Lifting and getting stronger with Caroline Girvan: 2025

[BigButtons]

New thread !

À lot of people have complained that Max doesn’t get their heart rate up but really with weight lifting it isn’t the goal (even if it feels like more of a workout when you sweat!) certainly the Epics were much more cardio orientated with the extremely short rest periods. From what I understand to maximise strength gains more rest and less cardio are required when lifting and cardio should be done separately. I did the cardio workout on the App this morning, not really HIT but it definitely got my heart rate up more than Intent!

I understand that it is different with strength training, and I'm fine with that for some or even most of my workouts because I do want to build strength. But for me, personally, I prefer cardio in my schedule well as I feel that when I was solely doing Max my overall fitness level dropped. I just love a good sweaty tabata or other form of hiit and feeling really nicely fatigued after.

@ItsCoolForCatsI agree, I think you just need to add in a session of cardio to the programme on one of the rest days or even after the workout a couple of times a week as the Max sessions aren’t as long as other programmes.

Ultimate beginner day 10 - the only point where I felt my heart rate was really going up today was tilted Bulgarian lunges which really sucked.

I did something I have always worried about and bopped my very head lightly with my 4kg kettle bell doing tricep pullovers! I don’t think it did any harm!

i am keen to try the kick-boxing before my month finishes so will have a look for that! On a similar note I did the les mills body combat shared here earlier in the week which was quite fun.

Max Day 46 was good. I loved the deadstop sumo deadlift squats with my barbell as of course you're not so limited by your grip going when you get that brief pause between reps. RDL and chest press is a combination straight from her Full Body Split series as it's the start of workout #1 from that and I loved seeing it again. The push up finisher felt difficult though.

Ran out of time for the Heather kettlebells so will probably do that one tomorrow instead of Max Day 47, unless Monday isn't just "stability ball lat raises lunge lunge rear delts" this week. God those days bore me stupid. I'd rather do kettlebells and maybe a short Bulgarian lunge or walking lunge add-on workout from the app.

Same old, so swerved and did one mentioned on Facebook the other day:

Epic III - Quivering Quads and Calves ✔️

So good. I love wall sits-- it feels as though my quads are going to burst out of my skin. Going for a run with DD later which should be fun- she's up to 20min this week.🥲

@Gobacktotheworld my workout yesterday (UB 11) was full body but also had wall sits - I found them fine but I had most of my back against the wall, is that correct form? I had to close the room door to have a spare bit of wall. Lunges on the other hand were way worse than last week and my knees did not want to bend like that. Also had cobras with a diamond version. I did pushups on my windowsill (with curtains closed!) as chairs are too low or not suitable.

I did something I have always worried about and bopped my very head lightly with my 4kg kettle bell doing tricep pullovers! I don’t think it did any harm!

The fear I feel when I hoist a 12kg chrome weight above my head to do pullovers...

My best one! During a kickboxing cardio workout,doing uppercuts quite enthusiasticly, I managed to punch myself in the chin 😀

My best one! During a kickboxing cardio workout,doing uppercuts quite enthusiasticly, I managed to punch myself in the chin 😀

😂😂😂

If you haven't biffed yourself in the face during upper cuts, you haven't lived. Bonus points if you were holding mini dumbbells.

Well done on your wall sits, clearing! It sounds as if you had good form. They are burners, those isometric exercises, and there was a study a while back saying wall sits and planks reduce blood pressure! Useful if you spend time scrolling the Facebook group.

I fell over during Bulgarians this morning. Glad I have been working on splits / hanumanasana this past year or else I think something would have snapped. Why are bodyweight Bulgarians so much harder for me than weighted?!

Did Max Day 48 and it was pretty good. For a program which Caroline warned us beforehand has no trap work, there sure are a lot of upright fucking rows.

I think this may be where I differ from other posters - I like CG because I don't like exercise and don't like feeling wrung out/overly sweaty/knackered. I find the app workouts in particular are the perfect level of challenge for me; I feel like I worked out and can feel it all day but never get overwhelmed or too hot etc. And they definitely still keep me very fit and in good shape. I think there's a million and one sweat-inducing workout programmes out there, in fact it's the vast majority as that's been the trend for the last 20 years or so, and they're basically what have always deeply deterred me from regular exercise. The hype that you have to go hard, do more, almost kill yourself. For me, I love being able to get up every morning and do a CG workout, feel strong and see my muscles develop and then go to work without hobbling around, feeling tired etc.

A mix is nice, isn't it? At one point Caroline had the most intense, notorious workouts on YouTube. It's a shock to the system to go back to them.

Someone posted Epic Day 34 on the Facebook group today and it has Bulgarians to one legged push ups as a staple! Horrifying but also something that it's fun to fail at. I like workouts like that that are just a bit hard for me because they go quickly and I laugh a lot at my crapness. I never did Epic apart from about two workouts but it's maybe a good challenge for the summer?

Exercising is a dangerous business 😳😂 I haven’t used them in a while, but I have powerblocks which hold in place all the weight plates with a string and a pin - so anything over head with those definitely made me nervous!!

I think I am probably enjoying CG for similar reasons @AtomicBlondeRose . Occasionally I do a cardio workout and feel amazing afterwards but that is far and few between!

@Gobacktotheworld yes Epic 1 would be a great summer project! You have to be a contortionist to do some of the moves. It's easy to see why a lot never got repeated in subsequent programmes. And 20 minute complexes 😱Day 44, one to remember as she never repeated the format, thank goodness

I agree @AtomicBlondeRose I don't like throwing myself around,getting hot and sweaty(particularly when I've just washed my hair!)
So I really enjoy Caroline's way of exercising using spilt days and minimal cardio.
I force myself to do a cardio session once a week and add abs on when I remember because these are my least favourite workouts.
Oh, no wait! Push ups! I suck at so I tend to skip.those days when she decides to do a full workout dedicated to them..unlike @Gobacktotheworld I hate it when I can't do something,it frustrats me and so I tend to give up(which I know makes no kind of sense 😔)

Yep, I give up when I can’t do something and it also makes me absolutely furious as even being asked (trigger from being hopeless at sports and PE as a child I think) so although I enjoy a challenge (going up a weight in an exercise) I can’t stand stuff like one handed burpees where honestly I’m about as likely to be able to do it as I am to walk on the moon. It makes me cross, hot and teary. And I just feel like I’m a grown adult so why on earth would I put myself in a place where I feel like that when I can do a full Max/Iron workout and feel like a complete boss afterwards?

You’re all a busy bunch! Good to see you all doing a range of things that you like- even if you do smack yourselves in the head😂
I have been alternating unleash and stand alone sessions.
i managed 2x20kg for static lunges on Sunday. Then the devil took me and I did the infamous calf session again luckily for me the doms are on the inside of my calves so I can at least walk. But they are sore even to touch!

2 x 20kg is really flipping impressive BigButtons. No wonder your bum is exploding out of your coat. My knee tendons can't handle the weights I think they should be able to. Bodies are weird

Step workout and yoga for me tomorrow. I will probably want to do Thursday's Day 49 of MAX, which will conclude it for me-- but I will skim through Day 50 to the end to see if the dogs make an appearance. And to check if the confetti is all present and correct (or if all the Facebookers are going to have major depressive episodes) 😃

@AtomicBlondeRose You sound similar to me. I can relate to everything you’ve said in your two posts today!

I’m currently doing Epic 1 on YouTube and there have been a few sections on some days that I’ve really not liked, but then I remembered no one is forcing me to do anything, so I’ve just substituted some exercises for something similar.

Yeah you have a point re my backside tbh- I don’t do that weight very often because I don’t want likes like she -Ra😂
The Facebook folk will be mighty depressed. Aren’t they always at the end of a programme? No doubt it was the one that gave them the best gains and they will repeat is straight away for ever and a day - blah blah.

@AtomicBlondeRose I am glad she has stopped the silly and quite frankly pointless moves like one handed burpee things- that’s a fast track to nasty injuries. Sash she has gone the other way and now only seems to select from the same few exercises. I am on a one woman campaign for the return of the Tate press!

I'm not sure about the new programme planned in September, if she's already saying it 'maybe' worth investing in heavier weights 😰I definitely couldn't do 20kg lunges even with wrist straps and get my knee to the floor. I also don't want any injuries - my knees are already knackered and I can't run at the moment, maybe it's finished forever. On the bright side I have loads more energy and can still cycle loads and swim so it's not all bad.
Question - I love upright rows but don't want massive traps, can you avoid working the traps if you keep your shoulders down and don't lift too high? From what I understand it's the shrug action that needs to be avoided in order to avoid the traps. It's quite the trend in the US for women who lift to botox the traps in order to avoid growing them!

If I am using heavier weights then I'll be at the gym, using machines and racks with safeties, really. Perhaps she is just talking to the crowd still using 2kg and 5kg dumbbells after training with her for five years.

Not sure about traps but I would probably just omit upright rows, face pulls or other upright pulling movement like cleans, and yes, shrugging or any shoulder movement at the top of any deadlift variant. I do it with barbell RDL sometimes on autopilot- a hangover from doing Bodypump- and my traps are really sore if I do. Also some push movements like decline press ups and pike press-ups I can feel in my traps but she doesn't include those much now, does she?

Just from reading these messages about the app it would appear there is less cardio and less of a variation of moves?
Would you say the youtube workouts where better? Or is it simply that she is now using much heavier weights?