Getting fitter and stronger with Caroline Girvan- all welcome!

[BigButtons]

New thread!🤩

@samthebordercollie

“so easy first thing in the morning”

This has been my challenge! The shit sleep with a baby is not at all conducive to eating well, exercising well or willpower 😣

Right now while my partner takes the baby for an hour before work have I:

a) slept for another 30 minutes and then had a coffee in peace while scrolling mumsnet; or

b) exercised

I think we all know the answer 😆

I’m on day 14 of Iron now and really enjoying it - it’s exactly what I was after. I’m already noticing a difference in my body shape and how I feel. At the moment I feel like I might just repeat it once I finish, although I might try a day or two of a couple of other programmes, just to see what they’re like.

Hello, I've sporadically posted on this thread but enjoy reading all your posts.

I just repeated epic heat and now doing iron again (I think it's my favourite). And also (inspired by flower arranger) the bowflex plank challenge most days (it's short enough to fit in if I don't have time for a 10 mins abs workout). The only program I've haven't done is epic 2 - put off by the length of the sessions.

I'm wondering when (if?) Caroline will post anything new....

hello all- glad to see you are all doing well. My phone and computer has trouble downloading this thread for some reason- odd.
Anyway for me- I am due to start my last week of second round of iron, but my body says no.
I have right a hip/ thigh issue whereby have a snapping coming internally from my hip when I walk quickly- this seems to be made worse by exercising- although it doesn't hurt at the time. My left elbow seems to have some sort of tendonitis. I had a deep tissue massage on my legs on Monday and I still exhausted and really are from it. Time to let my body rest up. I have no desire to exercise- which is unusual for me.

@BigButtons you've got to listen to your body-it's telling you to rest! Would seeing a physiotherapist help?
I'm about halfway through Iron and still really liking it. I do a Growingananas HIIT workout when I'm too sore for Iron or days I just can't face it. I need to work on my abdominal muscles too so I've tried a few Growingananas an workouts and they are good/horrible!

Hi everyone

I'm a newbie to exercise and CG.

Does anyone mind advising me on which workout would suit a beginner and has a little bit of cardio too?

I've been doing Jillian Michaels kettlebell workouts and 30 day shred , so something similar?

I've had a look at a few of her series on YouTube and they look good but purely weights from what I've seen. I need to get fitter, lose weight and tone.

@DottyDry - try Caroline's EPIC Beginners first. It's only 5 sessions, so keep repeating until you feel comfortable. Use weights that are somewhat challenging but not OTT. Maybe try EPIC Heat next.

You'll get a fair bit of cardio even with just doing weights. Check your heart rate and sweat volume and be prepared to be amazed!

You may want to alternate with Growingannanas HIIT for extra cardio and fitness. Her Tabata workouts are particularly good if you're not very fit.

These short workouts are excellent to improve your basic fitness:

Bowflex 3-minute plank (do this every day)
Lucy Wyndham Reed's Thighs & Glutes
Rebecca Louise's Best Ab; also her Ageless Arms and Bingo Wings (less challenging than Caroline's arm workouts but still very good)

😀

So sorry to hear about your troubles, @BigButtons .

Hips can be troublesome as we age. Quite a number of my friends have already had hip replacements in their 50s and 60s. At one point I thought I was heading that way, but all the exercise I do seems to have improved things and I'm no longer in any pain.

I do several hip flexor exercises every day. No idea whether this would be appropriate for you. Do you plan to see a physio?

Anyway, I hope you'll be back to your usual super-fit self before too long 💐

PS: did you see my thread in AIBU? Quite enlightening!

Thanks @FlowerArranger . no no physio- takes us 20 mins to get through to the gp receptionist here and there are never any appointments even for a go phone call.
what hip flexor exercises do you do? I am being very mindful of how I hold and use my leg- trying to minimise the clunking. I think it’s a bit better 🤷🏻‍♀️

Which hip flexor exercises do I do....... how to describe them...🤔

Basically anything that kind of flexes my hips, i.e. causes my thigh ball to kind of rotate in its hip socket. I'll try and describe a few:

Lying on my back, legs straight up in the air and repeatedly open them as wide as possible.

Lying on back, legs bent with feet together and flexing so that knees touch.

Kneeling with one leg stretched straight and raising it as far as it will go

As above but with knees bent.

Fire hydrants - I actually know the name of that one!

Kneeling and moving one leg from side to side, i.e. crossing over the other leg - like a rainbow

Standing and doing straight up leg kicks

Standing and kind of rotating the leg in a rainbow movement

Standing with your hands behind your head, raising leg and touching knee with elbow.

That kind of stuff. Hopthis s makes sense!

@BigButtons I'm the same here with my GP and I think the waiting list to see a physio would probably be a year long. The last time I injured myself I paid £75 to see a private physio and it was money well spent. They diagnosed my issue and gave me lots of exercises to help and what to avoid. My injury would have healed without the physio intervention I'm sure but really helped to get a diagnosis.

@BigButtons I hope your hip and elbow issues clear up soon, il's always wise to listen to your body!
@FlowerArranger I saw your thread - very enlightening!
"I don't have time" is often another way of saying "it's not a priority for me"

Oh yes, I agree @samthebordercollie . It's actually quite sad how entrenched some of the anti- exercise attitudes are.

@samthebordercollie "I don't have time" is often another way of saying "it's not a priority for me"

I think that's both a bit true and a bit unfair ;) We do all have busy lives and it is often a struggle to juggle competing priorities especially when there is often too much to get through in a day. Getting fit again and starting exercise can be quite intimidating and it's definitely not easy; it's human nature that often we put off the thing that is hardest to do.

That said, I've managed to do the first 2 days of Epic Beginners and I ran home after dropping my baby at his nursery settling in session today. 💪

Just remembered a couple more, @BigButtons :

Hip thrusts (I know you love those...)
Mountain climbers ( in all directions)
Pigeon

I think Rebecca's Stretch workout is very good for hip flexibility:

Also, Dr Jo has a few videos on hip pain, e.g.:

Though checking with a physiotherapist whether all this is advisable might be a good idea, even if you have to go private. Just think of all the gym fees you've saved over the years!

I hope you can get this sorted 💐

Thank u @flowerarranger. I've tried the epic beginners tonight and will have a look at the other suggestions too. There's so many to pick from.

I like kettlebell workouts so will try those ones too.

Thanks so much @FlowerArranger I can't afford physio- well I might have to try and find the money. I think I have discovered the source of my elbow issue. I have a really tight and sore spot on my forearm just under the elbow. Gave it a very good massage yesterday.
The hips? I have a longer right leg- well I suspect it is that I have mild scoliosis- it runs in my family. I have sway back- this makes alot of ab work tricky for me if it involves leg lowers. Anyway, I digress, it is always my right leg and hip that will have issues, never my left. I am now aware that I am always externally rotating my right leg, whether standing, sitting or lying on the bed. This might well be causing chronic tightness. So the first thing is to be aware of my posture.
There is a really great youtube channel/guy called Tom Merrick and he has the best hip stretch routines I have ever come across.
Check out the V3 follow along hip mobility routine. Would love to know what you think. I must do it more often. I am sure it made a difference.

Sorry about your hip/ thigh/ elbow issues, bigbuttons.

FlowerArranger, I alternate the first two exercises on that list during the ‘rest’ time in the CG workouts. I had no idea they were good for hips, I just carried on doing them when I stopped doing Davina workouts as I hadn’t seen them in Jillian workouts and I felt they made a difference to me. Fire hydrants have been abandoned though!

I did the Lucy Wyndham Read thighs and glutes last night - it’s tougher than all the other (standing) workouts of hers that I’ve tried, and I could feel the top/ side of my thigh in the night! I also tried a standing ab workout from fitness blender which I enjoyed. I’m already seeing slight definition coming back on my stomach, after just a week of epic beginners and a couple of weeks of iron, even though there isn’t much ab work in iron.

I think the lack of activity for many people nowadays will be a ticking time bomb. My grandparents didn’t ‘exercise’ but they were very active - and still are active, in their 90s. I dread to think what many of the younger generations will be like when they’re older. I just read a list of reasons on that thread - none of which are really barriers if you want to exercise (you can exercise for free at home barefoot, when kids are in bed - even if it’s just for 10 minutes because you’re tired).

Hello, just clocking in after absolutely ages. I fell off the CG wagon due to a job change, long commute and crazy hours, but I’ve decided to get back into it and am back on day 15 of Heat.

I’d been doing the odd plank plus maybe 10 mins squats etc. here and there but my fitness had really gone down and I’d lost a lot of strength (scary how it all goes to pot so quickly at this age!) so I’m now back to following a series, albeit mainly condensed in the weekend plus the odd day WFH. I’m even doing her HIIT and all the dreaded hip thrusts!

I’m doing lower weights but that’s fine, I need to get back into things slowly and Heat is quite fast moving so that works for me for now. I’m impressed by everyone who is doing her programmes for the second or third time! I’ve not seen anything new come out, is there anything in the pipeline?

Good to see you back, @Melassa !! I hope your job is going well. I agree that strength can seem to go quickly, but I've found that it also comes back quite quickly if one is disciplined enough to adhere to one of Caroline's programmes. What weights are you using?

I've done Heat at least 3x now, and Endgame and EPIC 3 a couple of times. I dip in and out of some of the other programmes. Maybe I'll do EPIC 1 or 2 again one day. Currently early days with Iron which, for some reason I had shied away from until now. I think the name is slightly scary, LOL! Still haven't done Fuel.

I also wonder what's happened to Caroline. I've heard some rumours about an upcoming App. But nothing from her since that one-off workout in September or October. I virtually never check her Facebook group these days. Too much bragging...

If you are looking to strengthen your core and abs, @bluesuitcase , I'd try:

Bowflex 3-minute plank (every day)
Rebecca Louise's Best Abs (with more challenging variations)
Caroline's Braced Abs and Core
Plus some of her other short abs sessions
And her 15 minute plank workout.

Hi @FlowerArranger ! I’m using 6kg for most, going down to 4kg for things like flies and biceps. Although I did some sumo squats today with a single 14kg instead of 2x6kg. The first 2 sessions I could barely move the day after so I decided to take it easy. I’ll just maybe stick to low weights and up the speed for Heat, then if I’m feeling brave I’ll go back to Iron and slowly up the weights again.

i saw your AIBU. I agree with you, I was out with a group of friends the other week who were bemoaning aches and pains and saying they really should start doing something. I forwarded on the Bowflex plank plus a short Tabata thing to get started on but no one has even attempted them. One does go Nordic walking so is semi fit, one occasionally does yoga but none of the others do anything and just complain about menopause related twinges, as if it was inevitable and there’s no point fighting it. Frustrating!

Many of my friends are the same, @Melassa . It's quite scary!

One keeps tripping and falling over, but there's always a logical excuse reason for it. Nothing to do with the fact that she is overweight and totally unfit.

Another was diagnosed with a heart condition and just stopped moving.

One rarely leaves the house because she's afraid of Covid or being mugged.

Admittedly they are all a bit older than me, but even so...

My neighbour a few doors down is the same age as me but can no longer walk unless she holds on to her daughter's arm or a 4-wheel shopping trolley.

And so on. I look around me and I see people like this everywhere. Don't younger people see this and think "this could be me one day unless I do something"...

Hi @Melassa great to see you back! well done on getting back on the exercise wagon!
I have decided to do nothing but walking and yoga next week. If I keep pushing my leg with get worse and my ulnar nerve entrapment will get worse.
It's gonna be hard as hell though,I will really miss the weights, but my body is so easily tired atm, even walking makes me feel stiff. I'm going to do some Yoga with Kassandra sessions. Will still get to use the muscles but in a more gentle way.

Hi @BigButtons sorry to hear about your health woes. You are wise to take it easy for a while. I had that persistent shoulder thing a few months ago where I couldn’t raise my arm above my head (I think it was an impingement?) but the months of inactivity except for using a mouse has helped it go away. Sometimes your body really needs a rest.

I guess you must be really fit and strong now, are you lifting much heavier weights? I got up to 14kg for legs and 10kg for upper body (chest and back only!) but there’s no way I could lift that now.

@Melassa I occasionally go to 14kg for legs but not often- I can -but quite honestly my legs can build easily and I am happier sticking with 12-13 kg.
Upper body is very variable. I managed to get up to 13 for chest presses and rows- shoulders still no heavier than 10kg- they just won't do it and I don't want to injure them. Biceps, triceps, flies etc are mostly 5-6 kg. Over doing things weight wise has been the cause of my eventual woes I am sure.
I damaged a ligament in my hand doing makers last OCTOBER and it still gives me problems- but not as bad. I had to wear a brace for ages.
getting older sucks!
I enjoy her workouts much more if the weights are 'lighter'