EPIC!! Losing, gaining and groaning with Caroline Girvan

[BigButtons]

New thread!

I'm so glad to hear about all the people doing the other EPICs (I and III). Any advice on whether to start EPIC I or EPIC III? I just finished EPIC Heat, how does it compare to the horrors of EPIC III....

I am taking this week off as a break. Just doing the 3 minute plan and some shorter abs workouts. I am enjoying the long lie in the mornings

@BigButtons, I definitely have 'off' days when I can't do something I have previously done, or find things harder than usual. I think (hope!) it's normal. EMOM day #50 was definitely not my best day

Beginner day 3 done, I think I'm going to be sticking to these five videos for at least four weeks, or possibly longer! But I have nearly recovered full use of my legs after Monday and I'm planning an active rest day tomorrow, so onwards and upwards.

@VeryLittleOwl that is a really sensible plan. We are in this for the long game and even her beginners it very tough.
I wonder if I am simply very tired and that’s why I found it so hard this morning.
I actually quite fancy going back and doing a leg day from way back in Epic heat . I actually really enjoyed it and I don’t enjoy her workouts because they are very hard . I enjoy the feeling of achievement afterwards though.

I didn't manage to do anything today - was out at a work meeting all day. Eating biscuits. So i'm a day behind at the moment which I'll catch over the weekend hopefully.

What is EMOM?

I think Epic 3 is meant to be a bit shorter than 1 and 2 @stilllockeddownnowheretogo - it's the only one I've done though, so I don't know how it compares in difficulty. I might do Heat next though.

@BigButtons I hardly managed any tricep pushups on Monday when I had to do them. I think (from the FB posts) this is quite normal - she's been doing this for years! I could barely move my arms after that workout, they felt like jelly throughout.

@Itsnotdeep EMOM is every minute on the minute- there is a set set of exercises to do within the minute. If you do them quickly enough you get a rest if you are slow you get none because it starts again!

I hate the way she puts the push ups at the end when my arms are spent!
I think epic 3 is slightly shorter than 1 and 2 yes but not as short as heat,
I am coming to the end of heat so will try 3. If I don't like it I will do heat again. I quite fancy trying some of her 5 day progs too.

Just sometimes I would like a session when I don't feel destroyed by the end!

@stilllockeddownnowheretogo Epics 1 and 2 are longer sessions with more rest time. I think 3 is somewhere between heat and the epics as far as timings go.

Day 39 done. Was tough ish- . I find my right hand really hurts when I release the weight at the bottom of a curl. I’ve probably managed to strain my hand.
It’ll be a week off for me now as when not at work I will be in a field fusing fireworks and getting ready for our big bonfire celebrations.
I think a week doing different sort of exercise will do me good 🙂

Thanks @BigButtons!
I think I'll do the same as you - try EPIC III and if it's too hard, do EPIC Heat again
I did increase my weights two thirds of the way through Heat, and that made it MUCH more difficult. So starting from the beginning again with the bigger weights might be a good idea.

It's been a week now since my last EPIC session. I'm wondering whether to lower the weights again to ease myself in (as I won't be starting til Saturday, which will be nine days of rest...). I've only been doing long walks, the 3 minute plank, and short abs workouts since.

Well done @BigButtons on day 39, I’m still to do day 28 triceps and lats. I nearly did it this morning before going to work but had a quick look and didn’t fancy it, so I did the 15 min plank session instead. I also have a sore thumb/wrist when I lift a heavier weight, I think I pulled something a while back and it’s never got better.

Yesterday I did the trial cross fit session at a nearby gym. There were 5 of us and it wasn’t a proper session, only an intro and excessively sedate I thought. I was hugely disappointed. I did find a fair amount of it quite easy, maybe because I am quite fit from the Epics after all! Who knows?! The instructor suggested I join the early morning session which is a lot more hardcore but there’s no way I’m conscious enough to hold more than a coffee cup at 7.30 am. I also found it annoying being in a gym, with people around me. I guess I’m just out of the habit.

I ended up doing three sessions. I did my favourite leg one in the afternoon,the iso/ploy one from early in HEAT. The exercises are not the normal leg ones, really hard for the first time ever I feel it in my glutes the the day after, must be the glute bridges Then I did a chest and shoulders one. I ache today😂.

I hate auto correct!

@BigButtons can I ask which is your favourite legs one and why?

I've had a week off CG and reverted back to my previous fave upper body and legs workouts. I still found them challenging but they didn't contain any exercises I couldn't do properly which sometimes happens with CG. Tricep push-ups I'm looking at you.

Beginners day 4 done and I found it the easiest of the beginner series so far, probably because she said use your lightest weights the first time you do it and for me that's 0.5kg from the very cheap Tesco set I bought years ago! The 1kg and 1.5kg are still in their wrappers, which shows you how much use they've had over the past 10 years... I'll go up to 1kg next week. I've also found my exercise mat finally, which made a huge difference to comfort levels. Did the first three on a 20-year-old dog-chewed carpet over a concrete floor and my elbows still aren't speaking to me after day 3.

I'm thinking I might try and do the day 5 HIIT tomorrow and then take Sunday as a rest day before going back to day 1 on Monday. I found the first 3 sessions tough, so I think four days in a row probably wouldn't be wise.

@Anjelika it is this one m.youtube.com/watch?v=WaBHvBhlcKw&list=PLeXzBbaPjjPXmnCQxwsFAv6pwmTGCGH0D&index=2

I love it because of the way she mixes up iso and plyo and the that it concentrates on the quads. Just such a good and interesting variety-not just endless lunges.
I find it really tough but also do- able. I also really feel my legs and bum have worked with this one

Thanks @BigButtons. I'll note that one down for future reference.

Day 4 done! I'm really enjoying it so far, although not looking forward to HIIT. I hate HIIT.

Well, that'll teach me to say I find one easy. Beginners day 5 took its revenge. I'm 46, I've never done HIIT before. I think I may actually be dead.

Back to beginners day 1 on Monday!

@VeryLittleOwl her hiit is brutal- I tend it avoid it because I feel awful when I do it. She does have some cardio sessions which are very hard but don’t make me want to throw up.

@VeryLittleOwl @MarisPiper92 I agree the HIIT sessions are brutal, I also get the I’m gonna die vibe and in fact like @BigButtons I avoided many of them. However the last 2 (or is it 3?) I’ve actually faced up to and they weren’t too bad. Or at least not as bad as expectations (not sure I’m selling it here?).

Did triceps and lats today and I’ve come to the conclusion that anything tricep based is not for me. I have tried, but I needed to go back down to 3kg for the tates and skull crushers and I was hard pushed managing the whole 50 seconds even then. I won’t even mention my pitiful attempt at tricep push ups. Still crap after all this time.

Wait, did I read that @BigButtons did 3 sessions back to back??? Wow! I would probably need to sit down for a week after!

@Melassa yeah those may/ tricep ones were buggers. Think that was the day I felt stupidly weak and had to keep dropping my weights.
I didn’t do three back to back as such. I did a whole body in the morning then my favourite leg one from heat and then a chest shoulder one. I won’t be able to do anything next week as am doing bonfire prep all week.

As a Lena e for drinking too much last night I forced myself to do the day 40 tabata hiit. It was difficult and I did have to extend some of the breaks or else I would have collapsed. But it wasn’t as hideous as last week, there were quite a lot of moves that weren’t too taxing individually which gave me a minor break from the endless push up burpees There was a lot of burpee action again though it must be said.🧐

Penance

@Melassa, I'm with you on the HIIT! I always dread it, but it's not as bad as I think if I just start. I cannot face HIIT first thing in the morning though (nooooo way!) so I do it on the weekend in the evening.
@BigButtons, I am also guilty of extending the breaks. I see the first beep of the three beeps as the start of my rest, not a 3 2 1 countdown .

I have started EPIC III and will see how it goes! I did day 5 HIIT (because it was the weekend) and then day 1 Legs today. 40 seconds on and 20 seconds rest, seemed almost reasonable! I am using one third of Caroline's weight though . @Itsnotdeep, I'll keep following you to see how the later weeks of Epic 3 go....

@stilllockeddownnowheretogo I find hiit is always far worse than I anticipated 😂