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.