Getting fitter and stronger with Caroline Girvan- all welcome!

Completed Iron D8 and 9 over past 2 days and I am so stiff! Going to struggle to walk tomorrow and have a day trip with DC planned!

Only 3 weeks in but my legs are so much more toned, seeing a small difference in my arms too but think will need more drastic dietary changes for this to be extended to other parts of my body.

Thanks @FlowerArranger

This thread is great, I’ve managed to get myself into a decent routine since I found you all.

Sorry, this was in reply to @Direwolfwrangler 😀

As well as Lucy's Thighs and Glutes (see my post above), you may want to try Rebecca Louise's Best Abs and the Bowflex 3-minute plank. Great for getting into shape and ready for Caroline!!

@Animalism - as a shameless substituter and modifier I say go right ahead as I feel it's always better to do something than nothing, as well as avoiding injury.

One legs workout I like and which is very (deceptively...) effective is Lucy's Thighs and Glutes:

Day 50 endgame completed this morning 🥳🎉 I really enjoyed the mix of weights and cardio and would gladly repeat this one (although without the 100 chest to floor burpee finisher!). Hoping fuel will be similar from the descriptions so I plan to start from Monday as I’m away for a few days.

I've just done the 30 min full body dumbbells and the 15 min biceps.i have a slightly dodgy knee so don't love lunges but would like to start a CG series. Is there one that isn't too lunge-heavy? Alternatively is it ok just to do squats instead for those sets?

@BigButtons I feel the same, I need to remind myself that being out of breath is not a bad thing! (A bit like being hungry, haha)

Agree @BigButtons, Fuel Day 3 was great! I've decided I like Fuel, I feel like I'm being pushed a bit harder than usual thanks to the cardio elements.

I am getting on well doing random growingannanas videos. I like the fact she has loads with no jumping - two kids and dodgy joints mean I try to avoid being airborne. I found a good one last week that has an ab burner at the end. I don’t feel strong enough for the CG ones her, but I am getting there.

Glad you enjoyed it!
I agree, Anna loves working those quads...

@MarisPiper92 I ponder this question all the time! Sometimes I select " weights" and sometimes "workout". I seem to get a higher calorie burn when I choose weights, on average - although to be fair it does vary, I've done CG sessions where my HR didn't really get out of fat burn zone and others where I was verging on peak.

Fuel Day 2 done - agree it was an odd one. Does anyone use a FitBit? As I'm never sure whether to set these as "weights" or "workout". I can definitely see/feel changes after starting CG about a year ago, but my Fitbit nearly always records c.100 calories and 0 active minutes (though 12 yesterday), which feels very unfair!

Thank you for growingannanas recommendation @FlowerArranger, I really enjoyed the workout and made a good change from the heavy weights in iron. I think my quads will burn tomorrow from all the squat exercises!

I agree, she compliments CG very well

@BigButtons I felt exactly the same, a bit 'meh' once I'd finished and my Apple Watch said I'd only used 119calories so think I need to do a run this evening. I also cannot put my finger on exactly what was meh about it, just didn't feel like I am about to keel over like usual after her workouts!

Seated shoulder presses are great always used to do them on a bench at the gym as your back is totally supported.

I'll try the sitting down too and see if I can get the 10kgs up that way! It's a sitvolution. I am ambitious to build my arms up - Gina Carano's biceps are the shit IMO.

Thanks for the advice @FlowerArranger - I just need to give it a try and see I think - see if it can become a sustainable part of my exercise week!

Thanks @BigButtons although I am no longer keen on Fuel after reading the comments on D1, cardio is not my thing! I am going to continue with iron for now and see what Fuel involves, maybe try a bit later.

Iron D7 done today, my arms are so weak! I couldn't go beyond 6kg for any exercise, mostly hovered around 2-4kg

Thinking growingannanas HIIT tomorrow with some core work. I need to discipline myself and do the daily plank too

Thanks - I'll have this a try!

I never thought of doing shoulder presses seated either. I can only lift 6kg, a latent shoulder injury starts smarting after a few reps. Maybe I’ll try the 8s sitting down and just stick to very few reps and see if that works better.

Where's a good place to start with growingannanas?

That's tricky, because she has literally hundreds of workouts and most of them aren't part of an ongoing programme - though she now has a Grow HIIT Challenge and a Levelup Challenge programme, as well as month by month programmes.

https://youtube.com/c/growingannanas

I usually just search what I'm looking for and select something that fills the need and the time I have available. Her categories include:

Sweaty, supersweaty, killer, warrior etc
Jumping, no jumping, cardio, toning, stretching
Weights, no equipment
Targeting legs, glutes, booty, arms, abs, booty, back, core, full body etc
Tabata, yoga

All her workouts are based on HIIT and last from 20 minutesto an hour. This is her talking about how she approaches fitness training - she is much more focused on variety than CG:

I like her because for me she complements CG - and because I'm not strong enough for full-time, full-on Caroline...😂