I feel like the internet lied to me.

After completing Caroline Girvan’s IRON Series multiple times (and loving it – check out my review of the IRON Series here!), I was ready to shake things up. I combed through multiple discussion boards on Reddit where nearly everyone recommended the FUEL Series as a great follow-up to the IRON Series. So, I decided to give it a shot.

Please note: These are my personal ramblings on my personal experiences with Caroline Girvan’s FUEL Series. I’m not a personal trainer, medical doctor, or anything related to the healthcare/fitness/wellness world. Talk to your doctor about changes to your exercise habits, diet, etc., rather than random people on the internet.

What is Caroline Girvan’s FUEL Series?

The FUEL Series consists of 30 at-home dumbbell and/or bodyweight workouts spread out across 6 weeks. This breaks down into 5 workouts a week, including a more cardio/HIIT-focused workout on Sundays, and two rest days.

Each of the videos is about 30 minutes, so it’s long enough to be very challenging, but not so long it takes up too much of your day. (I know a few of her other series are more in the 40 minute workout range or longer.) If you want to get an idea of what you’re getting into, she does have a trailer on her YouTube channel:

The equipment needed for the series is minimal: Dumbbells, a band, yoga blocks, an exercise mat, and a chair. But I think you could get creative and skip the yoga blocks and the band if you don’t already have them.

My Experience with Caroline Girvan’s FUEL Series

I’m a huge fan of Caroline Girvan’s workouts! I find that she puts together challenging workouts that push me in new ways. However, coming off the heels of the much slower (and calmer) IRON Series, I really struggled with the FUEL workouts.

Since running is my preferred cardio, I thought this series would be hard, but not out of reach. However, every single workout really pushed me to my limits! And I almost always did the modifications rather than jumping. (I’ve been dealing with an ankle injury for months, but I don’t think I would have been able to keep up with the jumping even if my ankle was healthy!)

Most of the rest periods were extremely short or basically non-existent. I finished every workout extremely sweaty and would often just lie on the floor for a while. As explained in Caroline Girvan’s program guide, goals for the sessions include muscular fatigue, cardiovascular fatigue, or a combination of both. I would say she succeeded! If you’re looking for an intense workout, then this may be the series for you.

Final Thoughts on Caroline Girvan’s FUEL Series

Now that I’ve completed both the IRON Series and FUEL Series, I find myself a bit confused as to why FUEL was so highly recommended as the next series to check out. In my mind, these two are radically different!

Both are good series, but I do think it depends a lot on what your goals are and what you’re hoping to get out of it, i.e. strength vs. cardio and endurance.

For example, with the IRON Series, I was able to lift heavier and focus more on the mind-muscle connection as it moves at a slower pace. Meanwhile, during the FUEL Series, I had to drop the weight down for nearly every exercise. There were also quite a few bodyweight sequences and moves designed to get your heart rate elevated, like burpees and sprawls.

Some Pros:

• I really appreciated the variety of moves and the creative ways she put them together in terms of supersets, etc.
• Jumping can be fun in short doses.
• You finish each workout feeling accomplished!

Some Cons:

• So. much. jumping.
• I don’t feel that I was able to work on my actual strength as much as I wanted since I had to drop the weights down.
• I missed having more rest time during the workout. 10 seconds to grab my weights and get ready for the next move often wasn’t long enough for me. (But I do realize this was probably by design.)

So, what’s up next? If you’ve read this far, it’s probably not a surprise. I’ve already returned to the IRON Series.

I’d love to hear your experience! If you’ve tried Caroline Girvan’s FUEL Series, leave a comment below with your thoughts. I also want to hear what you tackled next.