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

[BigButtons]

New thread!

@samthebordercollie I did the same earlier! I did 2 of the 3 sets standing and they felt much better. She seems to put them in every single upper body workout these days.

I find it much more comfortable to do rear delts standing but bent over. I think it is just my body proportion 🤷🏻‍♀️
There is that couple- the guy is the ‘psychologist’ on the app. He annoyed the hell out of me with his endless puns and jokes.
what gets me is that anything that can be construed as even a vague criticism is shut down.
I do wish she would come up with something more ‘epic’ like. Epic three suits me the most

Thanks @samthebordercollie Is Beastmode just 10 sessions (am I looking at the right series)?

@AtomicBlondeRose I wondered if you can remember what you did after Iron? From some of your previous posts, I feel like I'm a year behind you?!

Would anyone recommend simply repeating Iron or do you think it's better to add in variety and try a new series?

@Cherryblossom81 Yes, Beastmode on You Tube is just a 2 week programme.
I would go on and try the other programmes rather than sticking with Iron on repeat which is what some people do. Are you worried about them? I was initially, but once you start the Epics are fun and varied, much more so than Iron which I found quite dull.
@BigButtons Yes, I know the couple you mean, I don't know how they have time to post daily all the photos and resumé - not to mention the awful puns - she seems to be trying to morph into Caroline physically. But then they do both look very fit and muscular so I suppose they are a great advert for Caroline's programs! I agree that the FB Community page is horribly sychophantic, any of the few posts I've made - usually about technique - are never priority over the 'how fit and pumped do I look' best contributors

@Cherryblossom81 definitely do something other than iron. I did it when it first came out so just followed what came next which was fuel I think. I hated that though. Try epic three!🤩

Thanks @samthebordercollie and @BigButtons

Yes, I'm not sure why, but I think I am a bit nervous. I think maybe I see myself as the small framed and not very strong person who doesn't (can't?!) lift weights, but I have completed the whole of Iron and really enjoyed it (still with tiny weights compared with Caroline). I think I will start Epic 3 tomorrow morning.

@Cherryblossom81 good for you, Epic 3 is my favourite You Tube programme too (Endgame a close second. Go at your own pace, you will find your heart rate increases more than it did with Iron, but the workouts are more fun. Day 7 leg day is still etched in my memory as the hardest leg day I've ever done!

Ah yes- day 7 leg day. 🫣😬

@Cherryblossom81 i’m in the same position. I have 5 sessions left of iron and I’m looking for what to do next. I think I might do the ten sessions of Beastmode then do epic (if available on YT?) I have enjoyed iron but now I’m 5 weeks in and I am getting a bit bored as others have said on this thread.

I’m away at the moment, I have brought my gym stuff with me but I’m not really confident to use the hotel gym. I don’t know why, I just have this massive mental block. It’s weird. The gym itself is quite small and absolutely full of equipment and I just don’t think I feel comfortable enough to go down with my phone and do a workout. So I’m probably having a few days off and will resume Thursday morning.

@Cherryblossom81 I did Beastmode after Iron (without HIIT days), then started Fuel, and a while later Iron again. I’m now on about day 12 of Fuel and 6 of Iron. I do them in parallel, or alternate. I’m away atm, so I took a break for a few days. I have a resistance band with me, but I haven’t had time for it. The hotel has a gym but, again, too busy sightseeing.

Day 32 and 33 of Intent this morning, Day 33 was lots of curtsey and Bulgarian lunges with some hip thrusts and stability ball to break up all the lunging. Caroline loves her unilateral work! Day 32 more lateral and rear delt raises, they seem a staple of every upper body workout!
Did anyone see the knowlege post Intent week 9 HQ? Very strange, Caroline defending herself apparently having been accused of showing off with the weights she uses....not sure where the criticism came from but for me she never shows off and is capable of lifting a lot more than she does in the programs. It was very strange, not like her usual posts at all!

@samthebordercollie I saw that too and wondered where the "showing off" comments had come from. Not from the FB groups, that's for sure 🤣🤣. There's a bit of negativity towards Intent in one of the groups though - about it getting boring with the 90 second sets and some of the leg days being ridiculously hard.

Mr concerns with the repetition is that it will cause muscle and joint damage. Quite a few people on the main group are talking about their knees really nothing them- where they hadn’t on other series.
I don’t know where those comments came from about her showing off. I guess people are just envious.
i actually did day 50 legs today. I am picking up and dropping as I go. I did if all body weight so that I could really monitor how my knees and hip were doing.
knee was very clunky but not painful.
my right leg had shooting pains tonight. I do wonder if it is sciatica?
otheriwse I enjoyed it.
I don’t find this series boring at all. I found unleash very boring though. I love circuits so am enjoying the way she is formatting this series.

I'm having a break from Intent (and any other programs) this week as I found myself just going through the motions last week. I like the Leg day format in Intent. In previous programs it's been 1 day mainly quad focused then 1 day glutes/hamstrings with endless thrusts. In Intent all the leg days seem to combine a bit of both.

I have a torn trap so I’m having a break.

I'm three sessions away from finishing Iron for a second time and delighted with how it's affected my posture in particular as well as overall strength and body composition. I did Iron in October/November and then took some time off with sporadic CG exercises at random (more off than on, in truth) so it was great to get back to a programme. This time I lifted half of what she lifts throughout (except where she uses 4kg as I find 3kg a good substitute). I've been doing the add-on exercises or steady-state cardio sessions after the Iron sessions, which I didn't do last time. Overall I think this time round was much better for my fitness in general - I can lift heavier than before and I feel there's been a real change in how I look and carry myself. I'm now trying to decide between Epic 1 and Fuel for the next challenge - I don't want a break this time.

I do want to keep losing flab but I'm more motivated by maintaining the muscle gains etc. so I can go back and try Iron again with three quarters of what Caroline lifts! Any suggestions? I don't have the app but I wouldn't be opposed to getting it.

Sorry to those of you who are injured- wishing you a good recovery.
I did an intent today- upper body ‘heavy’. I took the weights right down and really watched my form. I was shocked to see how I cock my wrists backwards when doing chest press and shoulder / Arnold presses. I must have always done it like this. Made a big effort to keep them straight using lower weights.
there must be so many other ways my form is off that I don’t even realise.
on a slight more hopeful note I have been wearing a wrist brace these past 2 days and it has eased the pain of my tennis elbow. Tonight I am going to try the hack of wrapping the arm in a thigh down and slick taking is so that I keep my arm straight!

@Vignetta I hated fuel. Epic one was so so long ago that I can’t remember. Except I DO remember day 7- it haunts me.
i would suggest epic three or heat. Epic three it’s brilliant. I am actually really really liking intent. Each session flies by. I am just annoyed and frustrated by my injuries. The app is really good and well worth the money. So much more in it than the exercises sessions.

@Vignetta I second getting the App too, Iron 2 on the app is better than Iron on YouTube for starters! There are meal ideas, articles, lots of stand alone workouts as well as form correction short videos.
If you stick to YouTube I'd avoid Epic 1 for a while and do Endgame or Epic 3. Endgame is slightly slower paced than Epic3, I love them both! Epic I is quite mad, lots of different exercises and less structured than later programs. It's fun but I'm not sure as effective as other programs either. There are a lot of things that never reappeared in later programs such as the headstand and 20 minute complexes!

That’s so helpful! Thanks. I suppose she was working out what to offer in the earlier programmes but some of them are a bit nuts.

How much is the app?

@thenewaveragebear1983 I paid for a year upfront - £79.99 I think it was. You can pay monthly and you can get a 2 week free trial to see if you like it. I got the trial when she first released the App but didn't buy it until Iron 2 was released on it.

Good day Girvanators. I'd appreciate some advice on when or if I should start paying for the app. I'm shortly to finish Epic Heat, sort of for the second time (got sick early in the year somewhere around day 35, had to take some time out and then start again) and I've also done Iron twice and completed Epic 1.

I love my Caroline sessions and I've even made my peace with having HIIT in the mix as I know it's really valuable for cardio fitness post 40. I also really like the half-hour sessions of Iron and Epic Heat because I can guarantee being able to fit those in a good 4-5 times a week, especially since I commute 3 days. Any thoughts?

PS. I already pay for a gym membership at work (albeit subsidised) and a yoga app so I don't necessarily want to pay for Caroline's app if I can still get more mileage out of the free content. I will do though at some point I'm sure.

If you prefer the 30- something-minute workouts (I do too) there are fewer programmes with those length sessions on the app, apart from Advent and some one-offs.