A general comment here - while this could be the result of out of
shape players pushing themselves too hard, the diagnosis itself in no
way indicates that is what actually happened. Even highly trained
athletes in peak physical condition can suffer from rhabdomyolysis.
This isn't the first time this topic has come up. Several years ago
multiple McMinnville high school athletes had a similar situation
following a workout. A layman term for this is "compartment syndrome"
In general, it typically occurs after an injury, but can be the result
of excessively vigorous exercise, especially eccentric movements (muscle
lengthens as it contracts).
The triceps tend to have this happen frequently. Contrary to some
opinion, this is not caused by not working hard before, it is simply a
result of excessive vigorous exercise.
It is impossible to say whether this was an over aggressive workout
plan, poor hydration, rest, or any other combination of publicly
available information at this point in time.
I have been an athlete all of my life; as a distance runner in high
school I ran 100+ miles per week, I played college football, I was a
world class powerlifter, I spent four years in the Marine Corps, and
even in my best physical shape, I was susceptible to this medical
condition. Occasionally, I probably went over the line into forms of the
condition, but I knew my body enough to know when to turn it back down.
I may be the only person I know to ice down my chest after bench nights
(like a pitcher that ices his shoulder).
Like I said before, the one exercise where we really put ourselves in
danger was with chase dips (and in general this seems to be the pattern
of these widespread cases - high rep, low weight repetitive work
focusing on one specific movement). We would always do chase dips at he
end of a chest workout and it was simple - the person who could do the
most would go first and I tried to keep up with him (he was 40 pounds
lighter and able to do a lot more dips even though I was 100+ pounds
stronger on the bench press). The workouts were really burnouts; he
would do a set to failure, then I would try to match, and we would work
our way down to only being able to do a few reps. It was brutal and we
did NOT do it every day for four consecutive days - we didn't even do it
two weeks in a row. We'd do them about once a month
In addition to acute cases such as these there is something called chronic
exertional compartment syndrome which is an exercise-induced condition
in which the pressure in the muscles increases to extreme levels during
exercise. The pressure creates a decrease in blood flow to the affected
area which leads to a deprivation of oxygen to the muscles. The symptoms
are a sensation of extreme tightness in the affected muscles followed
by a burning sensation if exercise is continued. Chronic exertional
compartment syndrome usually occurs in athletes who participate in
repetitive impact sports such as running.
At the end of the day, the players who were taken to the hospital have no real qualms with what occurred. It could have been a hydration
issue, it could have been improper warmups, it could have been being
out of shape, or could could have been (it was) a complex combination of
many factors which led to three people being treated for a medical
condition that can be very serious.
The only thing I can say that I think was done wrong was more of an
oversight and that is having any group do the same workout four
consecutive days; any routine that does not allow proper rest and
recovery can be harmful. However, it was also the coaching staff that
recognized the symptoms as more than just soreness and told the players
to seek medical treatment.
Tuesday, January 17, 2017