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

[BigButtons]

New thread!

And yes, I walk around my house in crop tops now 😂 just plucking up the courage to go out wearing one in summer maybe…but I am 44…!

I am 100% wearing a crop top this year. I have a few long sleeved ones they also look so nice. I’ve been brave enough to wear one a few times!

Wow @AtomicBlondeRose those are some transformation photos, well done you! What a difference 10 months of Caroline Girvan makes, although I'm sure you did some hard work with diet too! Regarding the wobbling during, maybe the weights you are using are a little too heavy?
@thenewaveragebear1983 I'm sorry you are a suffering at the moment! Can't really help on the RDLs although good mornings and hip thrusts are supposed to be good alternatives. For the knee - I've found weight training has actually helped mine - after running for years I have no cartilage left and arthritis, but having strong glutes - all those lunges Caroline loves so much😂- has really helped protect my knee and the pain is now very bearable.

I did 6 sessions of Intent last week, I love this program! It's edging Epic 3 as my favourite. I'm seeing more progress with this than the Epics which are more cardio intense and I really like the variety of the sessions. The only bugbear for me is all the different equipment required for each day, it takes a long time getting everything out and putting away.
I bought some cheap sliders to use instead of the mobility ball and am feeling it more in my hamstrings with them - with the ball my calves seemed to be doing all the effort!

I am going to do no leg days this week with intent. My TFL is so tight and sore and my right hip aches. Will do upper body and work on massaging and stretching my legs.
I started having issues during iron 2 but was too stubborn and stupid to rest up.

Argh I’ve missed about 5 days of workouts as life got in the way but @AtomicBlondeRose you’ve inspired me again!

on my wfh days I can do it between the school run and work starting but I have to go into the office 3 days a week and on those days need to try fit it in before the kids are awake. Hopefully the lighter mornings will help!

Started Iron 2 on the app today. I just find Iron so relaxing, weird to say. The pace, the simplicity of it - I find it really quite soothing. And I like how it means I can lift quite heavy. You don’t feel as worked out as you do with the Epics though. Not the same energy boost afterwards. But I do find it enjoyable and having worked the weeks out and allowed for a week off at half term as I’m away in a hotel with DD, it takes me exactly up to my summer holiday! So I’m looking forward to rocking the bikinis and shorts! (And enjoying some quality time with the buffet…)

Hello! New here but was looking to find something to add to my exercise regime (I run approx 25k a week) and was thinking these CG workouts would be good for my non-run days?
Do you think it's worth signing up for the free trial straight away or can you recommend some of the free content to engage with first?

Not sure where to start!

@sloooooopjonb she has loads of content on your tube I haven’t paid for anything at all! I just do them there

I like her mighty full body work out and the unilateral full body work out

Welcome to the thread @sloooooopjonb from a fellow runner ! There are quite a few runners here. As @Menora says there are hundreds of free workouts and programs on Caroline's You Tube channel, if you look at 'playlists' they are all very well categorised.
Iron is a good program to start with as it's slower paced than the Epics. However, if you are new to lifting and really want an excellent introduction and beginners program you will only find that on the App. The Epic Beginner program on YouTube isn't for beginners, it's just an introduction to the Epic workouts. There is no variation in difficulty for the Epics on You Tube, they are all standalone in their own right.

Anyone any ideas about what the ''something big which a lot have people have been waiting for'' could be?
Caroline mentioned it in the introduction to week 5 of Intent on the App

Hello, so glad I found this thread. I’ve been doing CG on YouTube since December. So far I’ve completed the YT advent, Iron and Epic series (finished Epic yesterday!). I’m having a little week off programme and just doing a bit of deload. I then have 4 weeks before I go on holiday so am planning on doing a couple of the short programmes on YT. Does anyone have any recommendations?

After my hols I’m planning on Fuel. I’ve found that I’ve increased weights quite well but I get little or no DOMS. Should I go harder still? I’m no stranger to weightlifting so could it just be that?

Absolutely loving the regime of a programme, and one which I can do at home as well.

I have not posted any progress photos anywhere as I am not sure anyone on my socials cares 😂 but I’m gonna be brave and post some here now other people have

my current issue is really my lower belly - this is fat I am trying to shift, I don’t love my side profile quite yet 😂

I think I just have big thighs I am rugby player shaped as these are getting rock hard but not smaller

I had zero muscle definition when I started and a lot of body fat. This is 12 months of dieting losing 4st and starting CG in January this year ( stripy top 😂)

Wow, you look great, @Menora! it’s nice to feel tight and strong instead of loose and baggy, isn’t it? I think the stomach area is basically any women’s nemesis - I know mine looks flat from the front but it isn’t from the side.

@devildeepbluesea I never get DOMS ever. I think it’s because I pace myself and don’t push it too much. This is a lifestyle, not a race. I do feel like I’ve worked out for sure though. But I never struggle to stand up or anything! Also, for a short programme, Tempo week is fun.

I don’t get DOMS too often anymore but I mix up my sessions. I did have some leg ache after a lot of squats Sunday but today it’s ok. I do not rush with increasing weights and sometimes on the last set of reps of lunges I just do body weight. I am afraid of hurting myself this has always held me back from exercise in the past so I am taking it slow. My arms are growing pretty fast so I think I need to step back for a while as I don’t want to get too bulky, may just train triceps as they are still weak and focus on legs and core.

I was reading about weightlifters stretch marks. I’m a very long way to class myself as one , or to say my muscles are growing faster than the skin can cope LOL. Just something interesting I’d not been aware of.

Wow @Menora well done you - that is an incredible transformation! You look so great. I’d be delighted with that side profile!

I got back in the saddle with iron day 5 today. My arms are so uneven in strength - I can do bicep curls fine (5kg each dumbbell) but triceps are pitifully weak. I could only do about 10 seconds of the dips and still can’t manage a single push up!

I’ve been doing CG since September 5 times a week and have only in the last couple of weeks been able to do even a single tricep push-up! I’m happy though because I couldn’t do normal press ups before I started and now I can. Dips I find easy for some reason, which seems weird.

@Menora What a transformation, 25kg is a huge amount of weight to lose! What did you do dietwise?
I was quite weak on triceps to start with and chest and triceps are my least favourite workouts, but doing them has really helped. Regular pushups are no problem but I can't seem to get the hang of tricep push ups, I can't get as low as I can with normal ones. Compared to Caroline I never get low enough but then my bust, which was small before, has just about disappeared now. I understand why so many female bodybuilders get breast implants (I think CG has them too??[

Maybe May is tricep month on the CG thread! 😂
I do these push up/lowering down moves in Pilates and I’ve only just started to be able to lower myself down rather than just collapse straight to the floor 😂

Fantastic progress @Menora and @AtomicBlondeRose !

@samthebordercollie it’s funny. I have always found tricep push ups easier than normal ones. My shoulders can get aggravated by norma ones. None of them are easy though!

@BigButtons how strange! I understand about the shoulders. Tricep push-ups just feel awkward to me! So the big announcement is that there is now a website version on the CGX app which will be very useful if you can't cast to a TV!

I see the web version of CGX has been launched today. I know I'm being dim but what does that actually mean? I would love to use the app but I do my CG routines using a projector to a massive screen. I can't work out how to project the app workouts so I've never joined the new app and just stream the YouTube workouts. Does this mean I might be able to search for the GGX app online and stream the workouts to my cinema screen?

@pharmachameleon I guess it means you can use it on your laptop, computer or even a browser on the TV.
I do this with Lottie Murphy Pilates as it's too small on my ipad or phone, whereas my laptop has a slightly bigger screen it's a bit easier to view

@pharmachameleon what connections do you have to the projector? The ones I've used you can connect a device by WiFi, Bluetooth or a cable usb or HDMI. So normally you can connect all devices to watch whatever is on your laptop, phone or tablet on the screen - now CGX is available for pcs it's the same as any other website if that's what you usually watch