Lifting and getting stronger with Caroline Girvan: 2025

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New thread !

One daughter!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lEl9MToXwt0&list=PLeXzBbaPjjPU13mkdP2yY78cG7fwaFDaM&index=1&pp=gAQBiAQB
this is the one

Thank you, added to my to-do playlist!

Yes, the stabilisers will work overtime with all these exercises! I did Day 29 first thing and it was easily my favourite MAX one so far. I bumped up my hip thrust weight because I though there would only be two rounds... d'oh. The push ups were my favourite bit as I can see an improvement there. I also did her 20min LISS cardio one from the app... a misnomer. A sprawl staple every 90s is not low intensity, Caroline lmao.

Caroline doesn’t ever do low intensity anything😂

better balance is one of the main advantages of working out with free weights over machines. Machines are considered safer and strength gains are similar with both but I think the balance aspect thanks to unilateral work is hugely important. I run trails and pre Caroline would always fall flat on my face when I tripped on a stone or root, but I always manage to steady myself and stay upright now!
day 20 Intent today, enjoyed this as a lot of my favourite exercises: upright rows, push ups, Arnold presses and lateral raises. Followed by run where I tripped on a stone but didn’t fall over!

That is great! Yes, a definitely plus of free weights. Also that there prioperception (sp) is improved by things like burpees I think. Where's the ground? Splat. Oh there it is. Lol

Near the end of week 4 PE. I love the mind muscle connection I have with this program.
I went on the FB page and a lovely lady wondering why her results weren’t better after 4 years and someone told her to diet. No shit Sherlock. I’m thinking this person isn’t peri or menopausal.
@samthebordercollie cool gains with your balance! For me it’s helped my flexibility

The bastards have got to be good for something.

Haha!

My daughter wants to do Couch25k and wants me to join her. It's been a while but I remember being stunned when it worked the first time I did it so hoping she can have the same sense of awe and achievement 8-9 weeks from now! Will probably drop back to just 2 x Caroline full body in the meantime, not MAX though.

Dont know about that.I did an endgame cardio workout today,the finisher was 100 burpees...feck that! I did 100 jumping jacks instead.

I’ve still not moved over to the app (it might have to end up being a birthday present!) so doing YouTube series I’ve not done yet. I’m currently doing Epic 1. I just did Day 12. I was not expecting handstands!!! I did not even attempt them.

I tend to get money over the Christmas period so thinking of using some of that to move over to the app.
I reckon there is still quite a lot of standalone and shorter series of workouts I haven't done on YouTube before i run out,then I will probably repeat iron hopefully being able to use heavier weights then the first time(was my very first caroline programe(series?😀))
I remember those handstands and a few other crazy moves!
I think I will need to buy a barbell for all the hip thrusts too

I think it would be hard to get as much out of the app without a barbell now. Specifically one with large bumper plates you can scooch your legs under quickly. She released a workout today (Max 33) that has you do a single set of hip thrusts then get up/out and do some upper move (think it was rear delts), the whole thing repeated four times. And you only get 20-25sec to get yourself and your weights back into position for thrusts, including adding your glute band back on. Not too doable if you're going heavy but not using bumpers, so you have to find a workaround.

She also says she will be using an incline bench from the autumn. I'll probably ignore that though because all the moves I can think of (incline bench press, preacher curls etc) can be done on your knees or leaning back against a stability ball. Can anyone think of something else that needs the bench but can't be done on the ball?

For @Samthebordercollie you are missing so much important stuff.:( Like a picture of isn't Caroline amazing Matthew A on a boat because he's turning 65. (Has also mentioned the fact in the app.)

As you were.

I really enjoyed Max day 32, 150 Bulgarian lunges notwithstanding. It’s a nice reminder that doing more reps with lighter weights is just as effective as hauling 20kg about. Also I didn’t need to get the heavy ones out! Looks like tomorrow is back to needing…everything.

I actually love Bulgarian lunges, sometimes I swap out hip thrusts to do the forward lean ones instead. I always swap out bridges for hip thrusts cos I just don't feel it in my glutes enough with bridges.
@Gobacktotheworld Thankyou for that reminder, I think Matthew A is Caroline's Biggest Fan. I find it a bit creepy sometimes. And he doesn't look like he's been working out with her for 5 years! Glad I can still catch up with him on the App 😂
@Cherryblossom81 oh yes, the handstands, funny how they never got repeated in subsequent programmes! Or the 20 minute complexes, definitely one to look forward to at the end of Epic 1 😱

He's one of the few boys on the FB page I can tolerate to be honest. At least he doesn't post pictures of himself flexing, or huge walls of text in praise of his own bottom like one creep the other day. And he was an actual follower from the olden youtube days, wasn't he? Not sure when or where silly boy psychobabblez slithered from wherever he did but he wants all the attention, dammit.

I wish there were a Caroline "No Selfies" Accountability Facebook group. There was another one I followed for a bit but it was mostly the same woman who did 3 hours of workouts every morning then posted her own bottom in the same weird pose, that was a bit alarming.😁

And yes to Bulgarian lunges. SO much better than the regular kind.

If I like Iron what programme should I do next if Caroline's? I don't have the app and want strength training, I run for my cardio.

😱

Runner here too, I just skip the cardio days. Endgame is a good follow on from Iron as the rest periods are similar (30 secs). They are often shorter on the other programmes. Do Epic 3 after Endgame, it’s the best programme on YouTube

Also a fan of Bulgarian lunges. The very first time I did them, I nearly died. But I have come to like them. I much prefer them to static lunges.

I've got the app at the moment, paying monthly, and I was planning to get it for a year. However, I can't get it to cast to my TV any more, which is so frustrating. I hate using a tablet for the workouts as the screen is too small. So I think I might go back to YouTube, which I can get on my TV, and do Epic Endgame as I haven't done that one yet.

My casting to my laptop has stopped working, I'm doing it literally from my phone screen! Really irritating, crappy Link to Windows software. I used Chromecast with my older phone and that was far better, didn't have the screen going blank halfway through or it not showing a proper full screen.

It doesn't cast to my TV either. I did couch25k just now week 1 run 2 with DD (she's like "This is easy!" And I'm thinking, "Just you wait till that 20min run in week 5!"). Might do the Thursday MAX one in the morning if it looks good otherwise will do a cardio DVD. Have a load of favourites that have been calling to me lately.