Friday, September 18, 2009

He ain't no joke: Uncle Rhabdo

OK, so the point of CF is wild intensity. Every class, every Special Sunday, every Holiday blowout is a chance to unleash and test the limits. That’s the point, right...why push the envelope when you can shove it the hell through?!!

Right.

But that’s also the point...there are physical limits in the world. We like to say there are no limits, push yourself beyond your limits...but that’s in the metaphorical world...the physical world has plenty of limits! When you go with intensity, purpose, and competition, there is the risk of injury. Slight muscle tears that keep you out a week, nagging tendon and ligament damage that may require months of healing before returning to full power, and even deadly serious results such as “Rhabdomyolysis.”

Rhabdomyolysis (Uncle Rhabdo to CrossFitters) can occur when physical, athletic activity is so intense that the muscle cells breakdown and the contents enter the bloodstream. Read this review for a further explanation.

Basically, from the intense physical shock, the body goes toxic. Not just sore, mind you, but toxic...pain, swelling, heart arrhythmia, and other symptoms that require hospitalization.

Granted, this is most likely to happen to a novice who swaggers in on a hot day and tries to keep pace with pull-ups, swings, burpees, and squat cleans. Sure, those conditions are ripe. And we may think we’re immune because our bodies are acclimated to the intensity, pace and heart rate...again, possibly true.

But any time, for any one, the conditions may be right...hydration level, fatigue, previous workouts, mental state, class competition, the particular workout...any number of variables could come into play to make it our day for serious injury.

So should we lower our expectations and stop trying to “redefine our fitness limits?” Hardly! That’s referencing an entirely different category of “limits.” If you’ve ever gone so hard that you are sore...sore beyond measure...sore to your core...so sore that you are physically ill...you may have come close to meeting Uncle Rhabdo. And for certain, that’s one limit you don’t want to push.

So in your attack, be relentless but not reckless. In your attitude, be intense but not irresponsible. As the article ends with, “Practice mindful exercise, thoughtful intensity.”

From the CrossFit site:
Warning, these workouts can kill! Acute exertional rhabdomyolysis is a serious clinical illness caused by an injury to skeletal muscle that results in the release of myoglobin and other cellular contents, including creatine kinase (CK-MM fraction) and aldolase, into the circulatory system. It can kill. Several cases of “Rhabdo” have been associated with CrossFit workouts. Only newcomers have been affected and poor fitness has NOT been a factor. We cannot emphasize enough the importance and safety of starting slowly: http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/start-how.html.

5 comments:

Steve G said...

Great thanks Matt. Now I have a better rationale for turning off the alarm clock and going back to sleep. Fear of death is easy to explain.

Matt_D said...

It's exceptionally rare, SG...the "I don't want to get Rhabdo" excuse...that's funny!:)lol

It sure beats saying, "The sun was in my eyes."

Maria_C said...

Someone recently mentioned this happened to them. It's extremely painful, or was for them. I disagree with the idea it's most likely to happen to a beginner. "Poor fitness has not been a factor." Of course it isn't! Matt, that's not directed at you, you knew that, you didn't write the article. So...be mindful of what we are doing! Or, we all could just start pressing snooze!

Matt_D said...

Good point...I chose the words "novice" and "swagger" to try to convey that idea. Someone who is "fit" and runs some 5ks, works out...but knows NOT intensity...and lets the ego get the best of them.

A beginner would never be able to run the 1 mile and do the 100 pull ups of Murph...so is sort of exempt from the concept by virtue of lack of conditioning (strength, power, endurance).

A novice to intense conditioning is capable of pushing out 100 pullups, swings, burpees, etc...just physically fit enough to get themselves into trouble. Of course, same would be true of CFers who are fit enough to really crank it out. It all goes back to leaving the Ego at the door.

Maria_C said...

LOL, while I understood your post and was referencing the article, I actually interpreted "swagger" in a different way. Of course I would. I "sign up" for this stuff.

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