Getting fitter and stronger with Caroline Girvan- all welcome!

[BigButtons]

New thread!🤩

It was lovely! Really interesting and we were the only people in it. Lewes is great - will definitely revisit - want to see the castle!

Hello exercisers, it is I, the former brawling Greg, with another obscure Taskmaster-influenced screen name. Just had a week without workouts due to sickness and HATED it. Back in the saddle with epic 1 Day 21 today and all proud of myself for using the same weights as CG. I made it two sets and then had to drop down because they were killing my wrists. But baby steps, right?

In other life changing news, it turns out I've been washing my sports bras all wrong.

In other life changing news, it turns out I've been washing my sports bras all wrong.

do tell, I just bung mine in the machine. Is that wrong?

just about to do day 23 or 24 Iron, undecided between glutes and full body. I’ll be away until Friday so I’m leaning more towards full body, with the dreaded glutes for when I get back. But then my glutes do need some attention. Decisions decisions 🤔

So on the sports bras: I now have a whole series of zip front ones that I really love and I felt that despite thorough washing they were developing a faint... fragrance. I'd just been peeling off my stuff and chucking it in the wash basket then washing and tumble drying once a week but turns out 1) that was giving them too long to "marinate" 2) the warmth of tumble drying only increases any sweaty smell.

I gave them all a wash in vinegar and bicarb as advised and it did indeed work a treat, and I now chuck my gear in the wash for a rinse literally as soon as I've peeled it off, then air dry it. It seems to be working.

Let me know. Would be fab to meet up!😍

I just bung mine in and line dry in the sunlight inside out. i do have a tumble dryer but never really use it as nothing seems to come out properly dry (probably me programming wrong🙄) but I try to dry outside wherever possible, I’m a great believer in UV light’s disinfecting properties! I also use vinegar instead of softener in the machine, so maybe that helps too.

I did iron day 24 full body in the end. I had sweat dribbling in my eyes. I was pleased to have managed 8kg to CG’s 10 for most of it. Feeling content and off to swig some more protein shake…

But I know what you mean re odour, mine get distinctly dusty in the winter when I dry inside. I will remember to pretreat with vinegar.

Went away for the long weekend and missed Fuel 4-6. Just done Fuel 7 and have NOT acclimatised to the cardio yet. It does make me feel like I'm doing proper work though, which is nice.

I'm absolutely loving the fuel series! I'm loving the mix of cardio and weights; even on the 'weighted' days my heart rate is still 150bpm so comfortably
In the fat burning zone. With iron I never got that.

yesterday I love fuel but today.... that was one of the worst sessions I remember form a whole year of CG. I hated it. What even was it? Not enough cardio to be cardio, moved too quickly to be effective and to check for good form. Upper body shoulder trashing at warp speed. Was nethier productive nor safe IMO. I stopped for a break at 40% and gave up completely at 85% when I couldn't even lift 3kg dumbbells!!
That is the second rubbsih upper body day from this series. I might sub them for heat ones from now one and o an extra cardio of I have something left in the tank.

I’ve had an extra day off than planned but started the fuel series tonight and really enjoyed the mix of weights and cardio. I had to pause just before the finisher and foolishly thought I had to do 100 plank to squats so ended up doing 40 of those before switching to the other exercises as I gave myself the 30 second rest headstart 🤦‍♀️
I’ll see how I get on with the upper arms day @BigButtons , slightly dreading it now although I’ve come round to repetitive seasons, something quite satisfying concentrating more on form than what’s coming next.

Buttons - let's meet up for a coffee one day! Would be really lovely to chat to a fellow CGer! I'm away next week, but am generally available Mondays or Thursdays?

@fishonabicycle that would be great! Mondays are better for me in the afternoon. At the moment I
nursing 2 of mine through GCSEs and A’levels so need to be around to fetch and carry them from exams . Am free from the 27th though.
all I would advice for day 7 is to use your chest press weights as a gauge and HALF it. The are trillions of push ups, decline, pike , tricep, dead stop, normal. My shoulders are so sore. I did her chilled cardio this evening and it hurt to put any weight on my shoulders!😮😮

I'm not liking the sound of Fuel from everyone else's posts. I don't enjoy being out of breath (although I love an elevated HR). I hate walking up mountains for the same reason, I am limited by lung capacity well before my legs tire.
For some reason, I can tolerate it really well when swimming so that has always been my cardio but not a member of pool at the moment

@BigButtons you made it much further than I would have if I wasn't enjoying it, I admire that you managed to get through so much

Did another low impact HIIT today and back to getting my daily steps in now kids are back at school. Going to have to find a way of doing this over the long summer break, I average less than 5000 if I am not doing school run, increases to 12000+ when taking to school and activities.

Monday afternoon would be great! Let's arrange towards the end of the month x

Fuel day 2 completed and my arms are definitely fatigued, feel good I’ve managed to get back into a routine if only for 2 days. Knowing they’re only 30mins stops my usual lack of time excuses 😀

Iron day 5 done, really liked the abs section! I only did 5kg though

I felt bereft without a new CG today, so went back and did Fuel 5 - loved it. Well structured and consistent cardio throughout, thought it was one of the better ones so far. Did 6kg to CG's 10kg.

Fuel day 3 completed and enjoyed the variety for a glutes day. I think I’ll definitely be aching after all the elevated lunges and bridge marathon at the end. Looking forward to full body day next.

Day 9 for me on fuel today. Was a good sweaty session . Did 11.5kh and 7.5kg. Full body cardio.
my legs are pumped up like nobody’s business though 😩

We're just doing full body at the moment as husband has got a sore knee .. found a good one in epic 3 today. Off on holiday tomorrow, so no exercise for a week!

I’ve got to day 27 in Iron, only 3 more to go! Skiving today though as I’ve had my hair blow dried straight and any sweating will just make it curl <shallow>.

Looking forward to starting Fuel as I need to get leaner, with Iron I seem to have bulked up a bit, which I do like, but I want my new muscles to stand out and at present I just look sturdy 😬with no specific muscle definition.

I do love that push ups have got easier and I’m feeling stronger in general. I can lift almost anything with ease and my knees are a lot less creaky, thanks to the countless lunges. It’s coming up to a year since I started, from lockdown levels of non fitness, and I do feel better for it, despite not always following assiduously.

Hi ladies, I'm enjoying the iron series (up to day 17 now!) but I'm finding some difficulty with the length of the rest intervals.

For a lot of the sessions I find I'm struggling to get to the end of the timer in the second half of the workout. I've found out that if I leave a bigger rest interval, say 60 seconds instead of 30, I can do it but I'm not sure if I'm best to stick to the timings as CG does them or pause the workout for a slightly longer rest and complete the timer? If I drop my weights a bit this isn't an issue (but don't really want to do that)

Also found my left shoulder is SO much weaker than my right but for the legs my left is the stronger one- How on earth has that happened?!

@milkfromthesleepycow why don’t you drop your weights for the second set only?
or take that extra time if you need it.
my left shoulder is also weaker but not as weak as it used to be.

@BigButtons that's a good idea (that I feel a little dim for not thinking of!!), thanks