Lawsuit Alleges CrossFit Workout Damaging
There is an article in the Navy Times on a former sailor suing for permanent injury resulting in disability he claims resulted from a CrossFit workout. The article states:
“Several [experts] in the sports medicine field (military and civilian) have addressed a concern that the program has the potential for causing an increased incidence of musculoskeletal injuries and even muscle breakdown (rhabdomyoloysis) and therefore is not supported by [Navy Center for Personal and Professional Development],” the story states. “Granted, anyone can develop a program that’s very intense, but there’s a safer way of doing this for our sailors.” Picker could not be reached for comment.”
Later in the article,
“Several physicians, including Walter Reed Army Medical Center neurophysiologist Lt. Col. Mark Landau, concluded that Mimms suffered severe injuries following his intense CrossFit workout, according to court records.
The injuries included rhabdomyolysis, lumbosacral spine strain and strain of the bilateral quadriceps, according to court documents. As a result of these injuries, Mimms was incapacitated, lost time from work and required surgery, court records show.”
Without knowing the specific workout performed I can’t be certain, but I think it’s a safe bet the spine and quadriceps injuries resulted from performing one or more Olympic lifts or other exercises in an explosive manner.
This was the point of the CrossFit post I wrote a few weeks back. Many of the exercises recommended and the sloppy form resulting from attempting to move too quickly carry an unnecessarily high risk of injury. The same or better benefits could be had from replacing the Olympic lifts and other explosive movements with exercises that can be performed without reliance on momentum and using stricter form. I have some clients who regularly perform modified versions of the CrossFit routines Fran, Diane and Cindy (many of the CrossFit routines have women’s names) to focus on metabolic and cardiovascular conditioning, and none have have been injured in the process. By replacing the explosive movements with exercises performed in a controlled fashion the routines can be performed with a much lower risk of injury while maintaining the high level of metabolic and cardiovascular demand.
The thrusters in Fran (combined squat and press) can be performed in a controlled fashion, and the kipping pull-ups in both Fran and Cindy and can be replaced with strict pull-ups or chin-ups. I have one client with a grade 3 spondylolisthesis at L5-S1 and others with various knee and back problems who have been able to perform these routines with no problems. If these people can do them safely, they certainly shouldn’t cause spine and quadriceps injuries in a healthy person.
“The suit claims Mimms suffered from rhabdomyolysis — which occurs when tiny shreds of muscle fiber are absorbed by the bloodstream and ultimately poison the kidneys — as a result of performing a CrossFit workout under the direction of Lopez, who worked as Ruthless Training Concepts trainer at the now-defunct Manassas World Gym.”
I do not believe rhabdomyolysis is a problem with CrossFit training any more than it is a problem with high intensity training or any other exercise method, but rather a failure of the trainee or instructor to properly scale the routine to their current level of conditioning. Any workout can cause this if the intensity and volume exceed what is appropriate for the trainee. In addition to prescribing workouts of appropriate intensity and volume, the chances of developing rhabdomyolysis can be reduced by staying adequately hydrated and keeping the training environment as cool as possible. Extra care should be taken with trainees with kidney problems or other conditions such as sickle-cell trait which predispose them to a greater risk of developing rhabdomyolysis.
Trainees should be motivated to perform to the best of their abilities, and to train at a high level of intensity, but not encouraged to push harder or do more than they can handle.
References:
Kark JA, Ward FT. Exercise and hemoglobin S. Semin in Hematol. 1994;31:181-225.
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