Lifting with Caroline Girvan 2024: What's not to love?!

Any ideas who makes her lovely loose shorts from the iron series?

@samthebordercollie and anyone else ... is there any way to prevent things like shoulders/legs getting bigger?

I'm only on Day 3 of starting Iron, so I'm probably worrying far too soon. But I'm quite short, small frame/small boned and really don't want to end up with chunky legs or broader shoulders. (But would happily have the smaller waist!)

@thenewaveragebear1983 quad exercises can be tough but strong quads ultimately serve to protect your knees and ankles from injury, so definitely worth the pain!

For everyone with the App, if you haven't seen it yet, the introduction Caroline wrote for Week 2 Intent is worth a read. She writes very well, this time about her nutrition habits. Lots of protein as if you hadn't already guessed!

Also reading your post above, I definitely need to do my measurements! I am just finishing a 10 week pt course with a guy from
my old gym and annoyingly I didn’t take any measures, I did photos and I can see a difference, but a tape measure would have been better.

I did a double session today- iron day 6 (quads) and day 7 (shoulders and triceps) - tough session! There’s a lot of knee action in those lunges, I had to switch down the weights and really be careful with my knees.

@BigButtons You have reassured me if Intent is not like Unleash! I'll start it next week.
Today I did my favourite full body workouts - Day 44 Epic II and the 20 minute full body compound lift workout.
@AtomicBlondeRose if you've been progressing with your weights and upping your calorie intake it's very likely to be muscle after 7 months, especially if your waist has stayed the same. Are your clothes tighter in some places? My shoulders are noticeably bigger with tops tighter than before, and I put on a pair of jeans I haven't worn for a while and the waist was the same but the calves tighter. Ive been lifting since Jan 2023 so am hoping like you it's newbie gains!

I hit a plateau late last year and on reflection this was when my body changed so drastically in terms of shape, when I had been starting more weights. I wasn’t losing weight though even in a deficit and got frustrated by it but my waist really changed a lot by inches.

I am going to start iron as I think I need to follow a programme a bit more than just dipping in and out of YT’s

I have a weight (body!) question. I’ve been doing CG religiously since September. Until new year I was trying to lose weight but by the start of January I was happy with my weight/body shape. I started Iron and then went on to Epic 3, working up with weights. I’ve stayed the same weight since January pretty much, and I’ve even upping my calories and focussing on protein intake. This last week I’ve noticed my weight is up about 3-4 lbs. I’ve measured and I’m the same waist and hip size - could this be the famed “muscle weight”? It’s hard not to freak out at the scales but surely 6 months in it’s reasonable to think I’m actually gaining muscle now.

@thenewaveragebear1983 if you are going to do 3 days then even mixing up the workouts to have effectively 3 x full body would be fine. It's really a quesion of trying to see what suits you best. I did and upper body and then shoulders and triceps workout back to back and had to sub some of the shoulder exercises for biceps because it was too much. As Caroline says, you do you!
@BigButtons I think I will do intent, I'll give it a week and then start. It sounds far more interesting than Unleash. Are the workouts around 45 minutes long?

@samthebordercollie well
done! 👏

i finished my first week of iron on YouTube today, I am really enjoying it.

Next week I’m going to try to double up a couple of days and do it over 3 days, just to give me days to run and a rest day. Do you think it’s better to do both legs sessions on one day, and the abs/arms/cord etc on the other day, and full body hiit as day 3? Or do one legs/ glutes/ and 1 arms x 2 days?

Finished Iron on the App today. Not sure what to do next as Unleash probably isn't for me, so I'll probably just do some full body workout and mix and match with other program sessions. Really enjoyed Iron on the App, much more than Iron on YouTube.

@BigButtons Thank you for recommending Iron. I did Day 1 (legs) today and I'm genuinely really looking forward to tomorrow.

I'm hoping to slowly build some strength and tone up. Would be great to maybe lose a bit of body fat too (I'm short & 8 stone 4ish but definitely have too much body fat).

Thank you @BigButtons

The programmes vary in length from 20 minutes to an hour for some sessions - in Epic 1 and 2 for example. Most programmes are 30 minutes to 45 minutes, 5 days a week. I do the workouts 3/4 days a week - I do a long run on the other days.

I do not do them for 7 days as I rest some days. I do 4-5 days a week usually.

Hi! Can I join? How long are the workouts and do you do them 7 days a week?

Hi all. I came across this thread a few months ago and was going to start some CG workouts but really struggled with them. I've just completed a 12 week programme following Heather Robertson which was more manageable for me.

I keep hearing such good things about Caroline Girvan and wonder if now that I've built a bit of strength, I can attempt again. I just wondered if anyone could recommend which programme to start with.

Also, what do you think are the maximum number of days per week to do her workouts? I'd quite like to do something every day but don't what to overdo it.

Thank you.

@ellebelli you do you! Don't worry about the weights everyone else is using. Caroline is a beast and has been lifting for years. It's best to concentrate on form and if you are wobbling with heavier weights stick to lighter weights and more reps. You will increase your weights - I started of with 7.5kg for legs in Jan 2023 and am now on 12,5kg without wobbling, I'm trying 15kg but form isn't great.
The only weight I really haven't been able to increase much is for chest press, maybe I'm doing them all wrong as I can only manage 10kg if there are more than 2 sets 😕. Overhead presses have only increased by 1kg to 6kg for more than 2 sets.
@Menora I hope your sciatica gets better soon!

I think I got sciatica from poor hip movement in my workouts so I need to not move up weights and go slower and be more mindful of not pushing my hips forward in RDL or squats when I come upwards