Getting fitter and stronger with Caroline Girvan- all welcome!

[BigButtons]

New thread!🤩

I'm still working my way through Iron, but I flensed all the skin off some heel with some new leather shoes a week ago and still OW. I can't run at all. I'm managing weights at home but I don't like to go barefoot.

Hello everyone! I’ve been lurking here for a while but wanted to say a massive thank you for introducing me to CG, she’s amazing!

I did her Beginner’s Programme for 3 or 4 weeks and am now on Week 3 of Heat. I love it so much and am amazed that I’m (so far) really motivated to do 5 sessions a week. I don’t know what makes her Programme easier to stick to than others I’ve done. Perhaps the sheer variety of it and the fact there’s no talking, just music that I love. And I love it how she sometimes has to stop for a breather and can be seen muttering “Oh my god” when it gets tough.

There are quite a few exercises that are frankly insane though - push up hold with scorpion twists!?!? I can feel myself getting stronger week by week, so hopefully I’ll get there eventually!

@chloechloe have you discovered skull-crusher pushups yet? Those things are WRONG and EVIL and EVILWRONG.

Strangely, I quite like makers though. And I'm glad she doesn't call them "man makers".

Fortunately not @astronewt I loathe plain vanilla push-ups, so any insane Let’s Make It Even Harder variation is hell on earth.

I quite like Makers though too!

I buggered my wrist doing makers 2 weeks ago and it is still not better. Beware!

hi girvanators!! checking in. Coming up on the last week of Epic Heat (second time around for me) - did Week 9 Day 1 yesterday as missed two days due to a nasty cold. Feel better today and will do both Day 2 (Chest & Triceps Trisets) and Day 3 (Quads & Calves tonight. Husband is out so I can take my time doing them and maybe even tack on her 20 minute Unwind.

Have missed three of the 10 HIITs in the program due to illness/travel, so not sure whether to tack those onto the end of next week?

And then I have to decide what's next - was planning on Iron but am quite tempted by her 24 Days of Christmas, although not sure 20mins feels worth the effort of getting changed etc? Any thoughts?

@BigButtons I LOVE makers, almost as much as renegade rows. They make me feel so bad-ass when I am doing them.

well done @chloechloe her programs are really addictive. I couldn't be without them now!

@ladybranstonpickle my right hand still needs support and I can’t rack the dumbbell high without pain. That’s what makers did to my ligaments! Never again!😩😮😳

Did you notice any improvement in strength and fitness in the two rounds of Heat @ladybranstonpickle ? I’ve just finished week 3 and some of the exercises are insane - tricep push-ups with one foot off the floor - WTF?

i absolutely hate HIIT couldn’t bring myself to tag on 3 HIIT sessions!!!

it’s taken me 2 weeks to do week 3 as I was on a course all week with no time to train. I’ve just kept to the schedule order and will pick up with week 4 on Monday.

@chloechloe
Definitely! I can easily do a bunch of renegade rows, and I'm up to multiple pushups in a row, about 5 regular and nearly 10 tricep pushups. I can keep pace with Caroline on somethings which I certainly couldn't before. I remember doing some burpees towards the end of my first round of Heat and think that they felt 'easy', compared to the ones at the beginning.

I must admit I started the Sunday HIIT yesterday and just couldn't face it. So I did 15 mins of LISS cardio instead. I'm looking forward to these last five workouts this week and then having a week off to do some yoga/walking. I think I'm going to try the Advent calendar especially as my husband said he will join me - this is truly a milestone as I don't think he's ever done any sort of regular exercise for years.

@BigButtons I am so sorry to hear that. I'm also nursing a bit of tennis elbow but I think that's from my mouse use at work, rather than the exercise. Do you take any collagen supplements? Its supposed to help for ligaments...

So that's day 47 of Epic Heat done! Wow an entire workout of pushup variations....some were basically impossible, and i just had to sit them out, but some doable, and some even easy!!
Not my favourite ever but worth doing to see how much strength and ability I've gained during the 10 week program. Now onto Full Body on Friday and EMOM Hiit on Sunday!

Am very much looking forward to a week off though, may do some yoga and walking but not much else!

An entire push-up workout is my idea of hell @ladybranstonpickle so I’m not looking forward to day 47!

I did day 17 of Heat today - compound legs - which was actually quite easy, probably as I need to get some heavier weights.

I’m at the stage where I would usually fall off the workout waggon as work is busy and there’s lots going on. But rather than giving up as I can’t keep to 5 workouts a week, I’m just plodding through the schedule in order. If 1 week is spread over 2 then so be it.

Well done chloechloe! Agree the best way is just to keep going, i keep reading about how its not the amount of exercise but doing it consistently that moves the needle.

Well that's EPIC HEAT round 2 in the bag. Did the EMOM Hiit yesterday. Not my fave but not as horrendous as I was expecting it to be. Heartrate got up to the 160's and I definitely felt like I'd done a workout. That said, I think part of the problem is that it was very repetitive, only 2 complexes of 4 exercises, each repeated 10 times...I must prefer No Repeat or even ones with multiple complexes.

Now taking a well-deserved few days off. Not sure whether to start Iron or Advent. Am leaning towards Iron as it seems a lot of people in the Facebook group have seen impressive results from the strength-training-only approach.

How is eveyone doing?

Starting advent tomorrow…did most of heat in the summer but totally fallen off the wagon. A bit injured as 20 mins will be plenty for me. I just need to get the habit and consistency back to start with

I've been out of action for 2+ weeks due to virus that turned into nasty chest infection, so I went back to the start of Iron. Did Iron day 1 on Mon and motherfucker the DOMS are brutal today.

So it's Iron day one for me today! Quite looking forward to it. I have really enjoyed my week off, barely did anything apart from a bit of walking. Ate whatever I liked including a cinnamon roll from Gail's and plenty of crisps! All the carbs.😝

Will keep trying to prioritize protein and really hope to see some decent results by January.

Evening all. Can anyone offer some advise on frequency of workouts?

I’ve done (partially) EPIC I previously by doing the 3 upper body/lower body workouts then swapping the Hiit/cardio days for running. Loved it and definitely got stronger.

A friend and I have now embarked on EPIC III but due to other training commitments, we can only do 2 x week. So we’re picking 1 upper body and one 1 lower body. However, it’s really hard esp as I assume we’re not quite making the gains required to handle the tougher workouts. Also, I read recently that if you only strength train 2 x week, then both those should be full body.

Thoughts? Does CG have have any good full body programmes we could sub in? I really do love her workouts.

Hi @FallenFigs
you need to work each muscle group twice a week to see progress.
you can 2 full body sessions- with a rest day in between.There is no full body series but most of her series have full body Fridays. You could rotate through those?🙂

I've had a tiny setback on my Iron program.Not only am I a day behind (missed Day 5 Arms and Abs as it was the day of my daughter's birthday party), but I somehow tweaked my lumbar on Monday lifting weights off the floor to begin a static lunge :( in Day 6 Quads.

Got about half way through and stopped as was scared I was making it worse. Back in May I really hurt my sacroiliac joint and had to take about a month off so very cautious now. Managed to do Day 7 Shoulders and Triceps yesterday but not sure about catching up with Day 8 Glutes & Hamstrings today....plus we have work drinks anyway. Might just take today off and double up over the weekend.

In other news the weather is making me so hungry!! Could not resist a croissant this morning and am craving a tuna melt for lunch. Trying to make it fit into my macros, but defintely not my usual way of eating!

I know this is an old thread but hoping someone can help as I'm really confused! I have done Les Mills classes at home for years (Bodypump, Bodyattack, spin etc) but have come across CG's videos on YouTube and they look fantastic! I especially love the fact she doesn't speak throughout the class 😂
I'm a bit mixed up with how to progress through the programmes though and don't find YouTube a great layout to see each sessions of her classes. I did a full body dumbbell workout on the EPIC Beginner's routine today and really liked it but I see there's only 5 beginner's videos so not sure where I go after this. Would I work through EPIC 1 then 2 then 3 then Heat? Then go to Iron?
Sorry I'm sure this has been asked before but I'm still confused. Thanks

Oh god-just tried to download a programme guide and there's only one for EPIC Endgame. Where does this fit in?

I'm wondering the same @pharmachameleon . I've been reading back in the thread and a couple of times the recommendation has been to do EPIC Beginners followed by EPIC Heat.

I'm a bit petrified but need to drastically increase my strength as I'm having chronic knee and hip issues and every time I try to restart running I hurt myself. 54 and sedentary job are doing their worst.

I'm easing in with daily yoga this week but want to start Caroline Girvan next week and assuming I survive will do the sequence above.

What weights are you using? Have you worked out with dumbbells before? It really pays to get to grips with Caroline Girvan's workouts before embarking on one of her programs.

I have also found the following very useful for preparing me for Caroline:
Bowflex 3-minute plank - which I do almost every day.
Rebecca Louise's Best Abs
Lucy Wyndham Read's Thighs & Glutes

I would recommend that you repeat the beginner's sessions until you feel confident, then go on to either EPIC 3 or Heat. If I remember correctly, EPIC 1/2 consist of longer workouts and are therefore tougher.

Personally I never actually looked at the program guides. Just remember to fit in a rest day after 5-8 workouts - preferably an active rest day, i.e. a fast-paced walk or some stretching or a short tabata HIIT. Or simply take it easy for a day!

Oh, forgot to mention....... very important to watch and listen to her introductions!

I usually watch these the night before and again while I warm up before the workouts.

Warm-ups are crucial

@pharmachameleon welcome. I know it all looks intimidating because there is so much material to choose from. I started with CG in summer 21 and was, I thought reasonably fit.
I started with beginners. Begginners is NOT a beginner series it is merely and intro to her style and moves and it works you hard. I would seriously put that on repeat until you feel comfortable with her style and your body gets a chance to get used to the increased demands.
After that? Well, everyone has their favourite/least favourite. Everyone finds different ones harder or easier. It is relative to the weights you use and the sales you prefer.
Epics one and 2 are the longest time-wise for each session- between 50-60 mins.
Epic three is shorter at about 45 ( my personal favourite). But it is tough.
Heat is 30 mins but brutal- I would NOT do that unless you really lower the weights as you basically push hard for 30 mins with hardly any rest periods.

Endgame is good. Iron is great- 30 minute sessions for 6 weeks. Many newcomers often start with this. The good thing is that you can make is more managable by lowering the weights.

i hated fuel with a passion.

Something to bear in mind is that they are all hard, they will all push you to your limits and they are all addictive. None of them are easier than the others. The numbers are merely release orders, not difficulty.
On her website she has good description boxes for each series to give you a better idea..
I love the week long ones especially.