High-intensity fitness programs to be reviewed - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

High-intensity fitness programs to be reviewed

High-intensity fitness training programs like P90X and CrossFit are exploding in popularity in both the military community and the civilian world because they offer dramatic results with aggressive regimens, frequently timed and performed with high repetitive loads.

But anecdotal concerns have surfaced in both communities about injury rates, particularly muscle injuries such as exertional rhabdomyolysis — basically, too much intense exercise. Symptoms include severe, incapacitating muscle pain; elevated blood levels of the muscle-cell enzyme creatine kinase, which can cause kidney problems; and myoglobin in the urine, which may turn the urine a dark brown color.

In response to those concerns, the Consortium for Health and Military Performance at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., is hosting an upcoming workshop for military medical professionals to develop standard definitions of high-intensity exercise programs, discuss the merits of these programs, develop guidelines for their safe use, and draft an agenda for further research.

Military Times would like to hear about your experiences with high-intensity training programs. Have they worked for you? Have you suffered any injuries along the way — particularly anything approaching rhabdomyolysis? Any advice you would pass on to newbies who are thinking about jumping in? E-mail highintensity@militarytimes.com.