Rhabdomyolysis, often times called Rhabdo, is potentially deadly condition that results from over exertion in workouts. When someone gets Rhabdo muscle tissue is broken down to the point that some protein is released into the bloodstream. These proteins cannot be filtered by the kidneys and thus may lead to kidney failure.
For one police academy class Rhabdo has caused 5 recruits to be dropped from the class today. Ironically these five recruits were the fit recruits in the class. Rhabdo though does typically manifest in fit people, who push themselves too far.The academy director explains that a recruit named Zack Vogel approached him about running some fitness training with his fellow classmates. Recruit Vogel is a certified Crossfit Coach, with both L1 and Coach Prep classes under his belt. He worked his way though college as a coach in a CrossFit Box.
Currently the police academy does not have any fitness classes in the academy. Prior to the academy recruits are administered the Cooper Fitness test. In the last week of the academy the Cooper test again. But there is nothing between these dates to help them improve scores.
Recruit Vogel realized that the academy had everything he needed to run some basic workouts. If the academy would allow students to stay late on a voluntary basis he was willing to volunteer his time to run workouts 3 days a week.
Recruit Vogel created some smart routines that would challenge his fellow classmates but not leave them so sore they could not function in class the next day. Over the course of a few weeks the intensity was ramped up gradually.
Then Friday the Work Out of the Day (WOD) was a killer. Called “Lourong Living WOD 1” it consisted of Wall balls, Dead lifts, and Box Jumps. This workout used a decreasing reps of starting at 21, and going down each round like this 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, 3, 1.
On Monday people were complaining about soreness from that Friday workout. After class as participants in the fitness program were gathering Zack noticed swelling in the legs of one recruit. He asked about pee color, the answer, darker than normal. Fearing the worst Zack went to the directors office. Fortunately the academy director was had not left yet, and came down to the gym.
All the recruits complaining about soreness that day were told to go to the hospital. Sure enough five recruits were diagnosed with Rhabdo. These five were placed on intravenous fluids and admitted to the hospital for a few days. Two of the five recruits actually required dialysis.
As of now the academy director said that the voluntary fitness training has been suspended.