3 Tufts University athletes still hospitalized after 45-minute workout with Navy Seal graduate went awry

Originally published at: 3 Tufts University athletes still hospitalized after 45-minute workout with Navy Seal graduate went awry - Boing Boing

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It’s fucking lacrosse… they’re not training to go off to war, FFS… calling in someone from the navy seals was probably a bit overkill.

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Rhabdomyolysis is not that rare. It can be seen after any prolonged, grueling physical exercise. Post marathons it can be seen in crops, and caught early treated with vigorous hydration. But it can lead to kidney failure if you get dry. That is a very bad idea.

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Happened to some Oregon football players after a new head coach and training coach.

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And even if they were training to go to war, a “workout” that injured a dozen and hospitalized nine with potentially life-threatening injuries would be dangerously irresponsible and counterproductive.

Surely athletes and soldiers alike should be trained to avoid these kinds of injuries? Not much good on the athletic field or the field of battle in this condition…

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What causes rhabdomyolysis?

Causes of rhabdomyolysis include:

  • Injury or trauma: A severe burn (especially ones that cover a large surface area), electrocution or crushing injury can cause muscle fibers to break down rapidly. A crushing injury is one of the most common causes of rhabdomyolysis.
  • High-intensity exercise: Jumping into an exercise program too fast can lead to rhabdomyolysis when your muscles don’t have time to heal after an intense workout.
  • Severe dehydration and overheating: Heat causes faster muscle breakdown. Your kidneys can’t dispose of your body’s waste without plenty of fluids.
  • Medications: Some medications can cause muscle breakdown, including antipsychotic, antidepressant and antiviral medications. Statin medications can also lead to rhabdomyolysis, especially when they treat diabetes or liver disease.
  • Substance use disorder: Heroin, LSD, cocaine and alcohol are toxic to your body and can cause your muscles to deteriorate.
  • Long periods of inactivity: People who fall, lose consciousness and can’t get up for an extended period can develop rhabdomyolysis.
  • Certain medical conditions: Genetic conditions like McArdle disease and Duchenne muscular dystrophy can lead to rhabdomyolysis. Also, certain metabolic or mitochondrial conditions have a higher risk of rhabdomyolysis…

In my experience, crush injuries have caused the majority of the cases I have had to deal with, but that’s due to where I worked. High intensity exercise along with dehydration is the most likely cause here.

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But I was led to believe that the bravest athletes always forgo water during strenuous training. Are you saying that movies are wrong??
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And the SEAL’s commanding officer should be very wary of giving him a position of leadership over other soldiers or responsibility for the lives of others.

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I was a college athlete, and heard this shit IRL. It was stupid then, and is still stupid. And puts people’s lives in danger. Even worse, it takes young people who have faith and trust in someone and victimizes them for that.

(I was a swimmer, and we did not get this ourselves, but we worked out in the same facility as the wrestlers and the football players. And those coaches were awful.)

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Isn’t that what happened several years ago where two women got into a squats contest with one another and severely over did it and hurt themselves?

I guess I can google it…

yep!

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Toxic masculinity. Hell of a drug.

I was a runner, myself. Hydration was our religion.

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I suspect half those injured were all-in DudeBro lets do it !!! and the other half scared shitless about looking weak or saying anything contrary in front of the other guys and this exalted Navy Seal/God.

Reminds me of this dude:

I’ve run into Mickey Grosman-types, if it wasn’t IDF it would be something else that ‘proves’ he’s a tough customer and you better listen and respect him or else he’ll rip you a new one with words and attitude.

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I gather this comes up in the CrossFit community a bunch. Phenomenon even has a nickname there, Uncle Rhabdo.

I don’t do CrossFit. I do kinda insane cycling and running excursions but built up to the volume that I do over time…

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Wait, acid? How many hits of LSD do you need to make your muscles break down?

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Can confirm. Any training regimen needs to be carefully planned with gradual ramp-up as part of conditioning.

I had two platoons of reserve Soldiers training in Florida for a few months in a strenuous physical course. Any physical activity was planned in advance with a gradual buildup in intensity and carefully monitored, and Soldiers were encouraged to eat full meals (“this isnt the time to start a diet”) and hydration was forced. All was going well, until after about five weeks one Soldier started babbling after a routine morning workout, then passed out and had to be rushed to the hospital. He had severe dehydration and rhabdo and spent three days in the hospital. It turns out he had been sneaking out at night to do additional workouts with heavy weights and hadn’t told us (or asked, we would have refused him).

The US Army’s physical training guide:
https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/ARN30964-FM_7-22-001-WEB-4.pdf

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Hope they lost their jobs soon after that.

I don’t buy it.

Jim Morrison ate 10,000 mikes and his muscles lived to tell the tale.

A GF of mine ate 500 mikes and was fine…after they ahem fished her out of the Huron River in Ann Arbor and took her to the hospital.

They asked her, “Have you ever heard of LSD?”

She replied, “Yeeeaaahhhh, maaaan!” and they called for thorazine.

Her response to that?

“Awwww, fuck!

Seriously, she was okay. I noticed no changes whatsoever in her, and we spent a lot of time together.

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They also take pride in posting pictures of their brown pee on Instagram.

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Maybe Chubby Emu will do another video about intense exercise leading to rhabdo.

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Doesn’t rhabdo cause permanent injury? I’ve heard about it causing major problems for crossfitters, leaving their muscles in really bad shape (and flabby-looking, to add insult to injury)

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Maybe if you spend a week on your back conversing with the ceiling fan?

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