Lifting and getting stronger with Caroline Girvan: 2025

[BigButtons]

New thread !

I did a heat dumbbell hiit today-day 25 I think. It was exhausting- especially since I have not done much cardio work at all since getting the app.I am definitely going to sub out a day a week from the new series to do a hiit session. It was interesting looking at a couple of Kaykay ones and seeing her get out of breath and struggle- Caroline never does that.

Hello, i’m new to this 😊
Im on mounjaro and i have been looking at doing YT videos for weight training. Caroline Girvan seems to be a good option.
I did one of her full body workout this morning and it was good. I really like the format of her videos, simple yet efficient (no talking, just exercises and timers)
my only issue is that i dont have dumbells. I do have 2.5kg weights (that i can attach to a bar) so i ised that. I figure because i am new to this, using lighter weights is fine for now and later i can invest in a set of dumbell.

Do you mean adjustable dumbbells, where you attach different weight plates? Those are fine, albeit a bit bulky, and 2.5kg is a good starting weight.

I started off with 3kg, then 5, 8, 10, 12.5. I bought individual dumbbell sets rather than an adjustable set because I find them easier to handle. Bought over a period of about 3 years it’s not expensive, and I still use all of them for different exercises, except the 3kg (which found a good home with a friend).

Someone I know got a set of dumbbells via Freecycle’s ‘Wanted’.

Yes ! Thats what i meant: adjustable dumbells.
Thanks for sharing your experience- i will look out gumtree for similar

I cannot cope with that fb group any more. It is toxic.

I am a teacher and am supposed to be having my 6 week break. I have had an awful ‘ holiday’ so far- family stress, cars and my house needing repairs all costing ££££. Like electrics,soil stack, guttering I wake at 4 each morning feeling so stressed I cannot go back to sleep. I am exhausted. I have been trying to do some sessions. Been doing the Christmas ones.
then I go in that stupid group and see people harping on about you have to do the session even though you don’t feel like it. Then my stupid watch keeps telling me I have lost my steps streak even though I am in my knees with tiredness.
sorry I am an my knees.My life is ridiculous at the moment. I don’t want to train because I am spent.
maybe in two weeks things with be better. I just needed to speak with sane people who understand that life throws curveballs xx

@BigButtons ride the wave! We all have our ups and downs, you’ll be back on it when life is playing ball. That all sounds incredibly stressful so just tackle one thing at a time. You’re a human not a machine!

I’ve really lost my mojo but hoping to get back on it this week. Tomorrow is a new day.

Do what you can and try and look after yourself, @BigButtons … 🌻

Thank you all so much. That made me feel so much better. You are all sane( maybe😂) and sensible. I put too much pressure on myself.
i have not been enjoying myCG sessions for some time now. It bothers me a bit- I really think it is because it is the same old exercises in every session and I am bored. It doesn’t matter what the tempo or rest period is etc- it’s still yet another bloody hip thrust and lateral raise. It feels stale.

Just catching up. @BigButtons take it easy, you've got a lot on your plate, listen to your body and not the shite commentators on FB. You've been doing CG for so long now and have built so much muscle it doesn't take much to maintain, as @Gobacktotheworld says, even one session a week will do it. I get why you are bored with CG workouts too, you've been doing them for 5 years?? Try some other trainers or go back to the Epics, that way you will get more cardio too if you feel you're missing that. I don't miss the FB group at all now, well, except from the fact I can't join in here. Comparison is the thief of all joy and working out is so individual - stress, fatigue, illness...we are never all in the same place.
Still ploughing through PE just doing my own thing. Did and add on ab workout for the first time in months today, ouch!!

I've discovered that if I do too many strength workouts it really makes me feel quite down. It's remarkable--clearly my body just can't hack it, and I've been doing CG since 2021. Some of the newer workouts on the ap just aren't as much fun as the earlier YT workouts. I can do them with the sound off and the radio/podcast on, but 35 minutes is my max. If I do longer workouts, I either speed up the timing on my ipad or just skip a round to bring the total down. 55 minutes for lumping metal up and down just doesn't do it for me.

I agree and I think it is pointless and inefficient. My subscription is due to renew on 17/9. That gives me enough time to see whether I like the new series and whether to continue or go back to the epics.
i am also not a fan if doing things live because of the posting hysteria that goes on. The bragging about weights. If remember CG says she will not be picking weights in advance but will have a selection to choose from depending on how she feels at the time .
my shoulders get so easily niggled that I cannot up my weights any more anyway.
i never bother flexing , but out of sheer interest I did the other day to see what it would look like- I was very pleased surprised. Most of the time I don’t look like I have much muscle bulk.
the other day I passed a mirror and was horrified by what I thought were old lady lumpy arms- on closer inspection it was my triceps 😂😂

@BigButtons I’m a teacher too and I think sometimes during the holiday you just need to let stuff drop and try and free yourself from as many obligations as you can, which includes exercise. Of course house and life stuff matches on regardless so it’s fine to take it easy the rest of the time. I’ve followed no programme this holiday and have only done a few weights workouts. I try to do a few sets of bodyweight squats, lunges, push ups, bridges etc when I think about it just to stay flexible but my muscles seem absolutely fine and I am looking forward to starting the new Iron. If I start back on light weights, so be it. Life is not a relentless pushing forward for improvement.

I sense a divergence between those who need total fitness, cardio, flexibility and resistance, from a programme and those who perhaps do lots of cardio externally and just want strength work.

I enjoy cardio but I much prefer to do that kind of thing outside. I get most of mine running which I really enjoy. I have two greyhounds so I mostly run with them even though they are quite annoying to run with as they stop every ten meters, but otherwise I have to spend hours walking them very slowly which is even more annoying as they are stubborn brutes and never want to come home. Running at least wears them out.

Caroline's workouts are very much stength training focussed for me and I like to feel tired after them, as I get little of that from running. So ideally I would only do her sessions 2-3 times a week. I'm just finding it hard to get the weights right and the type of classes correct. I still don't understand all the terminology or know the basics about weight training - I really should look into it.

Mostly at the moment I'm just eating chocolate. Need to get back into it and I don't even have any kids or a teaching job as an excuse, I'm just feeling lazy!

@Fibrous your description of your hounds made me chuckle! When I was a kid we had a very mad border Collie who absolutely hated going on walks and she was terrified of sheep!
caroline has always been strength focused but I feel the app is losing balance compared to the epics.
i don’t welcome hiit at all but I would do it because it was party of that week’s training. I got much fitter. Now it’s all bum and shoulder work. With the epics the glutes were worked as a focus session once a fortnight . I think that was enough considering they also work hard in every leg day anyway.
but women want broad shoulder and bubble buts at the moment. I am guessing because that is visible even through clothes- chest work- well you can’t see that unless you take you run round in a bra😂

I think Caroline is hypertrophy as well as strength focussed and for that the minimim rest period is 1 minute according to every other training and sports scientist I've ever read. 'Most' women who work out , although not me, aesthetically just want to concentrate on a big bum and shoulders so maybe that's why she is concentrating so much on those now. She's moved away from the cardio with weights of the Epics with the very short rest periods of 20 or 30 seconds.

Following your posts. I am in education too and have also had the double whammy of A Levels and GCSEs with my kids. I have taken a massive break. I was planning on starting iron pro in Sep but not so sure yet. I too am disliking the Facebook group and I’m sure it’s part of the reason I am struggling with motivation. The same body posts from the same people are grating. I’m struggling with my peri menopausal body and am trying to shift the focus away from aesthetics. It’s so hard though. Whilst we are bitching, I also struggle with the posts of an over enthusiastic former academic who uses nothing but ! to punctuate. It drives me insane 😂. I might go back to you tube as I simply don’t have the time to add in my own cardio on top of 5 workouts.

Well all this chat made me get off my ass and do a workout. I did the PE day 40 on the app and enjoyed it. Think I’ll do a short run in the morning then attempt the quads and abs. I’ve got to get some (freelance) work done tomorrow though - I do a mix of paye and freelance, so I hope it doesn’t make me want to go to bed. That happens quite a lot!

Nice work @Gobacktotheworld !