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

[BigButtons]

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@Gobacktotheworld no one seems to get that she is not lifting near her max. If you challenge them ion this ( and I have recently) you get a back lash saying they are only using her as a gauge and it is not competition. Sure it is. I use myself as my own gauge and never any else.
I am doing hit/ cardio once a week now. I walk hills to work so get some cardio in that way too. But I also have a creeping waistline. Probably due to being more sedentary during my month off work and I don't like it.

I’m 60 and can’t run anymore so cycle instead, either outdoors on my gravel bike which is zone 2 or at the moment 40 minute on my indoor bike most days after lifting, which is cardio as heart rate averages 148. Plus walking 20000 steps a day. @Melassacalorie burn estimates are very unreliable unless you wear a cardio tracker all the time and even then they have a huge degree of variation. They also don’t take account of muscle mass which burns more, or a little more, than fat.
@Gobacktotheworld2I agree, Caroline could lift way heavier than she does but as she said she isn’t an ego lifter and she probably does several sessions back to back so takes care not to risk injury.
I’ve been tracking my macros (well calories, protein and fibre) for a few months and it’s been interesting. I eat way over my protein requirement and no enough carbs!
I looked at Day 4 as I always train back and biceps on a Wednesday but decided my usual PE workout was more fun. I’m not sure Play has really been as ‘fun’ as Caroline made out initially!

One of the comments on the App today mentioned they were a bit disappointed after Day 1, not as much variety as they thought there would be. Cue indignant defence replies…..

That's alot of steps @samthebordercollie impressive. I am lucky if I get 10,000 in. How do you get so many in?

i absolutely don't feel at all sore of even challenged with this programme yet. It might change. I think my body does better with the faster paced, lower rest sessions, so basically more endurance based work . I know when I have done some heat sessions I have had crippling doms for days. Those sessions where she has just 15-20 second rests are so brutal even with much lower weights. Time for a change up soon i think. i will give this one another couple of weeks. I do wish i had not renewed the app.

I wonder how people like Tess who have recently switched from YouTube find the app in general. All I know is I get winded pretty fast when I do Heat or Fuel or an Epic II full body day! The app workouts are increasingly an attractive option when I feel a bit lazy. Play has so far not been very tough at all, which continues the trend of overall easier app workouts in 2025 (the Sunday and Thursday workouts from the MAX programme being exceptions).

@Samthebordercollie , I keep practising on my exercycle and am now starting to get a better cardio workout from it! It's definitely a skill. I have an RPM dvd to try this weekend and am a bit scared.

On the older youtube stuff for instance, Caroline lifts way heavier than 4kg on shoulders. It really irritates me when someone starts biasting they're lifting heavier than her, it's delusional.

@BigButtonsI get up very early and walk quickly for an hour with my dogs and do another hour in the evening, that takes care of most of them!
play hasn’t looked challenging to me either, which is why I keep going back to my regular PE and Intent workouts instead.
@Gobacktotheworld2I have to do the indoor bike to music, often fast, like DJ turn it up, sandstorm, or tracks by Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike. My Spotify Unwrap for 2025 gave me an average age of 24 which was largely based on my exercise bike playlist 😂

Sadly, I couldn't spot the comment you mentioned. Just gushing like this. I mean, you know this is the best ever programme and the only one you'll repeat in full .. after four out of fifty workouts? 🤪 Her cultists are so funny to me.

I did play day 3 today and found it tough but I’d already run during the day. I followed it up with a Charlie follows day 7 yoga which seems to be a nice combo, actually. I might do more of her yogas straight after the weights. I’m trying to encourage DP to do more cooking (he’s competent but starts late and takes ages so I have time to fit two sessions in). It was nice finishing just in time for some mushroom and tofu kebabs. We eat crap all protein but as two mostly lifelong veggies that’s unsurprising. I think different diets agree with different people. I basically didn’t eat dinner throughout my childhood cos all that was on offer was meat and potatoes and the thought of it makes me wretch to this day. With five kids no one was gonna pay my dietary requirements any notice. That might be one of the reasons I’m so much shorter than the rest of my family. I’d have killed for some pasta!!

I got the app just before December to start the cgx advent series-which I enjoyed.
I've completed day one of play and plan on doing day two today.
I have had quad doms since doing the play leg day(1) so that tells me it worked for me!
I cant lift anywhere as heavy as I know some of you go for lower body,though I am increasing slowly-i just dont like it haha.
Im definitely more of a upper body gal.
I find the app easy to use and I like having everything there in order and being able to see which workouts I've completed (I used to get mixed up on YouTube)
So overall I love the app and will enjoy working my way through the programmes.
Talk to me in a years time and I may be sick of hip thrusts and rear delts

My delts are feeling the effect today of play 4 🤭

Actually enjoyed today’s back and biceps,mainly due to how the exercises were mixed up. I used her weights , which seem on the lighter side for her for rows and pullovers - but I am not looking a gift horse in the mouth.🤣

what is her reasoning for only walking as cardio now?

she is not lifting near her max

Interesting… How old is she now? Could it be that she doesn’t feel as young and fit as a couple of years ago? Or does she need to conserve her energy for her business activities ?

😁 How is the Charlie Follows challenge going? I did a couple but found the adverts she had plonked onto the end of the videos rather strange!

Glad you're enjoying it, Tess! There is some interesting stuff there.

Did Day 4 of Play, back and biceps clusters- and also liked it- the best Play one so far by some distance and I have bookmarked if. Went slightly heavier than her on all moves but not wildly so. It got quite tough by the end. There was plenty for the biceps; mine were already feeling it after the back rows. That there were only two rounds of each move (apart from the finisher) definitely made it less tedious and go more quickly- bonus!

I think she’s 41 or 42. Still very fit. But she’s changed her method of programming in other ways since The Epics, mainly the rest periods. It’s generally a given in the science based lifting community that that in order to maximise hypertrophy rests of a minimum of 1 minute between sets is best and that cardio is best kept separate from lifting to maximise gains. But that’s no reason not to have a cardio day in her programmes now.

Day 5 of Play - loved it. I was sweating by the third or fourth complex. Substituted trx rows for rear delt flyes (bored with them), and dumbbell hamstring curls for the ball rollouts.

@Gobacktotheworld2 enjoying the Charlie follows although I am finding myself a bit confused and contorted in some of them, and she’s definitely throwing in some dark arts manoeuvres that I don’t even attempt. I’ve been feeling a bit creaky in the hips recently and it seems to have sorted that out.

I did day 4 of play today: it was pretty enjoyable. I’ll give day 5 a go in the morning if it’s a bit more vigorous instead of going for a run. We have skanky slush here. The foot of snow predicted didn’t materialise I am sad to say. Was looking forward to a whiteout.

Boo at no snow. It was 32deg here yesterday so please don't judge my sweating as a measure of the cardiovascular challenge posed by Day 5, but I did find it invigorating. There's a bodyweight squat / lunge complex near the end which could easily be squat jumps / switch lunges for some plyo if you were feeling especially masochistic.

Attached picture just to inspire hatred and loathing: the dog at the beach yesterday, the more distant black speck. Also: some of my new fitness acquisitions. My new 20kg dumbbell pair is the highest matching pair I have ever owned. Added on three sets of proper RDLs after my cardio and it was delightful to lift a bit heavier again.

Caroline’s preamble to Week 2 of Play is both short and interesting!
@Gobacktotheworld2that beach and sea look like Paradise compared to the wet and cold here at the moment. Happy dog!

are you in oz @Gobacktotheworld2 ? That does look heavenly.

yeah I thought her weekly digest was interesting - so she only records one per day?

I did play day 5 this morning as planned. I enjoyed the format. Just did some yoga now too. My hips are definitely feeling creaky. I’m usually pretty good in the hip area, wonder what’s causing it.

Yep @Fibrous we have moved back to my country, down under. I told you I had the most appalling accent in the known universe but no one guessed it.:D

Day 6 was really good, but then step ups and curtseys are always a treat. It was hot so I went heavier but bowed out after two circuits, at the 25 min mark.

So far Play is delivering on the variety of styles. If it had some cardio, it would be chef's kiss

Ah nice @Gobacktotheworld2 - it must be good to be back. One of my closest friends moved back after the pandemic and a divorce. I get a lot of beach shots from her, too. I need to visit one of these dreary winters.

supposed to be doing a 10k this morning but it’s sleeting and the wind is blowing a gale.

@Gobacktotheworld2ah that explains your very lengthy house move 😂. I hope you are very happy back home!
@Fibrousim not missing running this winter! 45 minutes on my bike watching old Tour de France is a nicer option for cardio this winter.
I did day 5 Play today, really enjoyed it.

@Gobacktotheworld2 I thought about doing a heat leg session instead of day 6 cos I loathe circuits with a passion. I loved day 5.
wow that is a HUGE move! You have missed the shitty cold now which is great news for you for a while.
weekly digest was readable and interesting.
i think k might do the heat session as they are giving me excellent doms.