenge and got tired sooner on the leg ones. I’m definitely feeling the difference in strength after a gap of no weights. Hopefully I can get to where I was again fairly quickly.

@themessygarden I’ve definitely seen a difference, despite me being on/off. I also used to do Jillian and would tone up pretty quickly after one 30 day series, but as I got older I found it was having less of an effect. Since starting CG last summer I have more defined arms, better abs and a firmer backside. Like @BigButtons I too have bulked up on my back and shoulders, although my legs haven’t changed that much, but I’m always running about being late for everything so they were in pretty good shape to begin with.

I’d lost a lot of tone during the first lockdown from excessive inactivity and Jillian wasn’t helping me getting it back, so I decided to go more hardcore, and found CG!

I’m not in the FB group, I heard it was full of crazy people using their luggage allowance to take their weights on holiday, and decided it wasn’t for me

Day 10 endgame done, always glad to get the HIIT workout out the way for at least another week. That finisher of 100 sprawls was brutal, I did the low impact version and paused CG at 50 (I had done 40) to have a breather and then another 30 while paused so I could finish at the same time. Glad to be getting back into the workout habit after a long break.

@Forgotmypasswordsgain yes the sprawl finisher was horrid!
Just done the kick boxing cardio
I am shit a kick boxing and it’s never a form of exercise I can do well. I look like a praying mantis when I throw punches. I’m so un coordinated with punches.It got my heart rate up but only burned 200 calories.🤷‍♀️

Oh is it kick boxing today? I’ve been out hiking all day so deliberately missed it, but kick boxing exercises I don’t mind. I used to box so I’ll probably get depressed at how out of condition I am compared to when I was doing it regularly, but surely if can’t be worse than burpees?

@Melassa it was very doable but I can’t do boxing arms well- so I don’t think I got as much out of it as I could have done.
It was generally very well received though.
I have just looked at endgame chest and triceps today and o know I won’t be able to do a huge portion of it- basically trisets of push ups with the finisher being 100 diamond and tricep push ups. Since we not supposed to go to our knees I would get about 5 done and that’s pointless. I’ll go back to a heat one today.
Had very bad sleep last night. My mum is out of hospital without a care package and the thought of how it will impact on our lives is frankly terrifying.

Thank you for the reassurance,

I am going to start today with Epic Heat, due to a knee issue I can't do lunges, squats or jumps, so will need to replace those with something else. While I don't miss lunges, always hated them, but I used to love squats so will miss those..