That’s great news!
Do whatever the nephrologist says. A high level of muscle mass, a high protein diet, and creatine supplementation all tend to throw off eGFR (as does dehydration). You don’t want to ignore it, for sure, but it’s not panic time yet.
How is your blood pressure and A1C?
Doc said those were fine. I wonder if I’m super stressed and that may be effecting my libido and general energy levels. I do have a super stressful job and a load going on with my family etc at the moment but i don’t really know what i can do with any of those right now (although i am looking for a new job).
Either way i’ll do the tests and just see. Cheers dude
Stress is absolutely real and jobs and families are the biggest component! If that’s what it is, I think maybe just don’t beat yourself up for feeling bad (I do this) and weather the storm. Like you say, some of it you’re just stuck with.
Looking for a new job could be a great solution. I moved my family to take a new job, gave up my brand new house we built, and am now moving back and losing an absolute ton of money to do so… still worth it and it’s my wife that says so. That last company and I had gotten to a point where we didn’t align, and what it was doing to me was too much.
I wish you luck, man! It’s scary to look for new work when your responsibility is to feed your family, so I sympathize. It’s where you spend most your time, though, so the fit matters.
Please post bloodwork, if you’re willing. Total T? SHBG? Free Test? Estradiol? Albumin? Sorry, I’ve been nerding out about bloodwork since starting TRT.
This is a byproduct of lifting and high protein diets. Would not consider this to be a kidney issue unless by “really high” he meant “REALLY HIGH”.
I would love to post it but i don’t actually have it. Little old NHS in England only had a telephone appointment with the GP. I should have asked for a copy really and i will when i have my follow up appointment with him. Not sure if they will give them to me or not though.
I really wanted to know my test levels and he just said they were bang in the middle of the bell curve which is annoying as i have no idea what that really is unless i can find the NHS guidelines online.
30th June Creeping Death 2 Week 3 Leg Workout
These leg sessions feel fun, no idea why really.
Seated leg curl (1.15m rest)
WU sets
59kg x 4 sets of 8 with a 10 second iso hold at the last rep of each set
(supposed to be a 30 second hold but just couldn’t do that)
Pause Squats (2m rest) happy with the weights as still very explosive on these
Wu sets
70kg 5 sets 6 reps
Leg press (1.3 rest)
Ramping up sets
1 plate a side x 10
2 plate a side x 10
3 plate a side x 10
4 plate a side x 10
DB RDL (1.3m rest)
36kg DBs x 3 sets of 8
Calves (1m rest)
27kg x 6 sets of 8 reps
Time for a shake and a banana!
I had a similar experience of when I went where I didn’t get my results in writing - you do however have a right to them. The main ones are Free Test and SHBG that the NHS tend to use to measure whether you need TRT and their bell curve is low as to what constitutes low test and needing TRT.
1st July Creeping Death 2 Week 3 Upper Body Pump and oh boy am i pumped!!!
All 1 minute rest here today.
1.Lat pull Down
63kg 4 sets of 10
BB Bench (just fancied it)
60kg x 10
70kg x 10
80kg x 10
80kg x 5
Straight arm pull down
50kg 4 sets of 10
Incline DB press
22kg DBs 3 sets of 10 & (went too light on these)
28kg DBs 1 set of 10
Lat raises 8kh DBs 4 sets of 10 Super set with…
Rope crunches 85kg 4 sets of 10
Pushdowns 4 sets of 8 super set with
Machine preacher EZ curl 4 sets of 8
Bent over tricep extensions 8kg DB 4 sets of 12 super set with
Incline DB curls 9kg DBs 4 sets of 12
I am pumped and feeling awesome today. I’ve applied for a few different jobs and just feeling a little more…thinking it might have been stress now. Silly me.
4th July Creeping Death 2 Week 4 Pull
Hardest session yet, think this is the last week before he changes things up (and i need that). Love the last 4 weeks but it has got harder each week and there is a lot of volume now!
1 arm BB row (2m rest) He wanted the weight increasing with the reps dropping!
WU sets
30kg x 4 sets of 8 (boy oh boy!)
Chest supported rows (1.15m rest)
20kg DBs x 10
2 sets of 22kg DBs x 10
Chins SS with Pullovers (1.15m rest)
Chins/lowers (because i suck at chins)
3/4
3/4
1/6
1/6
4.Pullovers
30kg DB x 4 sets of 8
Hypers (1.15m rest) SS with rope crunches
2 sets of 12
1 set of 10
Rope Crunches
85kg x 6 sets of 10 yes 6 sets!!!
DB Curl (palms stay facing up) 1.15m rest
12kg DBs 1 set of 8
14kg DBs 3 sets of 8
EZ Curl 4 sets of 8 reps with 10 seconds rest
Used the machine as it feels better
Not looking forward to the volume tomorrow, this week is going to be tough!!!
6th July Creeping death 2 week 4 Push session
Was supposed to do this last night but as the kids were a bit of a nightmare (and I’m afraid of the mrs) I stayed in last night.
So let’s begin.
Slight incline DB press 2m rest
WU sets
36kg DBs 4 sets of 8
Incline BB press 1.20 rest
Explosive reps
3 x warm up sets
70kg 3 sets of 6
Hex press cluster set
45 seconds between each cluster
26kg DBs x 8
X 8
24kg DBs x 8
X 8
Pec dec ss with reverse fly
61kg x 3 sets of 10 with a 20 second hold at the end of each set
Reverse fly - struggled with these today
40kg x 22
35kg x 20
33kg x 23
26kg x 20
DB shoulder press 1.15m rest
20kg DBs x 3 sets of 8
12kg DBs x 1 set of 8 (thought I’d grabbed the 15kg ones lol)
Laying skull crushers
12kg DBs x 2 sets of 10
10kg DBs x 2 sets of 10
Seated behind the head tricep extensions
8kg DBs x 4 sets of 10 (this was too light)
This was a looooooong session and I hadn’t eaten before so was dying on the last set of exercises.
Nothing silly about it! Stress is a legitimate risk factor for all-cause mortality. It’s a real thing to manage; it’s good your tackling it like you are.
How’s the job search going? It’s shocking how big a difference that made for me: just a new company and new culture and my mind really settled down
Cheers man.
Job hunt is going well. There’s a load of jobs around in my industry but because I’m at a senior manager level it limits it slightly.
I’ve got 1 interview in a couple of weeks and a second interview (the first went really well) at a company which sounds really good but might be a bit more of a commute so just need to figure if it’s worth it or not.
Trying to balance being a ‘head of commercial’ in a department at construction company and having loads of time for the family and gym doesn’t always align……I will try though.
Good luck!
They don’t always balance well. I can’t put it as eloquently as I once heard it, but I remember a commander once saying that balance doesn’t mean everything gets equal attention every day; it’s about being fully present for everything.
So there’s times where it has to be all work for a few weeks, but then you take your family on vacation and do for them. Or even simple things like don’t bring your phone to the gym or dinner (that one is actually tough for me; I feel like the work is going to end if someone has to wait an hour for a call back).
I guess the good news too is it always tends to settle over time. Whatever is a brutal job when you first start tends to slow down and become routine as you figure it out. Or maybe I just get lazier.
I hear you on the commute! I’m totally remote now, minus the travel that’s always there, and the amount of time not going to an office puts back in your day is incredible.
7th July Creeping Death 2 Week 4 Leg Session
I was really angry with work today which meant for a good session even through it was a longer harder leg one today!
Leg Curls (1.15m rest)
WU Sets
Ramping up in weight and down in reps
54kg x 12
59kg x 10
63kg x 8
68kg x 6
Squats (2m rest)
WU sets
60kg x 8
70kg x 8
80kg x 8
90kg x 8
I actually find pause squats easier and think i have better form with them, probably something i need to work on.
Hack squats
WU sets
60kg x 10
60kg x 10
60kg x 10 then drop set, 40kg x 8, 20kg x 8
Leg extensions cluster set
35kg each side 10 reps, 7 reps, 5 reps (30second then 45 second breaks)
DB RDL 1.3m rest
36kg DBs x 3 sets of 8
Claves (1m rest)
30kg x 3 sets of 10 reps
30kg x 3 sets of 8 reps
8th July Creeping Death 2 week 4 Upper body pump session
Was a quicker workout today thankfully, the added volume at this 4 week point has ponded me but I don’t feel run down thankfully.
All exercises are with 1 minute rest
BB bench
Wu sets
60kg x 10
70kg x 10
80kg x 10
80kg x 8
Row machine
35kg each side x 4 sets of 10
DB incline press SS with straight arm pull downs
24kg DBs x 2 sets of 10
26kg DBs x 2 sets of 10
Straight arm pull down
50kg x 4 sets of 10
Ez preacher machine ss with tricep kickback machine
Preachers
4 sets of 10
Tricep machine
4 sets of 10
Hammer curls ss with skull crushers
Hammer curls
12kg DBs x 3 sets of 10
10kg DBs x 1 set of 10
Skull crushers
10kg DBs x 4 sets of 10
Rope and crunches
72kg x 20
X 15
X 12
X 10
Another week done, exercises change next week which is good but will be hard to get the weights correct on them at first which is my only criticism of this programme. You change so much reps and exercises that it does take down guess work to get to the correct weight and effort.
11th July Diet and Weight Check in.
Overall its been a bit odd, started off at 100% diet compliance for quite some time then went off the rails a bit. I also noticed that Creeping Death 2 does take its toll (in terms of volume) and i ended up having more carbs than allotted to recover.
So far then:
Average Weekly weight before diet 106.6kg
Week 1 - 105.2kg
Week 2 - 103.9kg
Week 3 - 103.3kg
Week 4 - 103.0kg
Week 5 - 103.8kg
Week 6 - 102.8kg (this week)
In week 4 i had my mates 40th and basically ate and drank about 5000 calories in one day. Been mostly compliant since but it made my weight increase by 2kg in one day (guessing its water etc.)
As for Creeping Death 2 review so far.
Pros
Cons
Overall though really enjoying the programme. I think after this I’m going to try the Meadows Warlock programme (its an upper/lower) to focus on improving my strength on some exercises until i’m as buff as @TrainForPain
11th Creeping Death 2 week 5 Pull session
Change of main exercises now (as per programme).
I noticed that on my right side the reps were easy, the left side they all felt really hard! Guess I have a lat imbalance.
Rack pulls shin level (1.3m rest) 5x5
120kg x 3 twinged my back (think I did it on the last set of meadows rows)
4 sets of 100kg x 5
Straight arm push downs ss with (1.15m rest)
60kg x 4 sets of 8
Pullovers
30kg x 4 sets of 8
Facepulls
10 on the machine (whatever that is) 2 sets of 12
Hanging Leg raises
X 8 grip went needed some straps
X 10
X 8
X 8
X 11 did these arms resting rather than hanging.
X 8
Ez curls very slow lower - 5 second lowers (1.15m rest)
15kg x 8
20kg x 8
15kg x 8 needed at 17kg bar but it was taken
15kg x 8
Ez preacher curls 3 second lower (1m rest)
3 hole on the big weight on the machine lol x 4 sets of 8
Hanging leg raises just killed my lats, didn’t realise how tight they were!!! Or still are really!
12th July Creeping Death 2 Week 5 Push Session
Change of main lifts as per Meadows instructions.
Machine Press 2m rest
WU sets
50kg Each side 3 sets of 8 (this was bordering on too heavy but i got the reps in)
BB bench 1.3m rest Explosive reps with a dead stop
90kg x 5
85kg 4 sets of 5
My bench has got worse since i haven’t trained it in ages, i thought the Incline press and DBs bench would help but apparently not.
Dip pushdown machine SS with Stretcher push ups (1.15m rest)
Dips 40kg each side 3 sets of 8
Stretcher Push ups
x 10
x 6
x 5
Cage Press (seated smith press) 1.15m rest
20kg (plus bar) 4 sets of 8 Explosive reps
Rear delts 1 second hold on each rep SS with Push downs (1.15m rest)
Rear Delts 40kg x 4 sets of 15
Pushdowns
45kg x 12
x 12
x 10
x 8
OH Tricep machine 1.15m rest
4 sets of 10
Ploughing on this week, eating well and training hard!
Just to clarify before i start, I HATE SMITH LUNGES!!!
Now that’s out my system.
14th July Creeping Death 2 Week 5 Legs (this was horrid today)
Leg Curls (1.15m rest)
WU sets
Ramping up the weights and lowers reps
47kg x 12
54kg x 10
61kg x 8
68kg x 6
Leg Press (2m rest) Ramping up, explosive reps
1 plate per side x 8
2 plates PS x 8
3 plates PS x 8
4 plates PS x 8
5 plates PS x 8
Smith Lunges - I HATE YOU LUNGES!!!
20kg plus the smith bar 3 sets of 10
My leg that wasn’t working was in bits on this, i’m guessing that very tight hip flexors or something of the like but it was agony!
Leg extensions (1.15m rest)
35kg each side 3 sets of 8 then 15 partials on the last set (oooooh this hurt)
DB RDL (1.15m rest)
36kg DBs x 3 sets of 8
Calves seated (1m rest)
15kg x 20
15kg x 18
10kg x 18
30kg x 8 for 3 sets
Todays leg day was a bit step change from the previous sessions and was hard! Got a few beers planned in tonight with some old mates in the medieval village of Market Bosworth, can’t wait to get some ale down my throat or a treat!
15th July Creeping Death 2 Week 5 upper pump day
Yesterday was in a 600cal deficit…then went out and sank 1200 cal of ale. As tipsy after 6 pints, had really poor sleep and spent this mornings session mostly on the toilet.
Should have stayed in bed.
All rest was 1m apart from my toilet breaks.
Seated cable row
WI sets
56kg 4 x sets of 12
Close grip lat pull down
63kg x 4 sets of 8
Machine press (I still ached from my session on Tuesday!)
35kg each side x 4 sets of 10
Dip machine
40kg each side 4 sets of 8
Curl machine
4 sets of 8
Kick back machine
4 sets of 8
Hammer curls
12kg DBs x 4 sets of 12
Then sat on the toilet for 12 minutes and had to go to work. Feel like shit today after those beers last night.