Woman's arms 'explode' after workout challenge
A gym enthusiast's arms "exploded" after trying to do a fitness challenge, leading to a life-threatening condition that "poisoned" her blood and damaged her kidneys.
PEOPLE Magazine reported that Jessica Johnson, a 25-year-old health worker from South Carolina, had been doing the "Murph Challenge," which consists of running a mile (1.6km) and then doing 300 squats, 200 push-ups, and 100 pull-ups before running another mile.
The challenge is sponsored by the fitness company CrossFit and the clothing brand Forged.
Johnson said she did 10 sets of five pull-ups and felt "pretty tired" after her workout, according to New York Post, citing Kennedy News Agency.
Her arms became swollen and sore the next day, and she thought it was because it's a "hard workout" and because she hasn't done pull-ups "in forever."
"They’ll go down, it’s fine,” Johnson recalled saying. Her arms, however, continued to swell.
“Everyone said, ‘We just thought you were super jacked or something,'” she recalled.
While she was drinking "tons of water," Johnson observed that she "wasn't peeing much" during the day. Whenever she urinated, it was "darker, almost like an orangery color.”
She went to the hospital and blood tests showed she had rhabdomyolysis. According to WebMD, rhabdomyolysis or rhabdo is a serious condition caused by a direct or indirect muscle injury. It happens when muscle fibers die and release their contents into the bloodstream. It can lead to serious complications like kidney failure and even death.
As Johnson put it, the cells are basically exploding in the muscles. “It’s like blood poisoning since your body can’t really filter it out," she said.
Doctors had to cut Johnson's arms to alleviate the swelling, according to PEOPLE, and her kidneys managed to survive.
Though she already had a "full recovery," Johnson said it's a "wake-up call for me to chill out a bit."
Aside from taking a break from the Murph Challenge, she must do cardio and "more gentle pilates stuff.”
“Working out too much and doing too aggressive of a workout," Johnson said, "is not good for you and not healthy.”
CrossFit and Forged have yet to issue a statement about the matter.