{"id":598582,"date":"2026-04-22T00:33:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T00:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/598582\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T00:33:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T00:33:12","slug":"extreme-fitness-viral-videos-could-be-boosting-rhabdo-cases-health-experts-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/598582\/","title":{"rendered":"Extreme fitness, viral videos could be boosting \u2018rhabdo\u2019 cases, health experts say"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Viral videos and \u201cfitspiration\u201d trends can sometimes do more harm than good, according to health experts.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/70c8fc80.png\" alt=\"\" style=\"position:absolute;width:1px;height:1px\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\"\/><\/p>\n<p>One Atlantic province has already seen a rise in a rare and potentially life-threatening condition that can be caused by overexertion, known as <a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/tag\/rhabdomyolysis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">rhabdomyolysis<\/a> or rhabdo.<\/p>\n<p>The syndrome is caused by rapid muscle breakdown and can be the result of extreme exercise, according to Dr. Ryan Henneberry, a Halifax-based sports medicine physician.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(It can happen) especially in somebody who might have succumbed themself to exercise they hadn\u2019t done in a while: the typical high-intense interval training, or the indoor cycling that\u2019s common now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>It occurs when damaged cells release toxins into the blood, which can lead to severe issues, including kidney failure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne might see the hallmark or classic tea-coloured urine, or darker urine or brown urine, and that would usually be associated with some form of muscle weakness or muscle pain,\u201d said Henneberry.<\/p>\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services said last month it confirmed about 20 cases in the eastern part of the province in the span of six months. Doctors typically expect to see a few cases a year, said Dr. Richard Barter, the clinical chief of emergency medicine in the authority\u2019s eastern urban zone.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"170\" height=\"225\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/healthiq.jpg\" alt=\"Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tGet weekly health news<\/p>\n<p>Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne doctor said they\u2019ve seen seven cases in the last five months,\u201d said Barter.<\/p>\n<p>Most of those cases were among women aged 19 to 30. And health officials believe social media may play a role.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a culture right now to do extreme activities,\u201d said Barter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe suspect that there\u2019s a lot of posting on social media about what you\u2019ve done, the number of reps that you\u2019ve done, how high you\u2019ve got your heart rate \u2026 there\u2019s a friendly jousting competitiveness going on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: 'Busting fitness myths: From metabolic conditioning to cortisol levels'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/TMS_JULLY_BLACK_STILL.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"   data-\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t3:52<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBusting fitness myths: From metabolic conditioning to cortisol levels\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore on Health<br \/>\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere in Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia Health said it has not seen any significant increases in rhabdo cases. Health authorities in New Brunswick did not provide data before deadline.<\/p>\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Laura Perry, a personal trainer and owner of East Coast Barbell in Dartmouth, N.S., said preventing rhabdo means taking exercise slow \u2014 and low.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re not going from zero to 100 in the very first day. We\u2019re starting small and we\u2019re learning how to move our bodies efficiently and safely,\u201d said Perry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWorking out six days a week is not twice as good as working out three days a week. It doesn\u2019t work in that way. The most important thing is to choose a routine that you can do consistently. That you have time to recover from.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Others believe self-compassion can help, too.<\/p>\n<p>While social media pressure may encourage intense workouts for some, it\u2019s important to pause and consider the impacts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt could be really just recognizing that these are large systemic and often profitable industries that are perpetuating these messages,\u201d said Eva Pila, an assistant professor at Western University School of Kinesiology.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to adopt more kind, understanding and empathetic ways of relating to ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 With a file from The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Viral videos and \u201cfitspiration\u201d trends can sometimes do more harm than good, according to health experts. One Atlantic&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598583,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[337,97,252732,244231],"class_list":{"0":"post-598582","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-rhabdo","11":"tag-rhabdomyolysis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}