Caroline Girvan’s Fuel Workout Review

After going through Caroline Girvan’s Iron series workouts, I’ve been wanting to try another of her series. Even though I wasn’t as big of a fan of the Iron series (just not my style), I heard of a few people who liked her Fuel series so I decided to give it a try.

The Caroline Girvan Fuel series is very similar to Iron in that it is a free, 6-week workout series on YouTube.

Here’s the breakdown of the Fuel workout series:

• It’s led by creator Caroline Girvan
• The printable workout calendar shows the intent is for 5 workouts a week for 6 weeks
• Her weights are in KG but she provides the lbs conversion on the screen
• Equipment needed: a variety of weights (light, medium, heavy), a dip bar and sturdy chair or bench (I used an adjustable workout step), a gym mat. Also helpful: a mirror (to check your form) and a big fan (because whew! it gets hot!)
• You can stream the workouts for free from her YouTube channel
• Each video is about 35-40 minutes, but that includes her talking intro and cooldown time.
• These workouts could be made a low-impact; as needed, take out the jump or lower your weights. However, there is quite a lot of hiit in this series.

It seems each of her series has a different associated color. In the Fuel series, you’ll see a lot of bright pink and dark blue.

Everything above, you can quickly learn online. If you know you want to get started but might need some equipment, start here. She also uses a 20-inch high box, but I was just fine with my aerobic step.

Below is my honest review and feedback on Caroline Girvan’s Fuel series workouts after going through the entire program.

What I loved about Fuel

• She is in incredible shape, which helps motivate me to do these workouts every day.
• She has a great smile and seems like a really friendly lady, so it’s like you’re working out with a buddy.
• The moves are pretty basic, easy to follow.
• No talking during the workout. You can play music or whatever as long as you can hear the beeps.
• These workouts are a high volume of reps to really get your muscles burning.
• Sometimes she will drop weight or struggle with the rep volume too. It’s great to see she’s pushing herself and is keeping it real along with us.
• Since she doesn’t talk, I was able to really focus on my stabilization, breathing and activation of muscles during moves.
• She varies the format of the workouts each day. Some are a few moves then repeat, some moves you do 3 sets and move on, some workouts have a burnout move, etc.
• The burnout at the end usually starts around 90% on the workout progress bar. It makes the last 10% fly by.
• By the end of almost every workout, I had sweat dripping!
• The screen shows a move timer and a progress bar so you always know how much longer is left.
• It’s free! No, really!
• Unlike in the Iron series, she gave a lot more direction at the start of each workout.
• While she uses weights, she also incorporates a lot of moves that rely on body weight.
• I loved the moves where she focuses on one arm, leg or side of your body and then you switch to the other. It was a little boring but whew that burn!
• While I had to modify moves or use far less weight than she did, I still got in a great workout!
• I love her heel-elevated squats (with your heels on a weight). I’ve never done this in another program, but it’s such a great move.
• You can do these moves at your own pace (she encourages it via words on the screen)

What I didn’t love about Fuel

These aren’t necessarily “bad” reasons to not like the Fuel series but just didn’t jive with my personal preferences.

• While she did give more direction at the start of the Fuel workouts, I often didn’t know what she was referring to without seeing the move itself. So I didn’t find the directions helpful.
• The workout times do not include a warm-up, so if you’re looking for a 30-40 minute workout, add on time for warming up.
• There were some terms she used that I just didn’t fully understand until we were in the workout: complex, superset, tempo, compound, staple, etc.
• Since I need modified moves due to my hip with Legg Perthes, I had to make up some alternate moves without jumping. She doesn’t claim this to be a low-impact workout though so it’s to be expected. #pertheslife
• The music is… not my jam. There’s one song with words that she plays almost every workout that I finally figured out I think the words are “We will fight for the right to stay alive. We are dreaming.” That one really annoyed me because I still don’t think the words are right.
• Similar to the Iron series, her glutes days have SO MANY HIP THRUSTS and glute bridges! Gah! This one was much better where it wasn’t the entire workout, but it’s a lot. Very repetitive.
• This series had a lot of burpees, sprawls and other variations. Especially hiit days. They burn, so I understand why but whew, I hate burpees!
• The beeps were a bit inconsistent. Maybe because I didn’t understand the format but sometimes, it’d beep to be done and I’d rest then notice she was just moving on to another move. Since she doesn’t talk, you really have to watch the screen.
• When the timer starts, she doesn’t start a move. That’s when she picks up her weights. I tried to pick them up earlier to get in more reps.
• Other than a few reminders on screen or at the start of a video, she doesn’t give much direction. If you don’t know how to do a move, you could easily hurt yourself, so IMO this is not for beginners.

She is very strong and in great shape, so while she is motivating on its own, but I fear that some people may try to keep up with her and lift heavier than they should. If you don’t know what you’re doing, I could see how it’d be easy to hurt yourself.

What were my results?

For weights during this series, I often used half whatever she’s lifting. And probably more, depending on the move. The heaviest I used was 20 lbs while she went up to 60 lbs. But, when she’d stop due to muscle exhaustion, I was usually able to keep going because my weights were lighter. Sometimes when she changed moves to body weight only, I kept the weight because I could.

If you plan to do this series, I recommend keeping in mind to do what’s best for your body. Use her weights and moves as a guideline, but remember you can modify moves, increase the weight or decrease it as needed. “You do you” (a sentiment she puts on screen often)!

Would I do the Fuel series again?

Plus, there are so many great workout options out there that I’m looking forward to trying. I noted a few workouts in the series that I really enjoyed so I can use those again on a day when I need a filler.

But overall, I’m so glad that I tried out this series. Especially doing this over the holiday season, it helped me keep my health as a priority. I still gained a few holiday lbs, but know it’d be much more if I hadn’t been sweating and burning calories with Caroline Girvan.

Interested in trying out these workouts for yourself? If you’re looking for a weights-based workout series that will help you challenge yourself and get you sweating, then go to Caroline Girvan’s YouTube Channel »

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Have you tried any of Caroline Girvan’s workouts before? Or do you have another free, YouTube channel you follow for workouts? Please comment below. I’d love to give them a try too!