Lifting with Caroline Girvan- keeping it real and having a laugh along the way!

[BigButtons]

New thread!

I thought that. I did some sessions years ago, then signed back up a couple of months ago, and thought she looked hench.

I'm feeling a bit under the weather and have loads of work on so have sacked off today in favour of an afternoon nap.

Hope you feel better, @Fibrous and that work eases up.

@BigButtons Well done on that! I haven't done any new IronPro workouts since week two (no barbell currently so not worth it) but my god, Max was very samey and repetitive, and you could really just do the first week on repeat and not miss anything

That said, I did Iron Pro Day 1 yet again today, so I could do 4 sets of staggered RDL with the makeshift 20kg. It was generous of her to upload this particular workout to YouTube as it was one of her better ones this year IMO. No junk volume or weird out of place sets or unduly long breaks. Feel properly tired again! Rest planned tomorrow then probably more metabolic Epic / Heather R workouts till next weekend.

Also: I also did this 20min kpop dance workout as a warmup, quite gentle cardio, simple moves and lots of fun if you love the songs.

@Gobacktotheworld that K-pop dance looks fun! I am the most uncoordinated creature on this earth- it would not be good😂.
@Fibrous get well soon and I hope things ease up at work.
it is bonfire season where I live ( Sussex) so things will get tricky exercise wise soon.

Thanks guys. I actually feel okay this morning so maybe it was just a hangover from my flu shot on Friday.

what does bonfire time mean down your way @BigButtons ?

I live about 500 m from one of the big overspill estates built for Manchester folk shipped out from the inner city slums in the sixties and they en masse seem to love a firework, no matter what time of day, starting from mid September. It’s a bloody nightmare for dog walking. My last greyhound was absolutely terrified of them as she was quite a nervous dog anyway. The current two don’t like them either but shouldn’t get to the point of being diazepammed hopefully.

@Fibrous it’s a massive thing here. Most of the lager Villages have their own bonfire socketies and they have their nights in the weekends in September, October be November. Societies are invited to ‘out meetings’ where they take part in other societies celebrations.
my society is one of seven in my town. We have the big night in the 5th. In reality we work all year in prepare for this. You can look up Lewes bonfire if you are interested.
I am in charge of the burning barrels !
many dog owners complain Here but tbh if you live in Lewes you have to expect it. My mum’s dogs used to have to take meds too.

Poor doggies, @Fibrous. I wish we could go back to it being socially acceptable to let off fireworks only at Nov 5 (and thereabouts) and New Year. It got to be year-round every night at 12am, 2am in our last town, not sorry to leave- either Diwali, Eid, someone's week-long wedding extravaganza or druggies sending messages to each other (apparently). Our dog got pretty immune fortunately (a thunder jacket helped) but it was heartbreaking for the dogs, cats, hedgehogs, foxes, birds, even pond fish and frogs who were constantly stressed.

Re: Caroline's look, could be camera trickery? Perhaps she's trying creatine? I noticed that she had a glossy sheen even at the start of IronPro Day 1 before the workout begins. Either she is baby oiling herself like a bodybuilder, peri is setting in or she is filming these back to back. My money is on the last- and hats off to her if so.

Was energetic so sneaked in Epic III Day 42 DISRUPT (upper, tempo). Brilliant workout, hit everything.

Here's what Caroline said in the intro:
"You know by now that I love variety and I know that you love variety. I mean, at the end of the day, we could all just do a normal bicep curl. We could all do a normal lunge. We could all do a normal pushup, but where's the fun in that? It's good to change it up and today is no different."

Yes indeed, Caroline.

@Gobacktotheworld she has lost the fun element for sure. Epic three is my all time favourite programme. Never got bored- it was such a great mix of training formats.

Hi all, just dipping back in from a few threads ago. I got the app for the trial plus a couple of months, with the intention of subsequently signing up for the full year. In the end I didn’t renew it, partly because I was too busy to follow the programmes religiously, and partly because it was very samey, had started needing more equipment and no cardio.

The workouts on YT are much more varied. I used to hate her HIIT days but I found I need to keep up with the cardio. Weights only seem to cause massive water retention in me, even if I sweat loads in a session. With Iron on YT I found I got quite stocky, with Heat no. Same thing with the app, my upper thighs swelled and I ended up with chub rub, I never had thighs that touched before! It definitely wasn’t muscle growth as it was in the wobbly
bits. Maybe it’s my age, maybe the HRT.

So, I mix it up a bit now, about 3-4 days CG - doing Endgame again right now -sometimes I mix in a bit of Jillian (ripped in 30 with 8kg weights was interesting, form was shite and I pulled my thumb), also I started following someone called Tracey Steen, who annoyed me at first as all her weights were in lbs but now I just do the maths in my head. Her sessions are often quite paced and she sometimes mixes upper and lower body in the same exercise, like Jillian. Saves time! I still do a lot of walking and hiking, plus I’ve picked up cycling again. I find this the best combination to avoid looking like a swollen up sponge.

Also on the app the comments were insane! I see you’ve all noticed too 🤣🤣🤣

@Melassa I found Tracy Steen this summer when looking for an alternative to Caroline's pretty crap recent Anterior Chain workout, which was mostly squat variations with barely any chest.🙄 Tracy's 50 min Anterior one, by contrast, was amazing. And I love Jillian.

I'm so tired of Caroline's thirsty male fans with their OTT nice guy act. What two older British men would ever seriously speak to each other like this? Talk about a cult. It reminds me of born again church services where they all rise individually to give props to Jesus.

Also, pissed off that the long-blocked Kearneys popped up in my feed because another ninny posted photos of them. Is there no escape from these arseholes?! Apart from leaving the group obvs.

hi @Melassa go to see you again! I wondered where you had got to!
I know what you mean re the chubby bits- my thighs are certain bigger- but then all of me is. Once pro has finished I will have to have a good think about how I mix things up. Pro has been amazing for strength gains- I am lifting weights I would never have dreamed of lifting in the you tube days. I love being stronger but my cardio fitness is shit.
My Jillian dvds are a bit inaccessible atm but once I can get to them I will do some of her stuff once a week

I saw you’ve been lifting massive weights @BigButtons, I’m still on max 10kg. Although I could probably increase a bit now . I will probably need to shell out on more plates for my adjustables as I think I have max 14kg for one type of dumbbell and max 8kg for the older ones. I’m more interested in strength right now than bulk as I feel I’m slowing down and getting more tired in general.
@Gobacktotheworld those 2 guys need to get a life!

@Gobacktotheworld that is proper 🤮
I find a lot of her stuff rather boring- not all- but sometimes I will be 3/4 way through a session and think ‘fuck this’ and stop.

I'm currently working through Pro but slightly behind as I was away, just finished day 9. I'm liking it well enough but weirdly not as much as Max, which I know wasn't generally popular with you guys.

I agree about the cardio thing and I'm happy to mix the workouts with a bit of running - nothing earth shattering, working towards managing one 10K a week as well as one or two 5Ks.

I feel weirdly weak with the weights I use for lunges and squats, compared to both Caroline and all of you. Upper body and glutes I can manage relatively respectable weights though. Am I just actually lazy and hate a leg day? 😂

Just chiming into say that I agree that Heat etc was lots of fun, but the programmes on the app are very samey. Why has she stopped all the fun moves? Did she say she wanted to move away from cardio on the app? The lack of variety in the workouts is putting me off.

I'm currently doing Iron on the app(not the new one), but I will have to mix in some other stuff. And then I'm thinking I might switch to the Heather Robertson app to see what that's like and do her new 12 week programme in the new year.

I'm also hanging about in the low weights but it's still working I think. My legs are no smaller than usual (it seems to be impossible to have slim legs with my stunted gymnast type build) but i can feel more muscle than flab which makes a nice change. I do the weights so I can enjoy my runs, and my runs are definitely more enjoyable at the moment (except the hills which never seem to get any easier). I try not to think of very much during the CG workouts, just lift and pet the dogs (or clean or stir whatever I'm cooking), and it's over before I really start to hate it.

Did this weeks glutes one of iron pro this evening. My back was hurting a bit, not sure I was getting the angle right on some of the lean over type things.

Lunges feel best for me with 2 x10kg, though I could just about get through 12.5s. With 2 x15kg I can manage about six creaky reps and my knees are screaming at me so it's not something I push.

Since giving away my barbell about two weeks ago my hip pain has vanished entirely. I had got so used to it. Perhaps I won't rush to replace it. Fitness kaykay has just released a new glute workout with 10kg x 2 I was waiting to look at but I see she has sissy squats... boo. Stuff these influencersand their normal nonarthritic knees!

Also, can't figure out the pricing on Heather Robertson's app. I think because Heather's free trial is only 7 days rather than cgx's 14, and the American prices seem nearly double what Caroline charges (or maybe more like a third more, I am shit at maths!) it just seems like less good a deal.

Yes, despite the low weights I do have some visible muscle. Nothing huge but I do look slightly ripped. Well, sometimes, on a good day.

Strength gains for me have included a faster time in my mad dash for the dentist, thanks to all those hip thrusts propelling me forward more efficiently, and faster paddleboarding. i’m ok with higher weights for the legs, but I still struggle with 6kg on the shoulder presses. I can manage 8kg but only a few reps. No idea why that is not getting better, I’ve even improved with the triceps, which was another weak point for me.

Heat was her best programme IMO, both in terms of content and length. I’ve done it 6 times now. I’ve also done Iron 3 times, plus most of her shorter programmes, like Beastmode. The Epics were great but Epic 1 (which is where I started) is far too long. I must’ve had more time then, I certainly don’t now!

I haven't got the ap
I plan too but started doing a few HR workouts and so far am doing those and mixing in whatever caroline YouTube video I feel like once or twice a week.
However you guys are not really selling the ap! 🤣
Is there a way to voice how you feel and hopefully caroline will see the feedback...I know that sounds very naive and silly because of how loud her obsessed fans scream their praise.
But something.
???

Help! About to order a barbell and 2x25kg bumper plates for hip thrusts but am now panicking they may be too heavy for me to lift??!! I am three quarters through the MAX program, and have been improvising with much lower weight dumbbells for the hip thrusts but have been doing CG workouts for a while and fairly strong now. What do you all think?

@Gobacktotheworld i wish there were other ways to work the glutes that didn’t involve heavy weights on a barbell. I can’t go above 55kg. If I do then I get sciatica.
@BB49 it depends what the max weight you have already been using?

@BB49 You can absolutely lift heavier with a barbell than with a dumbell for hipthrusts.
@BigButtons The hipthrust is by no means the only way to grow your glutes. The advantage of the hipthrust is that you can do them every day whereas other lifts like squats are more compound so more rest is needed. Forward tilt Bulgarian lunges, rear step lunges and squats - sumo squat if using dumbells - are all equally effective for glutes.

@BB49 you might or might not be able to thrust for the full period (Caroline struggles to maintain form and takes breaks a LOT when she goes up to 78kg) BUT you should be able to thrust your own bodyweight at least for some reps. I think you are likely stronger than you realise. If the barbell is an 18kg Olympic, then yes that is quite a lot to start with and you might need to get some smaller plates to ease your way up. I suppose make sure your form is impeccable, and err on the side of caution WRT your lower back, and you should cope. Your glutes are going to feel the change.

@TessTickle0 I think Caroline must prefer the flattery to the honest reviews at this point. There were those recent 75 min full body workouts which I personally felt disappointed by ( I mean so what, I'm one subscriber), but even her most sycophantic adherents, though gushing as ever, just really focused on how much they liked the finisher, which was an old Epic-style isometric hold arms move. She needs to mix it up. Sometimes people on the app comment about missing the old style workouts or finding a program boring, and they often get someone like a Kearney jumping down their throat for their "negativity."

@BigButtons I know what you mean. Barbell hip thrusts feel effective but they don't always feel the safest. Mind you, if I could lunge with the heavy weights you can, I don't think I'd feel the need to do too much other stuff for the legs. Anyway, Bulgarians seem to hit everything just as well as glute bridges and hip thrusts, at least, that's how it feels. Whenever I increase weight on Bulgarians, my backside knows about it the next day lol.

I did beach sprints, just 6 x 30-45 sec with heaps of walking in between. That was enough on that terrain today! The dog just swam and looked at me with her head bobbing comically over the waves.

Hiya Sam. Saw some beautiful border collies at the beach today and wondered how you were. What you say seems accurate, given the fact plenty of people in history had great muscular arses, but hip thrusts only became popular, what, in the last 15 years? And the people posting studies "proving" the effectiveness of hip thrusts have either been Contreras himself or his mates.

Heather Robertson app is €19.99 a month, which the online currency converter says is approx £15. So it's more expensive than CGX. I will probably just sign up for the 12 week programme in January, and then switch back to CGX. Or see how I get on with HR. I've had good results from her workouts in the past, and don't get as bored because there is more variety.

And I think HR is more receptive to feedback than CG as she regularly asks for input via social media. I guess, based on the subscriptions to her app, CG must feel that she has the correct approach, so probably won't change it anytime soon.