Lifting and getting stronger with Caroline Girvan: 2025

[BigButtons]

New thread !

Just had a quick scan through today’s workout to see what elevated hip thrusts were and noticed Caroline has already got her adjustable bench in use! The rest periods look a lot longer too. She’s definitely going towards more traditional weight lifting

Did the anterior workout this morning, didn't manage 15kg for the overhead press but did manage all the sets with 10kg which is a step up for me. Apart from that used the same weights as Caroline. I sat on my adjustable bench for the OH press and it was much easier than standing. I tried to make the Bulgarians as quad focussed as possible, staying upright and having some balance helped whilst using the 15kg dumbell on one side.
And of course some ab work at the end with squat jumps in the finisher which I love doing.
Really enjoyed it! Heart rate got up but with theh 45 sec rest it was bearable, but toughie nevertheless.
One of comments on the App was by someone who was going to use it as an "add on" to their main workout today. Good luck with that 😂

@samthebordercollie i am with you on the shoulders- they are a definite weak spot for me and easily injured. I can’t press heavier than 12.5 for chest press because of this and have to be super careful with over head pressing-

@BigButtons yes, there is no point in injuring yourself. Just as easy to do more reps with a slightly lower weight. I manage to get 15kg dumbells on my shoulders to squat but it's an effort, no way could I lift them over my head!

Fook me! My legs would literally snap if I tried that!! not that I would have any hope of even getting them up on my shoulders to begin with......Seriously I am in awe at some of the weights you and others are using, but it pushes me on to try and to hope I will get there someday.(I do NOT like squats,and struggle with anything more than x2 7.5kg)

Hahaha I'm great at increasing my bodyweight! (I have fondness for crisps and wine)

@TessTickle0 - seriously I have being plugging away at this since 2021 consistently. When I started my weights were way lower. It is actually only in the last 6-8 months that I can go significantly heavier on some moves. I think this is thanks to programmes such as or and intent.
Of I am feeling ok and not too tired I will just try and go a bit higher - maybe just for 6 reps . Like the other day I managed on set of single arm rows with 20kg. So I know this is possible - but I might not do that again for ages. I up the weight and then back off- I think this helps to avoid injury and allows tendons to catch up.
same with the lunges. Sometimes I just like to try because I am curious . BUT you must know that body part well. Know its weaknesses and injury potential and how you are feeling on that particular day.
some days, if I am very tired ( like today), I might do a lot of the leg work body weight and use partial reps and really slow it down- just as effective for me- sometimes more so
no one increases weights steadily. I have been stuck in some areas for a long time BUT those muscles are still growing.
lift safely- always🙂

@Gobacktotheworld Yes, those full body one hour splits are brilliant, although I remember for the third a lot of rushing around between equipment for the circuit format!
@TessTickle0 it takes time, and longer doing home workouts with dumbells to progress than when you use a barbell with 2 hands in a gym. There it's quite easy to add a kilo here and there but going up 2,5kg with dumbells in each hand takes a lot longer!
I did the posterior one hour workout today, didn't like it as much as the anterior one but did manage one set of rows with 20kg then backed off to 17,5kg for the other sets as my form was crap with the heavier weights. Also subbed the stability ball for RDLs as I never really feel the hamstrings in the ball roll outs. What a luxury it was to have one minute rest between the 45 second 68kg hip thrust!! Definitely less cardio than the anterior workout too. I wonder if her new programme will be a similar format of posterior/anterior or push pull split?

Good morning all. I think I’ve now completed all the series on YouTube (I’m quite proud of myself, as someone who hadn’t even touched a 1kg dumbbell before April 2024!).

Sadly, I still don’t think I can pay for the app at the moment. So, what would you all do? Shall I repeat the series in the order I have done them? I started with Iron in April 2024, so I’m thinking maybe I’ll start that again. Any other thoughts?

I've completed all the "big" series,like iron,heat,fuel and the epics.
I am still working my way through some of her 'smaller" series like beast mode and lean and strong, there are also lots of stand alone workouts from one hour to 15mins...
So I am doing a mixture of all.of these, adding in some from whatever takes my fancy on the day!
I plan to do this until December when I usually get money as a gift so will use that to get the app for the year.

@Cherryblossom81 Congratulations! Have you seen your weights increase? Maybe give yourself a break from the longer programmes in the summer. Have you done the week long programmes like the pyramid week? They are good fun. Also there are lots of one hour full body work outs there which I enjoyed doing. Or just pick and choose your favourite days, making sure you try and hit all muscle groups twice a week, easy with full body!

You could try doing the YouTube hybrid variants? These are fan made, but some people on the FB group talk about the iron/fuel hybrid quite a bit. When I did it, I did Iron week one, then Fuel week one, etc., but I’m not sure I did it how it’s usually done, where you do Fuel day one, Iron day two, or some such.

Well done @Cherryblossom81 !🥳

I did the anterior chain one yesterday with a few tweaks for my shoulder. My thighs are starting to feel a bit stiff- the doms are coming!
Gonna find a short gluts on to do. For some reason ankle weight glutes make me feel angry!

Wish me luck. Tomorrow I’m doing leg day 21 of Unleash. It’s on a par with Day 7 Epic 3 🥵

Good luck! I haven’t done this one. Epic 1 and 3 day 7- yuk yuk.
Coming towards the end of the school year for me( teaching) and I haven’t much left in any tank. Might try and tackle this in the holidays( or not😂)

Thank you all for the suggestions of what to do next. I have realised I’ve only done Beastmode out of the 1 week/2 week series, so I’m going to do the pyramid week. I definitely prefer to follow a structure rather than picking and choosing as my time is often limited, so I like that the thinking/decision making is done for me when following a series.

In answer to the question about whether I’ve seen my weights increase over the last 15 months - yes, but I’m annoyed at myself that I didn’t record exactly what weights I’ve used when. I know that I was using between 2kg and 5kg to start with. I didn’t own any weights heavier than 5kg until quite recently.

I still don’t know that I’m making as much progress as maybe I should be, but unsure when to push myself and I don’t want to risk injury. I am currently mainly using pairs of 5kg for upper body and 10kg for lower. My 10kg pair are adjustable, so I did try chest press, etc at 7.5kg last week. From today I’m going to try to be more focused on thinking about whether I can increase weights and keeping a record of what I use.

I also think I could maybe increase lower body soon? But not sure what the next step would be after 10kg.

Well, I survived Day 21 of Unleash, despite not sleeping well!
@Cherryblossom81 "I also think I could maybe increase lower body soon? But not sure what the next step would be after 10kg."
12.5kg definitely. 15kg is a lot to hold on your shoulders for squats after 10kg!