Getting fitter and stronger with Caroline Girvan- all welcome!

[BigButtons]

New thread!🤩

Oh god. I can't wait to finish endgame. The leg one we did Monday made my hamstrings so sore!

Hello, sorry I've been rubbish at posting.

I'm still doing the iron series and today did days 18 (glutes) and 20 (arms, abs and core). I don't normally do two on the same day but I had some more free time today. We've just bought some heavier dumbbells and it was much more comfortable doing hip thrusts with just the one dumbbell (as opposed to two lighter ones).

Am really enjoying iron - I think it's the shorter workouts!

I too have been crap at posting, been offline more than usual plus I keep falling asleep in the sofa.

Did day 12 upper body of Iron today, CG on 17.5 and 10kg., me on 10 and 6kg and I barely managed that. The 3rd set of everything was a struggle and I had nothing left for the push up finisher. My arm was trembling from holding my glass of water afterwards! I can’t imagine ever going beyond 10kg for my upper body, I find it hard enough yanking those in the air for my chest presses. It’s not been getting easier either. How CG’s wrists don’t snap with the17.5kg weights I don’t know.

Tomorrow I will do the full body, I don’t mind those as they seem to go quickly, but maybe I’ve not hit a dastardly one yet. Saturday I will attempt the posterior chain one that I’ve been avoiding. I’ve got a sporting event I got roped into in mid June so I need to be fit by then, or at least look the part.

Oh posted on the old thread...

Any advice please, my first program is Epic Heat and it's been great for me, a beginner, however when I do the leg days I am not getting any DOMs for the lower leg even with a day specifically mentioning calves. Like Day 43 here...

Lots of calf lifts which really burned I had to stop in places. Might I be doing these incorrectly? I consider my calves as needing work! I feel my quads two days later so I did something right....

I've struggled to get the workouts in in the last two weeks as I've been sick + working ridiculous hours, but I saw my PT yesterday and weirdly I could clean + press 20kg overhead much easier than the last time I saw her. Then I got cocky and she loaded an extra 5kg on my chest press ;)

My shoulders are starting to look f*cking cut. Bring on summer. A whole body weighted session is next for me on epic 1, my favourite.

@Melassa it gets worse. She is now chest pressing 20kg in the last week of iron. I can't even lift that up!
I can manage 12.5 kg for chest presses now, but only just.
Today is full body with silly weights, she is using mostly 20kg with a bit of 15 for shoulder presses!!
I will attempt 15kg and 10kg. I think the idea will be to lift very slowly and do very few reps in the sets. I will need to get my straps out I think.

@Lelivre could you try increasing weights for the calf raises?

There’s no way I could chest press 2x20kg with dumbbells, hoiking up 10kg into position is enough of a challenge for me. I guess though a barbell on a stand might be more doable.

I can do 12kg for my lower body, but my hands and wrists hurt from holding the weights, both down by my side or hoiked up to my shoulders. I quite often stop reps because my wrist hurts, not the muscle I’m exercising. I guess again a barbell might be the answer to progress to heavier weights? Do wrists ever get stronger? How does CG do it?

i’m supposed to be doing day 14 full body today but I didn’t get a lunch break and after a long day I’m eyeing the wine. I should just get up and do it, I know. What makes it worse is that I’m wfh so will have done about 300 steps all day. Maybe I should move my laptop further from the fridge.

@Melassa I consider getting a barbell every now and again as you can go heavier with one.
as far as the wrist strength goes I would say that it does improve.
at the start of this series I used 14kg once and found them so hard to hold. Like really hard.
today I used 15kg for lunges and although tough, my wrists and grip were much better than they were 6weeks ago. Just rest them on the floor for a few seconds. The more you do it the stronger you will get. Wrist straps are an option . I have some but am utterly incompetent at getting them in place in the 30 second pauses😳

@BigButtons I have a gym under my office and have contemplated trying the barbells there as I’m loath to fill my lounge with yet more gym equipment. I already have too much cat furniture abs soon there’ll be no room for anything else.

I’m glad to hear the wrists do get stronger. I feel so feeble just gripping the weights and sometimes put down a lot, which is annoying and frustrating.

as an aside have you thought of shelling out on the tricep dip bars or the push up handles that CG proposes? I can’t say I’ve been enticed myself. Are the handles more comfortable I wonder? I’ve seen them in Lidl but remain unconvinced. Maybe I’ll convince DP to buy some.

@Melassa no- not enticed😂
I was thinking about get those rope things you can attach to a door for things like tricep pull downs.
that’s the thing- more equipment taking up room. Would love to have a gym that close to me though. I would be interested in seeing whether different types of the same weight were easier to use.
I have though about a bench as well.
I get good enough results with what I do have. I bought a second set of adjustables and extra 5kg weight plates. I deffo needed all of them for this series.

I have a barbell and I do think it's great. I use it mostly with my PT as she decides what weight I do and because I am often squatting a weight that I'd struggle to get onto my shoulders without her. I'd love to use it on a Caroline series. I can't stand adjustable dumbbells though - we used to have a set, they drove me nuts and I stuck them on FB Marketplace. It does mean that our front room is quite gym-equipment-festooned (barbell, multiple sets of dumbbells, kettlebell and step) but I work out more at home than I'd ever be able to get to a gym, so I can live with it.

We have a barbell and rack in the shed! Can't fit it anywhere where we could use it at the moment.

I have to have adjustables. I cannot afford loads of free weights. They are not ideal but they do the job.

I also have adjustables, for the same reason as @BigButtons , I can’t afford to keep shelling out for new weights. I went to Decathlon to buy some new gloves with good wrist support, and saw they had bars there for €30. I’m now contemplating investing in one. I can use the same plates as my adjustable dumbbells (part of the same series) so I can build up my plate collection as I get stronger. Nowhere to put it but if I unload every time I might be able to slot it somewhere so one less thing to trip over. In theory.

@Melassa i could put a bar under my sofa along with my free weights, massage stuff and all the other crap😂. I would like to try one especially for chest presses and squats

Slightly embarrassed to be posting this after all your talk of 10kg weights, but after my ill-advised leap straight into endgame (I was in pain for days after that! I had to grip the banister to walk downstairs 😂) I've finally got round to starting her beginners' programme. It feels much more manageable and I'm looking forward to building up from it.

I like to imagine that she too has a barbie campervan and a pile of cat toys just out of shot in that minimalist set 😂

Don't be embarrassed @LegsOfJelly! You're working out and improving, which is all anyone can do. As they say, you're lapping everyone on the couch.

Epic 1 Day 14 for me today, 1hr full body dumbbells. I was really proud because I did almost the whole thing with 3/4 of the weight Caroline was using. Okay, fine, at least 70% of it!

Nothing shakes off a hard day at my desk like a Caroline.

I'm feeling inspired after stumbling across this thread. Can anyone tell me though- what's the difference between epic and iron? Jus a progression or a different focus? Thanks x

I've been 'doing' 😆Caroline for over 2 years. Believe me, just attempting any one of her programs will set you on a path to a degree of fitness that you cannot fathom as you are setting out on this journey...

I'd suggest starting with EPIC Beginners. Always a good start. I do it at least twice a year - just to check how far I've come and recalibrate. If you find it easy, you'll have a benchmark. If not, it'll give you something to work towards 😂

After that, I'd suggest EPIC Heat. Tough but shorter than the other EPICs. Save IRON till last 😱

But do look at Growingannanas for some in between catching your breath HIIT days. Love Anna. I think she perfectly compliments Caroline 😎

Definitely don't do Iron first, unless you already lift. It's more "proper" weightlifting than the Epic programmes. I would start with Epic Beginner doing the bodyweight exercises. I am working my way through Epic 1 but technically you could start with any of the Epic serieseses. Epic Heat is (I'm told) more geared to cardio than the others and the sessions tend to be shorter. It depends what you're wanting. I often skip the HIIT sessions in Epic because I also run for cardio plus my PT adds HIIT/explosive exercises to my workout with her, so my primary interest in Caro is the weight work.

Thanks. I 'was' reasonably fit pre having covid 6 months ago but i've totally lost my mojo since then.

Good idea about skipping some of the cardio!

Hello there! I was on the previous threads then fell off for a few months as developed a shoulder injury and couldn't lift. I really missed it and am trying to get back into it but very slowly and really watching my form. My favourites are the full body ones and iron is great for the perfect 30 min length.

Glad I found this thread. I did the first IRON workout this evening and it was too hard. I now realise I’ve started at the wrong end of the scale! Will restart with one of the EPIC programmes as they sound more suited to my level.

Iron is as hard as you make it because you can choose the weights.
there is no obvious cardio/ hiit in iron- I stress obvious because if you are lifting at YOUR max then you will feel it!
I started Epic 3 yesterday. Not done that one before and boy so my legs feel it today. I used lighter weights because I want to reload a bit this week- 10kg- although they didn’t feel taxing- I really enjoyed the session.
upper body today!
well done on keeping going with your weight training everyone!🤩

After taking advice from here I took a break for a couple of weeks but have now finally completed epic1 (and enjoyed it!) Going to start iron today. Usually use 5.5kg but thinking of trying 9 as its legs on day 1 but not sure if that's too big a jump?