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

[BigButtons]

New thread!

Maybe try Sydney Cummings on youtube if a real beginner. She gives verbal coaching and form cues which are so important for getting the best out of exercises and avoiding injury. She is definitely more for beginners than CG

For my lower body weights, I need to increase my heaviest 12.5kg dumbbells. I don't know whether to get 2x15kg or 2x17kg dumbbells. This would be for squats, lunges and RDLs. I have been strength training consistently for around a year.

At a certain point @Stumpedasatree you're pretty much in barbell territory unless you want to have a full gym-capacity range of weights. I think the step up from two 12.5s to two 15s is enough as a starting point, but I also decided to stop at 15s and use a barbell from there up.

@WillowWands are you generally fit or haven't you done any sport for a long time? I was a complete novice when I started lifting with Caroline but was very fit cardiowise as a runner so started with her Iron program on YouTube. She now has an Ultimate Beginner programme on the CGX app which is really where absolute beginners should start as Caroline explains all the lifts and techniques, it probably is worth the investment (£9.99 a month?)
I started it's weights of 4kg, 5kg, 7,5kg and 10kg

@Stumpedasatree I increased from 12,5kg to 15kg but need wrist straps for 3 sets of lunges with 15kg. Going to 17kg from 12,5kg is a big jump even for legs

Super helpful @samthebordercollie and @DreadPirateRobots thank you, 15kg it is!

Yes. It's always a good idea to raise weight slowly so your tendons have time to catch up with your muscles.

Resubbed to the app for the new kettlebell series and day 1 is just my thing. Do you think Caroline ever gets sick of filming these? I have to admire her, she is relentlessly pumping out this content. Did she use to take longer breaks before publishing new videos on Youtube, or has she always been such a workhorse?

Thanks that’s very helpful.

Also like to point that going heavier and heavier isn’t necessary for good gains. You can make a lighter weight work the same on your muscles as a heavier one if you move more slowly.

@Gobacktotheworld I'm doing the Kettlebell series this week, too. It's a sort of demos after PE which I was really sad to finish, it's been my favourite programme so far, even though I swore more at Caroline than ever before!
She's a machine, isn't she? And she smiles when I grimace during the sets. She never seems to get injured either, but she doesn't lift as heavy as she is capable of doing so that's probably why.

I have a few days of PE catch up to do from days missed here and there/ I must say though that I am suddenly utterly fed up of the lower body days. They are all the same exercises and I am so bored with them.
I am stil loving the upper body days and will complete those. I have 3 lower body left to do but will sub those for leg days from other series that I have actually enjoyed.
I do wish she would have greater variety of moves. The you tube series were so much more varied. When was the last time she did a Tate press for example?

@BigButtons perhaps the last Tate press was in Iron 2? I've definitely done it on the App. I'm really enjoying the leg days too, especially the pylometrics. I think in the Epics, especially Epic 1 she used a lot of lifts that look good but are less effective than traditional lifts, like curl to press and Svend press for example, Certainly on the App she has gone for more classic lifts, both compound and isometric with the longer rest periods.
I'm probably going to repeat PE from next week, the Christmas workouts aren't long enough for me but they will be good add ons.

@samthebordercollie I need at least some variety. I think she chooses the moves she likes and it isn’t just a case of those being more effective.
when my training is tedious then I know something is amiss. I have loved most of PE. Think I am probably just over it now.

I do my training at 7am so my brain isn't in gear to think if I enjoy the exercises or not! Thinking about it there were some excellent exercises like Turkish Getups and Windmills which I haven't seen for a while. On the other hand, lunges and pullovers aren't lacking!

This is really helpful to hear. I've keep nearly buying heavier weights and then not (mainly due to finances and room in my house). Is your comment based on experience? What size weights do you lift?

@Cherryblossom81 definitely from my own experience which has come from the teachings of Caroline. She is always talking about how one can achieve hypertrophy without endlessly chasing the weight/ in PE she certainly is lifting less than she usually does.
How moves are put together, super sets, giant sets, tempo etc can all help lift to failure.
i lowered some of my weights during PE because of the pre and post fatigue aspect.
Really slowing a move increases time under tension.
it is better to do it that way and reduce risk of ligament and tendon damage. I have learnt the hard way.
I have great results without chasing the weight!

Thanks @BigButtons That's really helpful.

Yes thank you.
I have become abit obsessed with trying to lift as heavy as I can-my form is suffering and on some moves I'm feeling it in my lower back.
I know to lift lighter and slower but needed to hear it again.

Could I ask if you guys still do your CG workouts when your body is aching after a previous one? Currently I'm working my way slowly through EPIC. Sometimes I'm able to do consecutive days but often I'm still really sore from an earlier workout. I'm one of those people that likes a routine and wants to create a habit, so having to take breaks here and there is frustrating me and I don't want to lose momentum, thanks. Atm I do yoga everyday regardless anyway.

I do @mumtoadhdasdboy I actually find it helps and once I get going it's fine.
I sometimes use lighter weights and do a longer stretch afterwards.
I find having to use stairs etc the next day worse ha

Yes I do @mumtoadhdasdboy. If I have really bad DOMS I definitely don't push it, but I pretty much continuously have some DOMS 😁 As you build a workout habit you'll probably find they get significantly milder.

@mumtoadhdasdboy I've never missed a workout because of DOMS either! If I'm not feeling it I use lighter weights and slow down the lifting, but by the end of the workout I don't feel them anymore. I'm doing upper body/lower body split at the moment, 6 days week so although arms still get a little workout on leg days from holding the dumbbells, my legs rest on upper body days (except for the 5km I do after!)

I'm happy to skip if it lets my body recover. Caroline is high volume stuff and it can take a while to build up to that.

Yoga every day is a brilliant habit and the most important IMO

There were windmills in today's full body kettlebell workout! At last. Although I struggled to do them properly with an 8kg kettlebell!

Oh gosh, I had to use a 5kg dumbbell for those windmills.. my lightest kettlebell is 14kg! This was a great little series.

If I sign up for this, will a set of 5, 10 and 15kg kettlebells be adequate?