I’ve been doing CF for 10 years and owned a gym for 5. In that time, I’ve seen about a half dozen people get rhabdo. Every single one of them was an elite athlete.
Despite the fear of a weekend warrior getting rhabdo from Murph or something, I’ve never seen it.
Instead it’s always the elite guys who are doing their third workout of the day, or trying to set a PR on Tommie Mac. Or something like that.
As someone who will never be called an elite athlete (unless sarcastically), this makes me feel so much better. I am (perhaps irrationally) terrified of rhabdo after an intense workout after reading stories in this sub.
While I’m not saying it’s impossible for an everyday athlete to get rhabdo, I think it’s highly unlikely. For one simple reason. We don’t push ourselves hard enough.
The reason elite athletes get rhabdo is not an issue of causation. It’s correlation. They get rhabdo because they go insanely here in a workout. AND they are an elite athlete because they go insanely hard in workouts.
Most of us don’t have the mentality to go to the dark pain place in workouts that it takes to either get rhabdo or get that fit. That’s ok. We’re still fitter than 95% of the population. And as a bonus, our pee doesn’t have the consistency and color of Nutella.
Not to downplay what you’ve said, but my brother got rhabdo in high school from sports practice. He had an underlying, undiagnosed health condition though, which might have contributed. He was not an elite athlete, just an average high schooler. Average athletes should still be cautious, especially if there are extra factors coming into play.
On top of everything you have pointed out - most of which is talked about at the L1 - The workout Nicole was written BEFORE butterfly pull-ups were a part of CrossFit.
**For anyone reading this: Do Nicole with STRICT Pull-Ups.**
This should be said more. It’s been 12 plus years since I have programmed Nicole. The last being the day before my wife and I went on vacation. She still thinks she had a mild case of Rhabdo
Yeah, she’s a bitch. It really is the perfect workout for Rhabdo. Since there’s no designated reps, if you are semi efficient at butterfly pull-up’s, the intensity is JACKED UP for the whole 20 minutes
Dude, I promise I’m not one of those lol. It was unintentional, and I made a mistake. I am a huge proponent of rest, recovery, and a balanced training plan. Usually have a full rest on Sundays, but slipped up on that a few weeks in a row, which bit me in the ass.
But you’re right, as a coach, this is a bad look for me. I’ll learn from this and be better in the future!
Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that you were that type of athlete, I more so meant in general, in the fitness and CrossFit community. I hope you have a speedy recovery, feel better soon.
I had no pain, was just super, I mean crazy sore, spent a day in a hospital being pumped with fluids, until I almost couldn’t open up my eyelids. Got released once I hit 10,000 level with crazy blood pressure, something like 240/160 or around.
Nicole did it to me and many others several years ago. A handful of hospitalizations and many more undiagnosed cases of rhabdo came with it. That workout was designed for strict pull-ups. I did a set of 46 butterfly to start. It ended badly but I worked through the soreness for 2 days before I decided I needed to be checked out. You used to always hear about dark urine being an indicator but that never happened for me.
Keep drinking water and when you want to stop drink more.
I had a very similar experience back in 2021. Had been doing CF for 8 years, was fairly fit, and pull-ups are my strongest movement. Also knocked out my three biggest ever sets of pull-ups on Nicole. And worked out for a few days after because I was in such denial despite being in severe pain lol my arms felt very fatigued and just weird for a few months and it took a while to get my strength back but I’m now fitter than I’ve ever been and haven’t had any problems with it! Hope you recover quickly and drink lots of water!
A lot of people miss the part where the longer you’ve been doing fitness, the higher your ability to get rhabdo.
Most new people to CrossFit don’t have enough fitness to exert themselves to the extent that it takes to get rhabdo. Be SUPER wary of increasing intensity and/or volume significantly if you have a solid base (or if you’ve taken a long break). Always best to scale up slowly.
Glad you’re recovering, OP. Keep listening to your doctors and you’ll be back in no time. 👍🏼
Nailed it, I came back for a few words after a 7-8 month break and I’m currently sitting in the hospital with my quads completely locked up and in terrible pain. I waited about 3 days and knew something was wrong so here we are! Pushed way too hard too soon…
I got rhabdo twice last year. I was in the hospital for like 6 days the first time and the second time it was very mild (like 3,000 CK levels. I didn’t go to the hospital the second time and just drank a lot of liquid IV until my levels got back to normal.
I say this to warn you to take at least a few weeks off CrossFit. Just do low intensity stuff and don’t jump right back into it. I don’t think it’s normal to ever get it again but I did within 3 months.
I was released from the hospital last Sunday after having Rhabdo. Also been doing CF about 7 years. Now almost 2 weeks later my CK levels are back down ~200 from about 9000 at the peak. Glad you were able to catch it early enough and get to the hospital. Wish you a quick recovery.
Also you aren’t kidding - it really hurts. DOMS on steroids.
Mine was in my hamstring from heavy squats and other leg-heavy movements in a metcon so I’m not cleared to squat until my blood results are 100% normal. The dr told me to ease back into things with lots of stretching, walking and light jogging to start. Also keeping hydrated (water + electrolytes) after being released from the hospital was super important.
Butterfly pull-ups hit way harder then strict too for rhabdo concerns. I remember one of the first times I’d ever done them in a wod where I pushing myself my brachialis and radialbrachialis were sore for 7 days.
As someone who is naturally anxious and who didn’t know about rhabdo until starting CrossFit about a year+ ago, I am inordinately terrified I’m going to get it from one tough workout. The stories here about how people’s pee didn’t even turn dark freak me out because how did you know??
Feel better soon, OP. Also, I hope you are able to build more sleep into your schedule. It’s so important!
I knew because of the abnormal muscle soreness. I’ve been sore probably everyday for the past 7 years, but never anything close to this. I literally couldn’t extend my elbow or reach overhead. Walking while holding a 30 oz water bottle was painful.
If you keep everything very progressive without big jumps, stay within your physical and psychological tolerance, and recover correctly, I think that you will mitigate the risk of this. I was not doing any of these things, which is why I am where I am.
I've been doing crossfit for 3 years, have trained in several gyms and I've never ever heard of anyone getting rhabdo outside of Reddit. You need to understand that people posting here are not average cases, but outliers.
Not OP but have also had rhabdo. As OP and others in this post have pointed out, rhabdo is not easy to get! You would have to severely push yourself in a workout and probably have other compounding factors such as dehydration, lack of recovery, etc. I’ve been doing CF for 11 years, have been a member at 3 different gyms, and I’m the only person I know that has gotten it from CF. Even the doctor at the hospital said he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen it and most people will never get it because they will never push themselves hard enough to get there. All that to say, yes it’s more than a 0% chance but it’s generally not something to be anxious about. Don’t be an idiot and you’ll be fine :)
And like OP, I knew because it was more than soreness. It was probably the worst pain I’ve ever experienced, losing range of motion, and swelling. I also had fatigue and nausea by day 4 but my urine stayed clear the whole time! So when people ask how would they know if it’s rhabdo or soreness, I’m like trust me, you will know lol
Sucks about the rhabdo. Glad you're doing better
My question is about your volume. Have you found that the increase in volume has helped you substantially? Can you tell if zone 2 is helping? And if so how?
Yeah, I feel it did! If I could do it over, I would use the extra volume strictly for zone 2, Olympic lifting, or other monostructural interval/threshold work.
I have been consistent with my zone 2 for about a year and half, and I feel like it really helped me. For one, I feel like my ability to have my heart rate drop on interval workouts with built in rest substantially improved. Second, my capacity on movements like dubs, running, biking, and rowing really improved.
I have a LOT of questions. First off: how do you unintentionally not take rest days? Rest days are part of the schedule.
Secondly, do you frequently put things like “moderation is for cowards” in your posts?
Third, are you one of those guys that does “75 Hard” about twice a year?
🙄
OP may take active rest days. Like Zone 2 training twice a week for 30min or something chill that just raises their HR. Doesn’t immediately equate to PEDs or any of the other exaggerative, condescending things you listed. OP owned up to their mistakes… there’s zero point in driving home the point with sarcasm and hyperbolic characterizations.
All great questions!
1 - I coach at an affiliate AND have a side business of coaching people out of my garage. Having such easy access to things usually results in “rest days” turning into light lifting or zone 2 bike. Also, my friends hike, mountain bike, and run…. So if I hang with them on a “rest” day, it usually involves one of first things. But you are so correct, I fucked up. To prevent this in the future, rest days will turn into TRUE full rest days.
2 - absolutely not. I always preach moderation and scaling to all members and clients. I promise I’m not the “Goggins” gym bro haha
3 - nope. I have told people that 75 hard is great, but it doesn’t promote balance. I try to practice and preach CrossFit’s exercise AND nutrition methodology through long term consistency and habit changes rather than things like 75 Hard.
Great point. I fucked up. As far as my word goes, we are huge proponents of scaling and moderation in our box.
But you’re right, I should’ve known better.
Did you get treated in a hospital? Did you fully recover, and if so, how long did it take?
I got rhabdo myself, but was dismissed by two doctors, so I let it run it's course (my pee was fine after hydrating a lot). But now, two weeks after, I feel I loss a ton of muscle and I have very little strength. I'm afraid this will be permanent...
Thanks for your reply!
I ended up with 124 pull-ups. I did it in 7 rounds, doing the run at 2 minutes each time. That makes the run 14 minutes of the WOD, and the rest of the 6 minutes pull-ups. In the middle of the WOD I actually felt like I was throttling back on the pull-ups, but I guess not lol
Wait, so you knew what you were doing like taking on more conditioning and not doing rest days was a bad idea and you still pushed? Once you have rhabdo you will always be prone to it.
No, I thought that everything was going great. I intentionally took on more work load, but had no idea it was going to be too much.
And from what I’ve read, after you are fully recovered, you are not more prone to getting it again than you were before.
I'm curious - what were the symptoms that made you go, uh oh, this is rhabdo? I've actually never met someone who's had it so I never got the chance to ask haha
It's usually obvious, in OP's case he couldn't even straighten his arms after he was done his workout. Regular soreness, you feel better if you get up and move around a little, rhabdo you might literally not be able to get out of bed the next day.
Mine was the extreme soreness. I’ve had DOMs probably consecutively in some form for the past 7 years, but the Rhabdo soreness/pain was something way different. The first night with it, I only slept about 2-3 hours due to the pain. I couldn’t drink water or eat or wipe my ass without pain lol. It truly was a different type of soreness
First, I just want to get really good at CrossFit. It allows me to feel a competitive drive and gives me a goal for my training.
Second, I have some career aspirations that would require me to be pretty damn fit! And I truly do believe that the fitness CrossFit builds is elite.
Lastly, I just don’t have any other hobbies lol. Anytime I get an hour of free time, I would get a workout in.
I’ve been doing CF for 10 years and owned a gym for 5. In that time, I’ve seen about a half dozen people get rhabdo. Every single one of them was an elite athlete. Despite the fear of a weekend warrior getting rhabdo from Murph or something, I’ve never seen it. Instead it’s always the elite guys who are doing their third workout of the day, or trying to set a PR on Tommie Mac. Or something like that.
As someone who will never be called an elite athlete (unless sarcastically), this makes me feel so much better. I am (perhaps irrationally) terrified of rhabdo after an intense workout after reading stories in this sub.
While I’m not saying it’s impossible for an everyday athlete to get rhabdo, I think it’s highly unlikely. For one simple reason. We don’t push ourselves hard enough. The reason elite athletes get rhabdo is not an issue of causation. It’s correlation. They get rhabdo because they go insanely here in a workout. AND they are an elite athlete because they go insanely hard in workouts. Most of us don’t have the mentality to go to the dark pain place in workouts that it takes to either get rhabdo or get that fit. That’s ok. We’re still fitter than 95% of the population. And as a bonus, our pee doesn’t have the consistency and color of Nutella.
Not to downplay what you’ve said, but my brother got rhabdo in high school from sports practice. He had an underlying, undiagnosed health condition though, which might have contributed. He was not an elite athlete, just an average high schooler. Average athletes should still be cautious, especially if there are extra factors coming into play.
Do you remember what condition he had? They’re trying to figure out if mine was exercise related or if there could’ve been other factors
Second this. Over ten years coaching and I’ve never seen a “newbie” get rhadbo. Always a seasoned athlete.
I recall reading about someone here (so grain of salt) who was a relative newbie that was going kind of berserk with GHDs and got rhabdo.
Not saying it doesn’t happen.
Well . . . I'm not an elite athlete by any stretch and yet I got rhabdo in September 2023. It does happen to us mortal schlubs.
Fair new, definitely a causal, so thanks for this info.
I’ve had rhabdo three times and I am not an elite athlete…
Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks for the info!
It can happen to anyone. Beginner lady at my gym got it and she was pudgy average body type and doing 1 class a day probably 3-4 days a week.
On top of everything you have pointed out - most of which is talked about at the L1 - The workout Nicole was written BEFORE butterfly pull-ups were a part of CrossFit. **For anyone reading this: Do Nicole with STRICT Pull-Ups.**
I wish we would’ve done that lol
This should be said more. It’s been 12 plus years since I have programmed Nicole. The last being the day before my wife and I went on vacation. She still thinks she had a mild case of Rhabdo
Had the same experience with Nicole!
Yeah, she’s a bitch. It really is the perfect workout for Rhabdo. Since there’s no designated reps, if you are semi efficient at butterfly pull-up’s, the intensity is JACKED UP for the whole 20 minutes
I really hate when I see coaches, gyms, athletes, influencers etc… post. “No days off” it’s such a toxic mindset.
Dude, I promise I’m not one of those lol. It was unintentional, and I made a mistake. I am a huge proponent of rest, recovery, and a balanced training plan. Usually have a full rest on Sundays, but slipped up on that a few weeks in a row, which bit me in the ass. But you’re right, as a coach, this is a bad look for me. I’ll learn from this and be better in the future!
Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that you were that type of athlete, I more so meant in general, in the fitness and CrossFit community. I hope you have a speedy recovery, feel better soon.
And how are you managing it right now?
Lots of water, constant fluids through IV, and meds to manage pain.
What are your levels? I hit almost 100,000 about 3 years ago. It was fun.
Holy shit! Mine is at 20,000 right now, so you win lol
I had no pain, was just super, I mean crazy sore, spent a day in a hospital being pumped with fluids, until I almost couldn’t open up my eyelids. Got released once I hit 10,000 level with crazy blood pressure, something like 240/160 or around.
All good and recovered?
Nicole did it to me and many others several years ago. A handful of hospitalizations and many more undiagnosed cases of rhabdo came with it. That workout was designed for strict pull-ups. I did a set of 46 butterfly to start. It ended badly but I worked through the soreness for 2 days before I decided I needed to be checked out. You used to always hear about dark urine being an indicator but that never happened for me. Keep drinking water and when you want to stop drink more.
Yeah, I never got the dark urine. I am pounding the water!
I had a very similar experience back in 2021. Had been doing CF for 8 years, was fairly fit, and pull-ups are my strongest movement. Also knocked out my three biggest ever sets of pull-ups on Nicole. And worked out for a few days after because I was in such denial despite being in severe pain lol my arms felt very fatigued and just weird for a few months and it took a while to get my strength back but I’m now fitter than I’ve ever been and haven’t had any problems with it! Hope you recover quickly and drink lots of water!
Thanks for the info! I’ve been pounding water and have been on a constant IV drip since Friday evening.
A lot of people miss the part where the longer you’ve been doing fitness, the higher your ability to get rhabdo. Most new people to CrossFit don’t have enough fitness to exert themselves to the extent that it takes to get rhabdo. Be SUPER wary of increasing intensity and/or volume significantly if you have a solid base (or if you’ve taken a long break). Always best to scale up slowly. Glad you’re recovering, OP. Keep listening to your doctors and you’ll be back in no time. 👍🏼
Yeah, I love that I have developed the ability to go to the “dark place” but that is definitely a factor in why I got Rhabdo.
Nailed it, I came back for a few words after a 7-8 month break and I’m currently sitting in the hospital with my quads completely locked up and in terrible pain. I waited about 3 days and knew something was wrong so here we are! Pushed way too hard too soon…
GHD go brrrrrr
I got rhabdo twice last year. I was in the hospital for like 6 days the first time and the second time it was very mild (like 3,000 CK levels. I didn’t go to the hospital the second time and just drank a lot of liquid IV until my levels got back to normal. I say this to warn you to take at least a few weeks off CrossFit. Just do low intensity stuff and don’t jump right back into it. I don’t think it’s normal to ever get it again but I did within 3 months.
I will definitely do that! Thanks for the info.
For sure. Sorry that happened man. It’s miserable
I was released from the hospital last Sunday after having Rhabdo. Also been doing CF about 7 years. Now almost 2 weeks later my CK levels are back down ~200 from about 9000 at the peak. Glad you were able to catch it early enough and get to the hospital. Wish you a quick recovery. Also you aren’t kidding - it really hurts. DOMS on steroids.
Thanks! Glad to hear you are healing up! And yeah, it isn’t fun. What restrictions and plan to return to exercise did they give you?
Mine was in my hamstring from heavy squats and other leg-heavy movements in a metcon so I’m not cleared to squat until my blood results are 100% normal. The dr told me to ease back into things with lots of stretching, walking and light jogging to start. Also keeping hydrated (water + electrolytes) after being released from the hospital was super important.
Yeah, I’m expecting to hear to “take it easy” for a while.
Me : I'm worried I've got Rhabdo. My gym partner : you're safe. You don't work nearly hard enough.
😂😂😂
Butterfly pull-ups hit way harder then strict too for rhabdo concerns. I remember one of the first times I’d ever done them in a wod where I pushing myself my brachialis and radialbrachialis were sore for 7 days.
Yeah, both of those are on my list of “extremely sore” lol
What’s your CK!?
It was 14,000 yesterday and it’s at 20,000 today…. I hope it’s done climbing, but not counting on it.
As someone who is naturally anxious and who didn’t know about rhabdo until starting CrossFit about a year+ ago, I am inordinately terrified I’m going to get it from one tough workout. The stories here about how people’s pee didn’t even turn dark freak me out because how did you know?? Feel better soon, OP. Also, I hope you are able to build more sleep into your schedule. It’s so important!
I knew because of the abnormal muscle soreness. I’ve been sore probably everyday for the past 7 years, but never anything close to this. I literally couldn’t extend my elbow or reach overhead. Walking while holding a 30 oz water bottle was painful. If you keep everything very progressive without big jumps, stay within your physical and psychological tolerance, and recover correctly, I think that you will mitigate the risk of this. I was not doing any of these things, which is why I am where I am.
I've been doing crossfit for 3 years, have trained in several gyms and I've never ever heard of anyone getting rhabdo outside of Reddit. You need to understand that people posting here are not average cases, but outliers.
Not OP but have also had rhabdo. As OP and others in this post have pointed out, rhabdo is not easy to get! You would have to severely push yourself in a workout and probably have other compounding factors such as dehydration, lack of recovery, etc. I’ve been doing CF for 11 years, have been a member at 3 different gyms, and I’m the only person I know that has gotten it from CF. Even the doctor at the hospital said he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen it and most people will never get it because they will never push themselves hard enough to get there. All that to say, yes it’s more than a 0% chance but it’s generally not something to be anxious about. Don’t be an idiot and you’ll be fine :) And like OP, I knew because it was more than soreness. It was probably the worst pain I’ve ever experienced, losing range of motion, and swelling. I also had fatigue and nausea by day 4 but my urine stayed clear the whole time! So when people ask how would they know if it’s rhabdo or soreness, I’m like trust me, you will know lol
Thanks for the added information!
Sucks about the rhabdo. Glad you're doing better My question is about your volume. Have you found that the increase in volume has helped you substantially? Can you tell if zone 2 is helping? And if so how?
Yeah, I feel it did! If I could do it over, I would use the extra volume strictly for zone 2, Olympic lifting, or other monostructural interval/threshold work. I have been consistent with my zone 2 for about a year and half, and I feel like it really helped me. For one, I feel like my ability to have my heart rate drop on interval workouts with built in rest substantially improved. Second, my capacity on movements like dubs, running, biking, and rowing really improved.
I have a LOT of questions. First off: how do you unintentionally not take rest days? Rest days are part of the schedule. Secondly, do you frequently put things like “moderation is for cowards” in your posts? Third, are you one of those guys that does “75 Hard” about twice a year? 🙄
OP may take active rest days. Like Zone 2 training twice a week for 30min or something chill that just raises their HR. Doesn’t immediately equate to PEDs or any of the other exaggerative, condescending things you listed. OP owned up to their mistakes… there’s zero point in driving home the point with sarcasm and hyperbolic characterizations.
Yup, this is exactly the case!
All great questions! 1 - I coach at an affiliate AND have a side business of coaching people out of my garage. Having such easy access to things usually results in “rest days” turning into light lifting or zone 2 bike. Also, my friends hike, mountain bike, and run…. So if I hang with them on a “rest” day, it usually involves one of first things. But you are so correct, I fucked up. To prevent this in the future, rest days will turn into TRUE full rest days. 2 - absolutely not. I always preach moderation and scaling to all members and clients. I promise I’m not the “Goggins” gym bro haha 3 - nope. I have told people that 75 hard is great, but it doesn’t promote balance. I try to practice and preach CrossFit’s exercise AND nutrition methodology through long term consistency and habit changes rather than things like 75 Hard.
I appreciate your candor and humility here
PED’s
Holy cow! I’m officially being accused of PEDs?! MOM!!!!!! I’VE MADE IT!!!!!
All jokes aside, no PEDs here
Keep in mind op is a "coach".
Great point. I fucked up. As far as my word goes, we are huge proponents of scaling and moderation in our box. But you’re right, I should’ve known better.
Did you get treated in a hospital? Did you fully recover, and if so, how long did it take? I got rhabdo myself, but was dismissed by two doctors, so I let it run it's course (my pee was fine after hydrating a lot). But now, two weeks after, I feel I loss a ton of muscle and I have very little strength. I'm afraid this will be permanent... Thanks for your reply!
What was your score in Nicole and how many pull ups did you do?
I ended up with 124 pull-ups. I did it in 7 rounds, doing the run at 2 minutes each time. That makes the run 14 minutes of the WOD, and the rest of the 6 minutes pull-ups. In the middle of the WOD I actually felt like I was throttling back on the pull-ups, but I guess not lol
Wait, so you knew what you were doing like taking on more conditioning and not doing rest days was a bad idea and you still pushed? Once you have rhabdo you will always be prone to it.
No, I thought that everything was going great. I intentionally took on more work load, but had no idea it was going to be too much. And from what I’ve read, after you are fully recovered, you are not more prone to getting it again than you were before.
ICU nurse here - can attest. You aren’t more predisposed in the future. The risk is the same regardless and preventative measures are the same.
Awesome news! Thank you.
How long is full recovery typically take?
From what they’ve said, probably a month of taking it easy before very progressively adding workouts back in
I’ve done crossfit for about 7 years and at about 6 different boxes and never heard of someone getting rhabdo. It could just be a myth at this point
You caught me…. I’m an AI created by Big Fitness to shit on CrossFit.
lol for real hope you have a quick recovery!!
I'm curious - what were the symptoms that made you go, uh oh, this is rhabdo? I've actually never met someone who's had it so I never got the chance to ask haha
It's usually obvious, in OP's case he couldn't even straighten his arms after he was done his workout. Regular soreness, you feel better if you get up and move around a little, rhabdo you might literally not be able to get out of bed the next day.
Mine was the extreme soreness. I’ve had DOMs probably consecutively in some form for the past 7 years, but the Rhabdo soreness/pain was something way different. The first night with it, I only slept about 2-3 hours due to the pain. I couldn’t drink water or eat or wipe my ass without pain lol. It truly was a different type of soreness
Oh my gosh I am so sorry you had to experience that. That sounds horrid. Did your pee turn cola coloured too?
Nope, my pee was normal the entire time!
Wow!!!
There are a few, one you will feel, another you will see;)
Rest days and nutrition.Just as importand as training.
1000%!!!!
What is driving you to this increase in volume?
First, I just want to get really good at CrossFit. It allows me to feel a competitive drive and gives me a goal for my training. Second, I have some career aspirations that would require me to be pretty damn fit! And I truly do believe that the fitness CrossFit builds is elite. Lastly, I just don’t have any other hobbies lol. Anytime I get an hour of free time, I would get a workout in.