Credit: Kennedy News and Media
Major Warning Issued After Woman’s ‘Muscles Exploded’ From Doing Too Many Pull-Ups
A major warning has been issued after a woman’s ‘muscles exploded’ from doing too many pull-ups at the gym.
Jessica Johnson, who lives in Charleston, South Carolina, U.S., was completing her first week of Crossfit’s intense regime known as the Murph Challenge, which consists of runs, pull-ups, push-ups, and squats, and attempted 50 pull-ups at her local gym.
The Murph challenge involves contestants running a mile and then completing a circuit of 300 squats, 200 push-ups, and 100 pull-ups before running another mile afterwards.
The next day, the 25-year-old woke up with ‘super sore’ and ‘swollen’ arms but presumed it was because she hadn’t trained her upper body in a while.
Yet Johnson’s arms continued to blow up and when she lost the feeling in her hands, the healthcare worker rushed to the hospital.
Johnson said: “I was very shocked. It felt embarrassing. I was admitted into the hospital for four days.
“I thought ‘I’m here because I did too hard of a workout and I’m literally one of the fittest people I know.’ I was definitely shocked and didn’t know that this could happen.
“I was doing 10 sets of five pull-ups. I left the gym pretty tired. I was like ‘Oh man, I’m going to be so sore tomorrow.’ I hadn’t worked out my arms like that in a while.
“I was super sore and my arms were swollen on Wednesday. I’d never had swollen arms before from a workout.
“I didn’t really think anything of it. I thought ‘I haven’t done pull ups in forever, it was a hard workout, they’ll go down, it’s fine.’
“But I was trying to brush my teeth and take a shower and thought ‘Oh my god, my arms don’t want to work correctly.’ I couldn’t straighten my arms all the way.”
The gym enthusiast had also noticed that her urine had darkened to ‘almost like an orangey color.’
She added: “I was a little nervous because I didn’t know what was going on.”
Doctors diagnosed Johnson with rhabdomyolysis (rhabdo), a serious condition where muscles break down and release harmful substances into the blood.
It’s often the result of high intensity exercise done over a short period of time. It can cause organ failure or even death.
Doctors suspected that the 25-year-old had organ failure, and she nearly had to have her arms cut open to reduce the swelling.
Now, the athlete is taking to TikTok and spreading awareness about her health scare.
A video of her posted in hospital is captioned: “Getting hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis was definitely not on my 2024 bingo card.”
Another clip shows Johnson explaining her diagnosis and warning: “Take it easy. You don’t need to go that hard. You’re fine.”
In the comments, many people related to her story, as one person wrote: “Been there, done that. It was so embarrassing,” while another said: “I got it twice in a year from exercise.”
The healthcare worker has made a ‘full recovery’ and has been cautioned against ‘crazy workouts’ in the future.
“Doctors told me I needed to wait a while until I worked out again and slowly ease back into it. And to not do crazy workouts anymore,” Johnson said.
“It goes away once your body recovers. Once you’ve had it once, you can be more prone to get it again in the future. But my body made a full recovery.”
She has also decided to give up training for the Murph challenge, explaining that her diagnosis was a ‘wake-up call.’
Johnson continued: “I decided I’m not going to be training for the Murph, it’s not worth another hospital stay. I still plan to be active and do my running and walking and more gentle pilates stuff.
“It was definitely a wake-up call that I don’t have my high school, teenage body. As we age we have to take care of our bodies.
“This was a wake-up call for me to chill out a bit. You don’t need to be doing super intense stuff all the time. It’s okay to do a little bit more of a relaxing workout.
“Listen to your body and take it easy. Yes, it’s very good to work out our bodies. It’s healthy to do that. But I think it’s important to share with people now more than ever.
“Working out too much and doing too aggressive of a workout is not good for you and not healthy. I think some people need to hear that.”
The Murph challenge is a CrossFit Hero workout which commemorates the legacy of U.S. Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy, who died while fighting in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005.
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