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

[BigButtons]

New thread!

Happy holidays @AtomicBlondeRose
I'm in Turkey at the moment and did a bodyweight workout in the room yesterday also using two paperbacks!
I don't have the app yet but plenty to choose online still.
Made me feel better about all the food and wine and baking in the sun.

I like this new series too!

Did a Sunrise upper body today. For saying it’s 20 minutes and bodyweight it’s a heck of a workout if you’re not mad on push ups! Felt good though and I do love to start my day like that (especially as the DC are knackered and still snoring but I wake up at the same time every day).

Made the mistake of reading the comments on the app video though. Ugh. If I was CG I’d be taking out a restraining order against some of those creeps. She’s just a person, guys! And doesn’t need you slavering and sucking up after every single workout.

I'm on hols but with access to a full gym and still working my way through Epic III 🙂I pulled a muscle in my lower back doing dumbbell snatches though and had to take a few days off.

I was doing Epic 1 in the gym on my last holiday! That was … something 😂 the gym here is shit so not even worth trying. I wish I’d brought my running gear though as it’s nice and cool and breezy in the mornings (Fuerteventura) and I’d bloody love a run by the sea.

I think Caroline has broken me. I did a boxercise session in my resort and it just... wasn't enough? Apparently I now crave the CG punishment.

Caroline's workouts are quite hardcore, even the ones that look easy. I did one of the new Sunrise collection 'upper body with the sunrise' as an add on to a one hour full body thinking it would be quite easy as bodyweight only, it was as tough as the one hour full body 🙈

@AtomicBlondeRose the comments make me🤢. It’s always the same people on their first. It’s all expertly panned and supberb. They enjoy every single one.
the face book group is no better. Why do people fee the need to describe each session in detail? They all seem to love it.
there was one brave woman recently who said she wanted to love them as much as everyone else but was struggling.
i told her I dread each session because I know if will hurt and be physically and mentally gruelling. Yet I keep coming back- even with injuries- always seem to have something wrong with me. Currently I have a kind of pulled glute, sciatica type issues.

Morning all. Thank you for the wrist strap recommendations - they've really helped.

I can't believe this - but I've nearly finished my second CG series! I had never done any type of strength training until April. I'm wondering if any of you could recommend what series to do next? I started with Iron in April and I'm now just about to finish Epic 3. What should I do next?!

I still feel very much like a beginner but all of you were helpful in your recommendations of Iron then Epic 3, so hoping you might know what would be good to do next?

@Cherryblossom81 Try Endgame next! It's a sort of cross between Iron and Epic 3, lifting for 60 secs with 30 secs rest like Iron, but all the variety of Epic 3 and the same length. It's my second favourite programme after Epic 3. Don't be put off by the 100 rep finishers, they really aren't that hard and even Caroline takes breaks whilst doing them!
I've had to stop running, knee pain too bad, so making the most of the nice weather and cycling when possible instead. It will be interesting to see if my strength increases by doing less cardio - I was running too much, at least 60km a week.

Back from holiday and having been not hugely taken with Unleash before I went I was wondering what to do today - then I saw there’s the start of a new series (?) called 10x10 on the app and I did the first one. It’s very simple and also quite hard! 10 sets of 10 reps of 1) sumo deadlift squats 2) static lunges and 3) heel elevated squats. So basically 100 of each. After a week with no weights my legs really feel it now! A great workout for any time you just want to do something with minimum faff. She uses 2x20kg for the lunges though…I did 10s and that was a bit tedious by the end.

@samthebordercollie sorry about your running😞
I LOVED the new series leg day. Was trepidatious about it because of my dodgy hip/ leg so went lighter. I kept on increasing the weights though and could have gone heavier but was worried about causing damage.
really looking forward to tomorrow.
I love EMOMS and sessions where there is a rep/ time mix. I thought it would be boring because I know I dislike the 4 set set up in beastmode.

I was worried it would be boring and it sort of was, but not necessarily in a bad way for me. I really liked knowing I just had to do 10 more at any given time, and the longish rest periods and repetition meant I could just sit down during them (and read, because I was near my library books and I always read). So it was more like each set was just a little break in my reading!

Looking forward to seeing how this series pans out with the upper body etc.

@BigButtons thanks, I know you used to be a runner. When you don't enjoy it any more it's time for a break, I think it was putting too much stress on my body. It will be nice to concentrate more on lifting. Thanks your sharing your opinions on the GTP 10 x 10, I was putting it off (my bad knee, all those elevated squats[, but will start it on Wednesday. But I won't be lifting 20kg for lunges!
I've been doing the 3 x full body workouts from the App on repeat, love them!

Ha- I danced between sets! I didn’t feel whacked at any point- am sure due to low weight necessity! Tomorrow will be a different issue as I will be able to push it more.

I did! Many moons ago now- it buggered my knees so I stopped. I know how horrible it is not to be able to move in the way you want to though.
Do you have knee sleeves? My knees can still be cranky with elevated squats but they were ok as long as I held the weights high.
i love pyramid style training too. There is a counting theme going on here I think! 😂

So I did the upper body 10x10 yesterday, which was fine (except I had to switch to one dumbbell for frontals!) - but my god, I have such DOMS from the lower body, it’s unreal. And I never normally get any at all. Not sure if it’s the format or the fact it was my first weighted workout after a week of body weight, but I’m on my second day of them and it’s a bit annoying tbh as I’ve got lots of walking/summer holiday stuff to do. So be warned!

@BigButtons I have no cartilage in one knee and I think the other is going the same way. Having had a week off running weight lifting is so much easier and I have more energy, it's all good!
I did Day 1 of the 10 x 10 today, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be! I felt like a proper weight lifter with the long breaks between sets. Not sure I went heavy enough, I used 27kg for the sumo squats - I don't have a dumbelle heavier - 12,5kg to get full range of motion with the lunges and 10kgs for the elevated squats, the only one I matched CG on.
I did a lower body Mallorca bodyweight only as an add on and it felt harder than the 10 x 10. Love the Mallorca series as add ons!

@samthebordercollie I didn’t find it hard as such on that leg day but the doms come Tuesday evening- so over 12 hours later are unreal. It hurt like heel to do the glutes today because it was already hurting!
the shoulder day yesterday bit hard- not the rear delts but the Arnold’s- my left shoulder is so much weaker than my right and the lateral frontal set was brutal. I am feeing that one today too.
That sounds really painful with your knee - ouch!

@AtomicBlondeRose those frontal raises were brutal - I was using 4kg instead of 5 but was lifting to failure by the end of each set.
Did back and chest today, 27kg for the bent over row and I was really pleased to have been able to lift 12,5kg for the chest presses throughout the 10 sets. Started to lose the will to live with the 100 pullovers, they might be one of Caroline's favourite lifts but they certainly aren't mine!
One of the things I'm enjoying most is only having to get out a few weights. With Intent I was using just about every dumbell for each session not to mention wedges, band, bench, stability ball...the 10 x 10 is easy to prepare for and clear away after.

Went back to CG after a 3 week break. I have the most intense leg DOMS. Lesson: don’t have such a long break

Hi everyone, it’s been a while since I’ve posted but I’m still lifting with CG! I finished Ultimate Beginner last week and following a recommendation up above I’m now into Iron.

Really enjoyed UB and highly recommend it to anyone just getting started. Iron is quite different, but not in a bad way. It’s definitely more challenging - most of the sets are 60 seconds for a start, rather than 45, and I find that 15 seconds makes a difference! It’s also interesting that you see Caroline sometimes actually taking a break during a set (fair enough, her dumbbells are heavy!) which you never saw in UB. In UB she never broke a sweat, but in Iron she definitely does.

I’ve only done 2 workouts so far - a (now resolved) medical emergency with my DS forced me to take a couple of days off - so I may take a little longer than 10 weeks to complete it, but I don’t mind that. I also have to have some dental work myself which might sap motivation levels, but I keep telling myself this is for life. Getting workouts in whenever I can is good, giving myself a rest is good, not kicking myself if I miss a planned workout is good, seeing CG rest and knowing a rest doesn’t have to derail me is good. Right?

I promised myself if I finished UB I would buy some more dumbbells. I have - please don’t laugh - 1.5kg, 2.5kg and 3kg. I kind of still need the 1.5kg on some of the arm exercises like Arnold presses, but for most of the other ones I’m comfortable on 2.5kg and 3kg, and I know for some of the lower body I could definitely go heavier. Any suggestions how heavy to go?

Where’s the best place to buy the dumbbells?

I've always just got my dumbells from amazon..they usually do a decent price for what I'm after.
I think I started with 4kg and 5kg with a pair of 3kg for things like lateral and frontal and bent over flies...which I'm still crap at now...I have managed to progress to using mainly 6kg and 7.5kg for most arm exercises(heavier on things like chest price and rows etc) that's taken time and most workouts I need to lower as the workout progresses,but I still cannot go heavier on those certain moves mentioned above!
I'm slowly trying to go heavier on lower body but again I struggle with feeling it in my lower back if I go too heavy.
I suppose we are all different and to go at are own pace.
Caroline's weights amaze me and some of the posters on here lift heavier than I think will be possible for me!

I don’t lift very heavy either, 5kg on arms mostly and more on legs but sometimes just body weight.

I get mine on Amazon too