Lifting and getting stronger with Caroline Girvan: 2025

[BigButtons]

New thread !

@Gobacktotheworld I bought some 15kg vinyl plates and they are proper huge- huge enough to roll over my legs! Maybe look for some- the ones I got were less than £30🙂

Thanks BigButtons and others, I will get the app tomorrow and probably do the older iron programme rather than iron Pro. While time to clean in between sets sounds efficient, I'm not sure it's for me! And I kind of like working through things in order.
Fibrous -wow, your story is terrifying and educational.

I found the repetition in Max boring, so it sounds like Iron Pro is definitely not for me.

I am half way through Rev and am enjoying it, especially the full body days. I'm happy to be doing burpees again! And I enjoy that she incorporates complexes and supersets into the circuits as well.

@Fibrous your anal fissure sorry made me wince. I had them after giving birth, not fun!

I think with pro the idea is that you left heavy enough to need the rest? Interesting to read her into for today’s session. She is not using silly weights at all and she talks about long term protection of joints and weight choices.
On the Facebook group I see such ridiculous competition regarding upping weights. Stupid thing is that you don’t need to go really heavy. A short while back there was an older woman who posted . She had the most amazing upper body definition and she said she never went above 8kg for her shoulders and did lots of mobility work. It’s definitely the way to go.
I have been doing lying shoulder slides and they are definitely helping with my shoulder mobility. If I don’t do these my shoulder capsules kinda feel ‘glued’ after a while.
i have a large bench in the garage but I cannot be bothered to drag it out. Bought if from another Facebook group lady who lives near me. I thought it would be more compact and foldable. It’s not. In to have a home gym!

Tuesday is my leg day and so I tried Iron Pro, actually did the warm up too which I don't usually bother with. I actually quite enjoyed it, time went by more quickly than I'd thought. I don't have 25kg dumbells so used only 20kg for the lunges but they went well - the most I'd used for lunges previously was 17,5kg. 15kg for high squats as always and I have one 27,5kg dumbell so I used that for the staggered RDLs. Except for the high squats, I had to use wrist straps for everything. Pleasantly surprised as I would never have dared lifting as much previously.
@Gobacktotheworld Clue: there is no risk of getting pregnant!

@samthebordercollie ha ha my mind was going in the right direction then!!

I'm finding it a bit tender to sit down today. I'm presuming it's from yesterdays exercises but can't recall what would make my coccyx area painful to touch.

I didn't get up in time to do this mornings class, I'll have to do it after work. My dog was licking his bumhole all night and it kept me awake. Hope he hasn't picked up something in the kennels!

@fibrous could he have been using your weights? 🤣

I have started doing HR series on YouTube.
So far she seems to lift a lot lighter and incorporates much more cardio,including in with her weight workouts.
This is the same style as another trainer I used to follow and tbh I only.started to notice muscle and tone after starting Caroline's workouts so I dunno....but I am enjoying the change and plan to get the app at Christmas.

The warm ups are good- I usually skip them as they involve throwing myself to the floor and I get bored/ these are much better.
i enjoyed day 2. Dropped weights for all the lateral and diagonal work so i could really concentrate on full range of movement and form . Managed to do 2 sets of shoulder press with 11.5 kg which is a big win for my shoulders. My left shoulder is noticeably weaker than my right/ always has been.
so far grumpy shoulder is holding out .
@samthebordercollie that’s what I was thinking you meant 😜😆

About to do day 2. Caroline is giving me Oompa Loompa vibes today.

Lol Oompa Loompa. I was previewing it (opted against) and could only see the Stalin trousers. I suppose she's like a Rorschach test, we all see something different in her.;)

Ha ha. I’m digging the tracky bottoms. I also like the poo brown wall, my bedroom is the same colour!

Lol I also really like the brown, it reminds me of my childhood in the 80s in a house that had been decorated in the 60s! She must be using a green screen. No one could be this committed to repainting their front room every couple of months!

Oh my fucking god 😳 so sorry that happened to you! I was unsure about starting iron pro but I’m going to give it a go. I’ve only slightly upped weights so far as I’m nowhere near what she is using apart from some of the upper exercises.
I actually like it so far but ask me in a few weeks as usually I start to get bored 😂. Yeah I don’t get all the it’s amazing, she’s so clever messaging when it’s the same moves and has been since she started the app. 🤷‍♀️. Can’t say that on Facebook though else I’d get banned.

Day 3 of Iron Pro done here. Interesting to see that after that one standalone workout where she used the bench for hip thrusts and I tried and hated it, she’s moved back to the chair, I assume for the same reason! She was also using the back of the bench in upright position to balance during Bulgarians which I would have done if I could have been bothered to move my bench into the living room. Found that I still detest weighted Bulgarians with a passion so I did them all bodyweight but would maybe find them ok if I held on to the bench? As it’s largely a balance/wobbling thing that annoys me. She’s up to 78kg for hip thrusts - I’d be interested to know exactly how much difference it makes to keep going up weights. I know received wisdom is that you MUST keep going up but that can’t be completely true - men who throw around sacks of stuff all day still have massive muscles even though the sacks stay the same weight! And I don’t want to constantly get bigger and bigger muscles tbh.

I don't know how much difference it makes tbh. If it's a hip thrust weight people struggle with, chances are their quads or lower back are going to assume some of the load. I got DOMs galore and a visible glute pump from the short Xmas banded glute workout I did this week, where I only used 45kg for glute bridges- did lots of reps at that weight and it felt as if the glutes were isolated as much as possible. I can go up to 78.5kg with my current set up for hip thrusts and it's doable but I don't get particular glute stimulus/soreness/pump from that and I suspect my quads are inviting themselves to that party.

@AtomicBlondeRose I don’t think you do have to keep going up at all. I have actually started reducing weights for some moves, moving with intent and really squeezing the muscle. I am getting better results. You can make a lighter weight feel heavier just by how well you work with it. Of course the drive on the fb group is to be able to lift a house by the end of the session.
i will not go above 55kg for thrusts because them other body parts start to take over and my form is rubbish and injury will occur.
Caroline doesn’t lift as heavy as she technically could for that reason yet people are still chuffed they can lift as ‘heavy’ as her. She is not lifting her heaviest so that she can lift well. Everyone seems to to miss that point on the groups.

And also if you go to heavy your bum will explode 🤯
Unless your @sam 🤣😉

lol.

I had really achy muscles from day 1 and my heaviest weight is 10kg. I still had to lower myself onto the bog yesterday. I’m definitely getting something out of lifting lighter weights than in the gym.

I'm skipping today’s session as I have hill reps in my running program today so no way am I doubling up on glute pain.

Day 3 of IronPro looks better to me than previous days and it's the first that seriously tempts me to do it. Under so much stress with my current house move, I need a workout where I am lifting relatively heavy and stomping around angrily in the rest periods! Going to do it as late as possible in the day and load up my weights as I aim to be totally wiped out at the end.

Also am contemplating which pair of dumbbells to take with me into the temp accommodation we are going to stay in for seven weeks. Limited to one pair. So the round 12.5kg or the hex 9kg? Thinking of upper body work and stuff like epic II full body days, it might actually be more worthwhile taking the 9kg ones-- thoughts? I keep changing my mind!

@BigButtons we're going to need a new thread soon!
I'm dipping into Iron, but trying to stick to my 3 x upper and 3 x lower so will try day 3 tomorrow, but I don't have enough plates to lift 78kg, 60kg is my max and my heaviest dumbell is only 27,5kg. Would wearing a weighted vest of 10kg even it out for a heavier sumo squat?
@Gobacktotheworld 12,5kg would be too heavy for upper body work for me, maybe take the 9kg? Especially if you do Epic I and II.
BTW if anyone wants a good back and biceps, PE Day 20 I re-did today is brilliant. Dead arms guaranteed by the end.

Good effort keeping the fitness up during a house move @Gobacktotheworld - we tried to buy and sell twice last year and each time I just found myself continually curling up in bed with my biggest greyhound in a ball of stress, just wondering why the hell it was all so hard!

Oh moving house is hideously stressful isn’t it? There’s no need for it either. @Gobacktotheworld I would say take the 9kg as it is more versirile.
@samthebordercollie absolutely a weighted vest counts! I sometimes use mine for heal elevated/ high squats as holding heavier dumbbells feels really awkward on my lower back- I have mild scoliosis with an anterior pelvic tilt.
i am shattered after a day at work. All the kids throughout the school were off their rockers. I almost had a Herbert Lom eye twitch by midday and felt like having a stiff drink

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/exercise/5408205-lifting-with-caroline-girvan-keeping-it-real-and-having-a-laugh-along-the-way

mew thread 🙂

I was recommended the Epics on here. I am nearly through EPIC Endgame. It does have a few cardio days but I just skipped those, each one is 40mins if you skip her intro (i usually listen to that the night before) and the cool down. I've enjoyed it, first one I have done with the 100 rep finisher and I liked that.