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

[BigButtons]

New thread!

Yes I have heard her say lunges, and burpees.
That girl be crazy!

Hi again everyone. I took 2 days off as I was travelling in London for work and some health tests (routine). I’ve discovered my cholesterol is a bit high, though all my other blood tests and other measurements were in the healthy range (other than a slightly elevated BMI, which I am working with diet and exercise to reduce). I’m flummoxed about the cholesterol reading - my diet is and has been pretty rich in oats, F&V, low-fat meat (I eat salmon a couple of times a week) for a long time, and I’ve been walking 7-10k steps every day for over a year now. I’ve been reducing the quantities of food and alcohol lately, so I’m hoping the cholesterol reading will be just a lagging indicator and come down soon.

I also feel like I’m getting a cold, so I was really not motivated this morning to get up and work out, but of course I don’t regret having done it. I think that must be what’s causing my tiredness.

Does anyone know if CG does any workouts that exclusively use resistance bands? They’d be great for travel once I finish the Ultimate Beginners program. I do have access to my company gym, but sometimes it’s just nice to hang out in my own space and not have everyone see how uncoordinated I am!

@Mommybunny Caroline has lots of resistance band only workouts on YouTube and the App, you just need to do a search. Plus body weight only which are also useful (not always easy!) for holidays.
Regarding cholesterol, are you menopausal? Cholesterol can go up during menopause because oestrogen is responsible for regulating liver lipid metabolism and so when oestrogen levels fall during the menopause cholesterol often rises (mine has done too).

Hi @samthebordercollie I am postmenopausal but am on HRT. Isn’t that meant to be replacing my lost oestrogen? Anyway, of all my readings it was the only one that gave the slightest indication of trouble, and so far the doctor hasn’t said anything about it. For now I think the only thing she could say would be to do what I’ve been doing, and if it doesn’t help then maybe they need to consider medication. I hope it doesn’t come to that. I think my mother has high cholesterol too, but she put on a lot of weight when she stopped smoking in her mid 40s and never took it off.

BMI getting closer to normal though - 25.2 today with the pound I dropped from last week.

Will look for band workouts on YouTube when I finish UB.

Hello 👋
Just checking in as I plan to start following some of Caroline's workouts, although haven't decided where I'll be starting yet.
I have lost 3.5 stone and reached my goal weight and am now keen to tone up and boost my metabolism to make maintenance a little easier.

Welcome @AhBiscuits ! And huge congratulations on your weight loss. Hopefully Caroline's programs will help you build muscle now.
@Mommybunny I forgot to say that in this week's Sunday update and weekly workout program Caroline said she would be bringing out a mini series before the new program, and as a clue you can take me on holiday with you...so it's presumably resistance band/bodyweigh workouts.

Thanks @samthebordercollie will look out for the new mini program.

Welcome @AhBiscuits and well done on your weight loss! I can heartily recommend Ultimate Beginner if you’re new (or very rusty, like me) to lifting. I’m halfway through it now (just finished week 3 of 6) and already see a difference in my tummy and arms. I’ve been taking it really slow with really light weights as I’m determined not to let DOMS or an injury get in my way.

got the quad DOMS today from a whole 20 min video of heel raised squats and lunges (which took me about 40 mins to finish 😂) walking around like a cowboy

Thank you for this recommendation. I ordered this and used it this week. It is so much better than the bands that I had been using.

Hi all. Does anyone know if there is an easier way to track which workouts are completed on the app? I liked that visually I could see which workouts I had completed on the YouTube programmes as they had a red line underneath the thumbnail however the app doesn't have this. I feel I could be missing workouts or repeating some. Thanks.

I think I've mentioned before about my tiny wrists. I'm quite small framed and just wondered if anyone has any thoughts/ideas?

I still feel very much a beginner (started with Iron in April and now part way through Epic 3). I'm really enjoying the gradual progress I'm making but I feel my wrists restrict me making more progress.

I was doing day 32 of Epic 3 yesterday (shoulder/arm) yesterday and if I tried to lift anything above 2kg (tiny I know!) it felt like my wrists were going to snap! I had some discomfort in my wrists and they just seem so tiny and weak. But the frustrating thing is that I feel like my shoulders/arms are able to lift more. It's my wrists that are restricting me.

Hope that makes some sense! Any thoughts?

My wrists are tiny- the size of the average 7 year old. I know this because I work with 7 year olds! I haven’t found mine to be weak at all so I don’t think it is to do with size.
in time yours will get stronger. You can by good wrist supports from Amazon. I have some Velcro ones that I use if my tennis elbow is playing up/ might worth a try?

I have really thin wrists too and as I said upthread I’m fine now up to about 10kg so I think it is a case that your arms overall just get stronger and you get more used to it. My wrists have got thinner if anything as I’ve lost fat but they must be stronger.

Thank you @BigButtons and @AtomicBlondeRose That's reassuring to hear. I was just worried about whether I might damage my wrists. I'll also try getting some wrist supports.

Before Day 11 of Ultimate Beginner I thought I could handle 45 seconds of anything. Not wall sits (yet)! 🤣

Starting to think ahead to when I finish UB - what shall I try next? Needs to be something I can still start with slow and build up to more challenging.

@Cherryblossom81 I'm another thin wristed person, but with progressive overload the have got stronger. The wrist straps for holding heavy weights during leg exercises really help.
Yesterday I did Day 21 and Day 22 Unleash - and Day 21 Leg Day for once I actually agreed with the comments on the App, it was so hard! Previously Day 7 Epic 3 had always been the toughest, but this was something else and I actually was a sweaty mess for once at the end of it. As was Caroline!
@Mommybunny I'd do Iron on the App after UB, or if you want something shorter, try the cluster series first, I think it's just 2 weeks.

I've made a start and all good. Didn't feel too hard at the time but wow, my arms are like jelly now.

Which series did you start @AhBiscuits ?

I've gone for Beginner Epic. But I did Day 4 because I wanted to try out the dumbells. I'm going to jump back and do Day 1, which is a lower body workout, next.

Thank you @samthebordercollie

Might be a silly/obvious question, but what type of wrist strap is best? Do you have any recommendations? Just looking on Amazon and some just loop around the thumb and some cover part of the hand.

@Cherryblossom81 I got mine from Amazon, they are similar to the ones Caroline uses with velcro wrap around wrists and hooks that lever up the dumbells https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01N5L5I0H?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Finished Unleash! Really enjoyed it. For anyone going on holiday Caroline is releasing a downloadable 2 week bodyweight only programme called Sunrise, I've just seen the publicity for it on IG. So you can take it on holiday.

@Cherryblossom81 i have 2 sorts of straps: the wrap around with the thumb loop is a support. The ones with the hooks help with heavier weights when grip strength would be an issue.

Thank you @samthebordercollie and @BigButtons

I got the type with the loop around the thumb (on offer on Amazon prime day!). I'll see if they help and whether or not I also need the other type.

On holiday at the moment and woke up earlier than the kids so slipped on to the balcony and did a lower body session from the Sunrise collection. No yoga block so used a hardback book! Lovely little body weight workout, honestly perfect for my needs today. I’ll probably do one most mornings if I get a chance. I don’t want to sound like a CG sycophant but I do like that I feel she gets her audience and provides really good solutions rather than just making stuff harder and harder or more complicated.