A South Carolina woman claims both her biceps “exploded” after taking part in a CrossFit challenge.
Jessica Johnson, 25, started training last month for the gruelling Murph Challenge, which involves two one-mile runs and hundreds of push-ups, pull-ups and squats.
After doing 50 pull-ups in preparation for the challenge, her arms were “super sore” and swollen, but she said that was from working out so hard.
But within four days, his arms were swelling, he lost feeling in his hands and he looked “like the Hulk,” medical workers said.
Her muscles had actually begun to break down and die due to a disease called rhabdomyolysis, which causes large amounts of potassium and other chemicals to enter the bloodstream and attack the kidneys and liver, which can cause fatal organ failure if left untreated.
Jessica Johnson, 25, said her arm muscles “exploded” after doing 50 pull-ups as part of the intense Murph Challenge.
Johnson’s arm was so badly swollen (see photo) that she struggled to brush her teeth or shower, and she spent four days in hospital receiving intravenous fluids and electrolytes.
Additionally, she noticed that her urine was much darker than normal, almost orange in color, due to the excess toxins and waste products.
“I was really shocked and had no idea something like this could happen,” Johnson said in the TikTok video. “Being hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis was definitely not on my bingo card for 2024.”
The Murph Challenge is a training program that includes two one-mile runs, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, and 300 air squats, which typically takes about 40 minutes to an hour.
Johnson only started the challenge the week he was injured, initially focusing on 10 sets of five pull-ups.
“I left the gym feeling pretty tired. I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to be sore tomorrow,’ and I hadn’t worked my arms like that in a while,” she said.
When she woke up the next morning, she found her arm was so swollen she had trouble brushing her teeth or taking a shower.
“I thought, ‘Oh my god, my arm isn’t working,'” she said. “I couldn’t fully straighten my arm.”
“I was visibly swollen and looked like the Hulk. Everyone was like, ‘We thought you were a really muscular person or something.'”
Meanwhile, Johnson’s muscle fibres, which make up muscle tissue and control function, had stretched and weakened due to the strain.
Without this structure, the fibers begin to unravel and the muscle begins to break down and die.
Despite drinking fluids throughout the day, Johnson said, “I wasn’t peeing much during the day, which I thought was a little weird.”
“It made me a little nervous because I didn’t know what was going on.”
Four days after the exercise, Johnson rushed to a local urgent care center, where he was quickly rushed to the emergency room and diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis.
“Doctors were so convinced it was from pull-ups,” she says, “that they had to cut my arm open to release the tension.”
Johnson, pictured at the gym, initially gave up on swollen muscles, but doctors warned he was suffering from kidney and liver damage.
Johnson said she no longer plans to complete the Murph Challenge and will instead focus on less strenuous exercise, like Pilates, and her doctor has encouraged her to resume exercise slowly.
Fortunately, doctors were able to stabilise Johnson’s condition with four days of intravenous fluids and electrolytes.
Rhabdomyolysis manifests as harmless symptoms such as muscle pain and swelling, but it can pose a risk to organs such as the kidneys.
When muscles deteriorate, chemicals such as potassium, phosphate, and creatine are released into the bloodstream in large quantities.
Normally, the kidneys filter these out in urine, but if there is too much, the kidneys cannot keep up.
As a result, these chemicals build up and cause kidney damage and failure.
This could explain why Johnson’s urine turned orange.
“The doctors were mainly concerned about my organs. With rhabdomyolysis, basically the cells in the muscles explode, causing the muscles to rupture,” she said.
Johnson suffered kidney and liver damage but made a full recovery and was released from hospital four days after being admitted.
Although the condition seems extreme, rhabdomyolysis is fairly common, affecting about 26,000 Americans annually and killing about 1 in 20 of them.
Most often, the cause is trauma, intense exercise, severe dehydration, prolonged inactivity, or a substance use disorder.
With more severe damage, dialysis may be needed to filter toxins as the kidneys normally do.
“People have died from this disease in the past. I’m really grateful that I didn’t end up having to deal with those issues,” she said.
Ms Johnson also said her doctor had warned her to avoid “strenuous exercise” and to gradually return to gentler exercise such as walking and pilates.
“I’ve decided not to train for Murph. It’s not worth being hospitalised again,” she said.
“Not having the shape I had in high school was definitely a wake-up call for me. As I get older, I have to take care of my body.”
“Listen to your body and take it slow. Yes, it’s great to be in shape and it’s healthy to do so, but I think now more than ever it’s important to share that with people.”
“Overtraining and exercising too hard is not good for your body and it’s not healthy. I think some people need to hear that.”
