Sorry, never even saw this post until now. Wasn't ignoring it. My general contention of his high protein intake is that right now based on his total caloric intake it takes away from the amount of fat/carbs he needs to replenish muscle and liver glycogen and maintain blood lipid levels, however that's why I said if he were a client I'd get a CBC to see what his cholesterol/etc was at. I'm not sure I said that micronutrition has a big impact on caloric needs specifically, however the more total calories you eat (from real food anyway), the more likely you are to get all the micronutrients you'd require.

Anecdotal stories from power lifters are entertaining, however incomplete. I've only trained three amateur powerlifters, and all three stated they took enormous amounts of protein, but not all the time. They did it during a three month cycle while training for a competition mostly. I think for someone to get an actual kidney problem from overeating protein, they'd have to do that on a consistent basis for quite a while. Your kidneys are certainly made to take quite a bit of abuse.

I had blood work done earlier this year.

Cholesterol

Total: 100.0 mg/dL
HDL: 14.0 mg/dL
Trig: 72.0 mg/dL
LDL (calc): 71.6 mg/dL
VLDL: 14.4 mg/dL

just looking quickly all your numbers are very low, and in fact HDL may be too low (HDL removes LDL from the blood stream so you need a good amount of it). Then again, your LDL and Triglycerides are very low so maybe your HDL is fine and you just have great genes. I bet you have interesting RBC and HCT numbers too. I'll have to bring it up next time I see my physician client and see what she says.

Thanks for taking a look.

I've discussed it with my doctor and he's happy with the numbers. We've each noted the low HDL but thinks it's fine in context. In 2002 my HDL was 14.0 as well, so it's been consistent.

RBC is 5.09 10^6/uL. HCT is 44.4%.

5/15/2011:

• Stretching: Whole body
• Deadlift (sumo): 135 X 7, 225 X 5, 285 X 5, 305 X 5, 315 X 6
• Good mornings: 45 X 10, 135 X 20, 155 X 17, 155 X 20, 175 X 14
• Assisted GHRs: BW X 3 X 10
• Straight-leg KTEs: BW X 3 X 5 + KTEs: BW X 2 X 5, BW X 2
• Conditioning training: HIIT (walk/sprint) on indoor track -- 1.28 mi in 19:45

water? Goes unnoticed too often and very important. I don't remember you listing your water intake.

I drink a lot of water. I don't track it, but it's well over two quarts per day and is likely over a gallon most days. I prioritize drinking a lot of water and think I'd struggle to drink more than now.

Over the past four days, I went from 209.6 lb to 209.2 lb. Over that time, I ate 2,403.0 kcal, 62.6 g fat, 242.1 g carbs, and 193.4 g protein. Interestingly, I resumed creatine supplementation on Sunday, so I'd have expected some slight gain from that.

I don't know if four days of data are significant here, but I can hope, right?

just up it now imo. expect some weight gain because of the creatine. you've lost a pound over the last few weeks eating between 2200 and 2400 calories. everything but the two week period of maintaining at 2200 lines up with your actual maintenance being around 2800.

Thanks Miles! I am coming in leaner and wouldn't mind ensuring I gain some lean mass from training, so this is all good timing. From yesterday:

5/17/2011:

• Stretching: whole body
• Bent-over row: 45 X 10, 135 X 10, 225 X 3, 245 X 3, 255 X 7
• Pendlay row: 135 X 7, 155 X 3 X 10
• Close grip incline press: 45 X 10, 95 X 10
• Barbell front raise: 30 X 10, 40 X 2 X 10
• Pulley rope pushdowns: 65 X 20, 72.5 X 14, 72.5 X 10, 65 X 10
• Farmer's walk: 40s X 300 ft, 50s X 300 ft

Notes:

• Tried close grip incline presses but felt a tug at the location of the prior pec tear on the second work set. Decided to stop.
• Was going to do skull crushers but switched to pushdowns after pec discomfort.
• No new pec damage...just an overabundance of caution.
• Looks like I underestimated by BOR max.

5/18/2011

• Off

5/19/2011

• Stretching: Whole body
• Squats: 45 X 10, 135 X 10, 185 X 5, 235 X 3, 255 X 3, 265 X 4
• Box squats (12" box): 135 X 5, 95 X 10, 95 X 2 X 12
• Assisted GHRs: BW X 3 X 10
• Incline sit-ups: 25 X 2 X 15, 25 X 8 --> BW X 4 (drop set)

Notes:

• First time doing low box squats in a very long time. Only around 1.5" deeper than my normal squat, but I really felt the extra depth. I need more volume on these over the next several weeks.
• GHRs improving. Will continue doing them twice a week.
• Bodyweight holding steady despite increased caloric intake, reduced cardio, and creatine supplementation.
  • Weight today - 210.4 lb, same as on 5/11/11. During that time, I averaged 2,415.9 kcal/day (51.5 g fat, 3110.9 g carb, and 186.5 g protein). Glad to see weight maintenance at a higher caloric intake level.

The significance of this over the similar post a few days ago is the increased length of time. This is over eight days, so it seems to be statistically significant.

That's a low box squat. How tall are you?

I'm 5' 10.5". It was definitely low but didn't seem crazy low. I may toss a quarter on top of it next week to bring it up to 13".

That's awesome if you can do that & keep your low back in extension.

Thanks. I can keep my back arched fine. My hip flexors, OTOH, definitely felt it (not in a bad way).

5/20/2011

• Off

5/21/2011

• Stretching: Whole body
• Mobility work:
  • Continued hip flexor stretching
  • Foam roller thoracic mobility work. No problems there.
    • Passed the thoracic mobility test where one lies on one's back with knees bent and touches the floor overhead with one's wrists.
    • I've always made a practice of pulling my upper body forward in a stretch to counteract the effects of working at a desk.
  • Shoulder flexibility is not nearly as good. Did some broomstick mobility work.
• Weighted pull-ups: -100 X 7, BW X 7, 35 X 3, 45 X 3, 55 X 3
• Pull-ups: BW X 15, BW X 12
• Neutral grip pull-ups: BW X 2 X 10
• Hammer Strength machine shoulder press: 60 X 20, 100 X 20, 130 X 15, 150 X 12
• Shoulder shrugs: 225 X 10, 495 X 15, 495 X 18, 495 X 20

Notes:

• Broomstick shoulder mobility work was tough. Will continue to do more there.

adding in bent over Y/W/T's may help your shoulder mobility. Usually it's due to scapular tightness and weakness, specifically your serratus anterior. Pushup plus can help strengthen that too. You just have to focus much more on end range of motion and holding the weight there for 2-3 seconds instead of worrying about using a heavier weight.

Thanks Dmunnee. I'll take a look at other options depending on the success of doorway pec stretches and broomstick work. (Here's a video for those not familiar with bent over Y/W/Ts: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-k67cmNf2w.)

I actually know the cause, so that helps. Recall that each of my pecs have been surgically repaired following a complete tear. When this repair is done, that shoulder joint doesn't get much motion for a few months. This is because the pec cannot be stretched out for a certain length of time, and when it finally can be it heals pretty tightly and has to be rehabbed back to its normal flexibility.

I've worked my shoulders pretty well and they are in reasonable shape, but could use some extra attention. The broomstick work seems to hit it perfectly, so I'm hopeful this will be the appropriate mobility work for this area. I especially like how the broomstick helps pull the arms in and stretch the pec out.

5/22/2011:

• Stretching: Whole body
• Mobility work:
  • Continued hip flexor stretching
  • Broomstick shoulder mobility work.
• Deadlift (sumo): 135 X 7, 225 X 5, 305 X 3, 315 X 3, 335 X 4
• Good mornings: 45 X 10, 135 X 7, 175 X 15, 175 X 20, 185 X 2 X 15
• Assisted GHRs: BW X 3 X 10
• Straight-leg KTEs: BW X 3 X 5

Notes:

• GHRs continue to improve. Will continue doing them twice a week.
• Bodyweight holding steady despite increased caloric intake, reduced cardio, and creatine supplementation.

What Dmunnee says, plus scapular wall slides will help activate the muscles in that area.

5/20/2011

• Mobility work:
  • Hip flexors
  • Broomstick shoulder mobility work

5/20/2011

• Walk: 3.0 miles

5/25/2011

• Stretching: whole body
• Mobility work:
  • Hip flexors
  • Broomstick shoulder mobility work
• Bent-over row: 45 X 10, 135 X 10, 225 X 5, 255 X 3, 295 X 2
• Pendlay row: 135 X 5, 155 X 12, 155 X 15, 155 X 12
• Close grip incline press: 45 X 10, 95 X 3 X 10
• Barbell front raise: 40 X 10, 45 X 2 X 10
• Pulley rope pushdowns: 72.5 X 17, 72.5 X 14, 72.5 X 10, 65 X 10

Notes:

• Stayed light and slow on close grip incline presses due to recent pec tear.
• Probably a BOR PR, but only because I never really thought about trying for a double or single max effort.
• Moved Tuesday's workout to today because I was in D.C. yesterday and early today. Tomorrow's training won't move, so I'll remain on schedule.

Thanks Cha!

Pretty sick BOR, nice work. Hope things are going well in DC.