EPIC!! Losing, gaining and groaning with Caroline Girvan

[BigButtons]

New thread!

Good to be back - thanks @BigButtons and @Melassa .

Sorry to hear about your mum, @BigButtons, but good that she is being proactive about facing something so difficult.

A couple of questions as I'm getting into Endgame...

What weights are you all using? No way can I use the same as St. Caroline, but I do want to challenge myself, without going overboard. I'm currently mostly using my 15 lb dumbbells. My next higher weights - inherited from son... - are 25 lb, which is too much for most things, so I'm wondering what intermediate weight dumbbells to invest in.

How long does it take you all to do (f*#$ing) 100 (one hundred???) burpees? And do you modify them at all...

Onwards and upwards!!

@FlowerArranger I did the burpees in sets of 10!
I work on using approx 2/3 of her weights. I have done for a while. Sometimes I can get closer on leg days like yesterday -she used 12kg and I used 10. Today for the arm work I tried 10kg for the rows but it was too much so dropped to 8.5. She used 6 for some and I used 4.

@BigButtons thanks for the reply. If you recall the name of the stretch lady you mention please post.

@all .... so do any of you look like Caroline? Or at least seeing results that are making the commitment worth it?!?!

For me I want to get physically stronger and improve my stamina as it should help my pain issues (related to hyper mobility).

@Lelivre
I really like Sarah White. I only just stumbled across her but her stretches are short and imo some of the most effective to e I have ever done
m.youtube.com/channel/UCKLlO-HBITm4xFI4_o2-Big

Lol I don’t look like Caroline but my body now has defined muscles all over ( apart from my abs 😂)

My only similarity with CG is with height, I’m 5’2” and size 10ish. I’ve always been fairly active but not seen a gym since having my children 5/8 years ago and gaining some weight prior to that with a broken ankle. I’ve enjoyed getting into more of a routine with the programs as I’m always limited on time so use that as an excuse not to exercise. I dropped ~4lbs during epic 1 and really improved my ability to do lunges, squats and pushups. I don’t have visible muscle definition yet but I think that once I lose a bit more weight it will come as they’re definitely firmer in most areas 😀

Day 16 EE completed, definitely a slow burner and hard work towards the end as I used 3kg throughout. Made the mistake of previewing day 17 while packing my mat away and now can’t forget the prospect of 100 Bulgarian lunges tomorrow 🥵🥵

Day 17 out the way early as I’m only working half day and I didn’t want those Bulgarians hanging over me all day. I mentally prepared myself to do sets of 15 on the finisher but managed to do the 25 with the last 5 of each set really burning. I did pause at the half way for a longer breather 🤫.

@Forgotmypasswordsgain I have clearly wiped that one from my memory 😂
Interestingly on fb groups more and more people are complains of knee and shoulder aggravation whilst doing EEG. There are an awful lots of lunges and squats. Now I don’t mind them at all and am very careful Will my body positioning but I found my right knee and shoulder have started playing up. I have be really working on trigger point massage and proper stretching as I suspect muscles have become tight through over loading. The massage and stretching is really helping though.
I notice on the fb groups that there is a thinly veiled heavy lifting vibe going on and I suspect a lot of i juries are coming from this and the Knick on improper form.
For example I can lift heavy for the squats but I find it really puts pressure on my lower back so I drop the weights.

I have a sore shoulder, which does predate Endgame, but it seems to have got worse. Of course that could be nothing to do with EE. My knees are fine, but I have been getting more lower back pain than usual.

I will do the upper body from yesterday later today, then today’s tomorrow. Unfortunately CG’s rest days do not match mine, I have more time at the weekend and Thursdays tend to be a bit easier schedule wise.

please excuse typos- I was on my phone and have fat fingers!

I can't do any of the lunge-y ones as I do have too much damage to my knees. I can now do some of the squats, but I do find it too lunge heavy for my liking. There must be (there are) other quad exercises that we could do, but she is just too fixated on lunges in all their wondrous variety.

My hamstrings are fine, but I suspect I'm not doing the RDLs properly really.

I am ok on the shoulder front, but interestingly have done something to my lower back for the first time ever and haven't been able to train for the last couple of weeks. I'm feeling a little bit disillusioned with CG this week. I need to catch up from last friday's full body day.

I've started EEG and have completed the first three, using only 15lb and 8lb dumbbells. Even so I struggled with the last set of lunges yesterday. I think I'm going to insert a Growingannanas workout, plus some planks and abs, before tackling Day 4.

I do find she does a lot of the same moves. Every now again she will throw something else in there that’s great and then it doesn’t appear again.🤷‍♀️
There are so many glute ones that aren’t hip thrusts. Maybe she is running out of ideas? I didn’t do the one today. I did do the iso/ plyo one again in the end. That was tough. I was sweating but I enjoyed it.
I shouldn’t complain because it is free and so well thought out and I wouldn’t be without it.

[quote BigButtons]@Lelivre
I really like Sarah White. I only just stumbled across her but her stretches are short and imo some of the most effective to e I have ever done
m.youtube.com/channel/UCKLlO-HBITm4xFI4_o2-Big

Lol I don’t look like Caroline but my body now has defined muscles all over ( apart from my abs 😂)[/quote]
Absolutely perfect for me and exactly what I need. Thanks for sharing

@Lelivre so glad it was useful 😃

I did a 20 minute Bulgarian workout (I must hate myself!). Didn't do the jumping variation though (I'm not a total idiot!) - did some weighted squats instead! Will maybe do upper body with the old man later! We've booked a beach holiday in June, so want to look EXACTLY like Caroline by then 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Today I went for a 3 mile walk and later in the day I chose about 5 finishers to do( not too hard ones lol!).
Working on getting the pesky knots out of my shoulder blades that I think are causing the tightness and pain. I have found the buggers- ouch!

Completed day 18 biceps and triceps while my chilli was cooking away. The press-up and plank section was really hard work after all the weight work but I managed 13 tricep pushups which is a new record for me. I definitely noticed the shorter rest breaks between the minute work sessions but managed to smash the finisher, not stopping until the 80th rep!

Hello all, I just did a CG stability ball session as it was shorter than Endgame. It was definitely a challenge, possibly made worse by the fact my ball is a bit deflated. So many exercises I couldn’t do properly so just did a pale imitation. My core does feel pretty tight now though so I have saved that to go back to in other days.

@Melassa a stability ball would be yet something else for me to store and I suspect wouldn’t get enough use. I would like to try that session though.

Quick off-track question if I may.....

Have any of you tried KNEES OVER TOES GUY:

I guess I'd just accepted the orthodoxy of always taking care that my knees stayed behind my toes, but what this physio is saying does make sense. Plus a friend of mine swears by thsee exercises - and her skier's legs are definitely strong.

I'm a keen skier myself, not in the first flush of youth, and want to go on skiing till I'm 90 - so keeping my knees strong is definitely at the forefront of my exercising endeavours!

Penny for you-alls' thoughts

@BigButtons you’re not wrong there. The reason mine is so deflated is because it’s been wedged under the dining table for many months years

To be honest I’ve never really known what to do with one so this has been useful. Staying on in a plank move is definitely hard work!

@FlowerArranger that does look a bit counterintuitive but I might give some a try tomorrow. Not the first hamstring one though, stressed them out enough with the ball today!

@FlowerArranger thanks for that. I’ll check that out!

@FlowerArranger, I’ll definitely look into that, I had to do knees over ankle physio exercises after I broke my ankle.

Set my alarm this morning to get up for day 19 EE, after 2 rest days (well yesterday I had 1hr netball in torrential rain 😩) I was ready for a good full body workout and really enjoyed this one using 5kg throughout. I’m now falling asleep on the sofa but that might be more to do with the 6th birthday bowling party I endured afterwards, not sure which was more tiring 🤷‍♀️
P.S. I hate leg lowers, I was groaning throughout the 50. Now thinking I should do 20 a day as I find them so hard.

@Forgotmypasswordsgain I find leg lowers very hard because I have quite a pronounced hollow in my lower back. I only take my legs as far as I can without my lower back coming off and or I need my legs.
Kids birthday parties are very tiring!
Did day 35 tabata hiit today. It was tough. My watch told me I got in the hiit zone for 19 seconds- the rest was cardio. That’s fine by me. I have no intention of throwing up over the living room floor by pushing even harder!