EPIC!! Losing, gaining and groaning with Caroline Girvan

[BigButtons]

New thread!

I still hurt. A lot.

It was one of the few I haven't liked as well tbh, because after every exercise I knew I had ANOTHER two sets of lunges coming up and it eventually got boring and annoying. I do prefer her no- or minimal-repetition sessions.

Day 5 iron. The biceps and triceps I was rocking tbrough with 6kg but oh the abs the abs.

I swear I found ab muscles I've never used

Day 8 Epic 1, all arms. Quite enjoyed it actually, and managed nearly all of it with my 7.5kgs. I think it might be time for me to order the 10kgs...

I can't believe I've become someone who is positively squeeing at the prospect of ordering a new pair of dumbbells. I also can't believe what weights have done for my abs, when it wasn't like I wasn't fit before.

@GregBrawlsInDogJail repetitions can be tedious, but I find those are the ones that are the most effective!

After a longer break from exercise than planned, back to epic endgame today with day 46 upper body. My 5kg weights (CG 9kg) seemed very heavy after 2 weeks off from weight training but glad to get back into the exercising routine. Bulgarian lunge and press-up days to look forward to this week. I might struggle to fit in my usual weekly 4/5 workouts as we picked up our new rescue dog on Monday but at least I’ll up my step count instead. Annoyingly, I don’t seem to be able to post from my phone after the mumsnet update.

Day 6 and 7 of iron completed this weekend 🙌 💪

Day 16 iron for me today. OMG my hamstrings hurt, really hurt. I am not going to be able to walk easily tomorrow. The actually session was 30 mins of just RDLs and hamstring thrusts. It was tedious, not gonna lie. It was effective though! managed to use 13.5 kg for the rdls and just over 20 for the hamstring thrusts.
Can't believe I am actually using these weights. I went to Argos again this weekend and bought more weight plates 4x5kg so that I can push the weights up and have more flexibility with my existing adjustables. Never in a million years did I think I could do this. My forearm and grip strength are weak though and I finding holding the damn things for a whole minute really hard. It will improve though, slowly.

Epic 1 Day 9 full body for me yesterday. A good one which hit home. In theory, though, it does mean that I should do Day 10 today which is all burpee-based HIIT. And I just don't know if I can bring myself to do it in front of God, the gym and everybody.

I finally got around to doing day 1 of iron yesterday, albeit with half CG’s weights. My thighs were trembly at the end and today my glutes are a bit stiff. Mind you I’d been on a long walk just before so maybe some tremble was from that. I’m determined to get home in time for day 2 this evening so I can keep some structure and not keep missing days.

So relieved there are no burpees in Iron!

@Melassa there are no jumps in iron. I like it- I can lift much heavier. It is slow and controlled. Hardly burns any calories though according to my badly calibrated Apple Watch😂😂.
I did day 17 this morning then an ab crunch session.
this afternoon is my mum’s cremation and I am madly trying to distract myself.

@GregBrawlsInDogJail bloody hell NO-ONE gets to see me do burpees. I suffer by myself in my sitting room. No way could I do that in a gym😮😮

Sadly @BigButtons I'm travelling for work right now - although I normally work out at home, tonight it's the gym or nothing! I think I'm going to temporarily skip the day 10 Burpees and do day 11 quads and abs instead. I also feel like hammered shit after a terrible night's sleep so I think my chance of getting through 35 mins of Burpees is, well...

Hope those hamstrings are holding up.

My Fitbit also complains about lack of calories burned. What does it know? I’m really sore from the leg session yesterday so it must have done something.

just about to embark on Day 2 upper body, waiting for my glass of wine to wear off. Contemplating drinking the foul BCAA powder as it’s supposed to help. Not that I’ve noticed!

Oh my! I just saw the weights! 17.5kg for a chest press! I can barely manage 8!

Oh my 2.0! Burpees in public? I could never do that! 😱😱😱I’m a grimacing and grunting mess. Strictly in private!

I totally did wuss out and did session 11 instead of 10. Just good old fashioned weighted squats and crunches.

@Melassa she lifts crazy heavy in this series. I can just about manage 12 kg for chest, but i don't think i do it well so often switch down to 11 and that's tough enough. Sometimes i can use to 3/4 of her weights for legs and some arms. Mostly it's 2/3 though. I can often match her when she uses 4 or 3 kg.

Hi

After some advice from the experts please! I've been reading this thread for inspiration since the beginning of the year.

I'm on my second time around of doing epic 1. First time completed up to week 10 then life got in the way and I had a break for a few weeks and decided to restart.

I've really enjoyed it up (both times) and have managed to progress from using 3kg weights at first to a mixture of 5.5 and 7.5kg.

But now I'm struggling a lot! Just started week 10 and it feels too hard! I'm stopping early in a lot of sets whereas before I was mostly finishing each exercise and I'm a bit deflated.

Not sure whether to push on to the end or drop the weights a bit or just take a break then try a new series?

Hi@milkfromthesleepycow I totally get the being tired and not performing as you wish. I would suggest taking a deload week. Exercise gently- lower the weights, or do something completely different, walking, gentle cardio. Your body is telling you it needs a rest and it’s really important that you listen to it🙂

That does sound sensible. I find it hard to stop before a series is finished (although normally that's on Netflix so this is a new experience!)
Will concentrate on yoga for a week or so and then try from day 42 again.
Thanks for the advice- I'm off to Google deloading now!

I'm about 3 months in now to CG workouts and managed to flair up my chronic pain condition with Iron Series. I was very discouraged about having to take a 10 day break. Now slowly starting back with Epic Heat instead which doesn't seem so hard on my body (which I had stopped half way to try Iron) I will see how I go.

Saw my physio yesterday, he advised every 4-6 wks a Deload week where weights and/or reps are dropped back to keep stepping back slightly every wk before moving forward to prevent over extending. Passing on in case it helps pp

I have a question too please... Is there anything Caroline does that is even shorter that would suit a preteen? I would like her to get the mental health benefit of some measured weight bearing exercise. I've asked my PT friend too but she really warms to Caroline so I'm hoping there might be something suitable. We do the unwind and stretch video together each week already.

@Lelivre he does have some 15-20 minute sessions that might suit?
sorry you are in pain☹️

@Lelivre as well as the shorter weighted sessions, CG also has bodyweight only sessions. When I hurt my shoulder and generally didn’t feel up to weights in general, I went back to a few of those. I even found a stability ball session which was great for my core when I had a twingy back. I still do the odd exercise from that of a morning when I don’t have time for anything else.

I’ve been gradually getting on with the Iron series, still in the first week so did biceps/triceps and abs today. Not too bad, biceps were on 6kg as opposed to her 8kg and I tried 10kg for the triceps, but the tricep press defeated me and I did the second set on 6kg. I missed out the glutes on Wednesday as I got back late and in any case my glutes were still singing from the leg session in Monday.

Not missing the HIIT at all! But I’ve been doing lots of walking so the cardio part is done as far as I’m concerned. I really can’t bring myself to exert myself more than that.

Will need to start a new thread soon 🤩