We are almost into 2024 and maybe, just maybe, you are looking around for something you can really jump into to kickstart your year. I was already feeling that way back at the beginning of December, when I decided I couldn’t wait until January. I started easing myself back into some resistance training with short sessions by Irish YouTube trainer, Caroline Girvan. The workouts themselves are easy to find on YouTube.
Before I knew it, I stumbled into her EPIC series, which started with the first ten-week EPIC program about three years ago, when all of our training went virtual because of the pandemic. As I write this, I’m into week three of the program and loving it. It’s five workouts a week: three are about 45 minutes, Fridays are an hour-long full body workout, and Sundays are a 30-minute-ish HIIT session. Rest days on Thursday and Saturday. All you need are dumbbells, a mat, and your body, with some sessions, like HIIT, requiring just bodyweight and a mat. It’s ideal for home workouts, although already I can see that I’ll be wanting some heavier dumbbells along the way.
That’s okay. For now, I’m making do with a set of 4LB and a set of 10LB dumbbells, a 15LB kettlebell and a 20LB kettlebell. I wouldn’t mind some 8 or 12 pound DBs, and definitely a set of 15 pounders. I have a full range of more than I will ever need downstairs in my condo’s fitness centre. But for now I’m loving that I can just do these workouts in my own space at my own pace with no one else around.
The program is not for the feint of heart. If I hadn’t had so much pandemic training from Alex, who taught us how to modify where needed, I would probably have decided I wasn’t up for the challenge and opted for something less intense.
I printed off the schedule and posted it on my wall to motivate me and keep me on track. Each time I complete a workout, I put a sticker with a checkmark on that day in the calendar. I have come to know something about myself: I am highly motivated by streaks. Once I can get a streak going, I don’t want it to end. So far I have done each workout on its scheduled day. This morning was Day Twelve: a full 45 minutes of shoulder work.
Caroline’s style is a “follow the leader” kind of style. She gives some remarks at the beginning of the workout explaining what’s to come in terms of the timing of work intervals and rest intervals. For example, today’s was 30 seconds on followed by 30 seconds of rest, but often it’s 40 seconds of work and 20 seconds of rest, and on HIIT days rest can be as little as ten seconds. She also gives some tips and suggestions at the beginning. And for context, she tells us what weights she’s using for the workout that day.
But once the opening remarks are done, she doesn’t talk again. Instead, she clearly demos the moves and you just follow along with her. There is a count-down timer on the active intervals and the rest intervals, and the screen tells you clearly what is coming up, including an inset video that shows her doing the next set. You get three beeps before the end of a set and then a longer beep to indicate it’s over. I find it really easy to follow along and I love that she doesn’t talk throughout. This is really a matter of personal preference. I know others who prefer the style of trainer that talks you through and motivates you that way. For now, I’m enjoying this approach.
Anyone familiar with resistance training will find a range of familiar moves, sometimes with variations. You’ll find all manner of squats and lunges, push-ups and burpees, planks, presses, dips, curls, skull-crushers, raises, flyes, deadlifts, and sometimes very complex (to me) moves like makers or burpees into an overhead press. The Sunday HIIT sessions are pretty intense. I’ve only done two Sundays so far and last time I had to opt for the low-impact alternative. It was clear from the outset that I would be completely defeated by 30 minutes of burpee variations. But I love that she offers a low-impact option, and it was intense enough for me.
The workouts vary in approach. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday they are usually a focus on upper or lower body, but sometimes really zero in — like today’s shoulder workout and yesterday’s quad-focused squat-fest. Some days they are “no-repeat,” where every single set is different. Some days, like today and yesterday, the sets are repeated in the traditional way you would expect. They are always (or at least so far) by time, not by reps.
Ab work is included some, but not all, days. It is really hard.
Caroline herself has a chisled physique and an enormous amount of energy. She throws herself into the workouts and never asks anyone to do anything she’s not doing herself. That said, she is human and sometimes has to take breaks too. I find that reassuring.
If I had one complaint it’s the music. I understand that for copyright reasons it’s just not possible for her to use all the latest and greatest workout hits and switch up her playlists. The music for workouts is basically the same playlist every day, and it’s not particularly catchy though it’s got a decent beat. It’s either the limited playlist that she has purchased a license to use or it’s available open source. Either way, it gets rather repetitive and if I didn’t need the beep countdown to tell me when a set was over, I might do as Anita suggested and mute her tracks to play my own. Yesterday I experimented with putting the volume on her music very low once the workout started and listening to an audiobook. That worked pretty well.
As is always the case when I see quality content for free on YouTube, I am really impressed that this is a free offering. I’m sure she has enough followers now that, like Adriene of Yoga with Adriene, she has developed a solid income stream through YouTube ads and some premium content that she offers through her app.
Looking ahead, I still have quite a few weeks left of EPIC 1. I have enjoyed every workout so far and I already feel as if I am getting stronger. Caroline Girvan’s EPIC program has definitely lifted me out of my rut. With four more EPIC programs available to try after this ten weeks is up, I feel good about deciding now to make her EPIC series my focus for resistance training in 2024.
Do you have any YouTube trainers to recommend? What are your plans for 2024?
This sounds great Tracy! Enjoy!