World’s strongest man competitor ‘nearly dies’ from CrossFit challenge after muscles ‘blew up’
Former World's Strongest Man competitor Michael Congdon was left with an excruciating health condition after undertaking a CrossFit challenge.
The 32-year-old took part in something known as the Murph Challenge, named in honour of US Navy SEAL Lieutenant Michael Murphy, who died fighting in Afghanistan in June 2005.
Usually held on Memorial Day, the fitness test consists of a 1-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats, and another 1-mile run, traditionally while wearing a weighted vest.
Congdon decided to try his luck, believing it was 'less extreme' than powerlifting.
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A fair thing to assume for a man that came fourth in 2018's World's Strongest Man competition.
However, after going into the event without sleeping, eating or drinking enough, he said that he was 'delirious' during the challenge.
Congdon, who weighs in at 18-stone, soldiered on and actually completed the challenge in May last year, but just two days later, he compared his sore muscles to balloon animals, before being taken to hospital.
The bodybuilder was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, better known as 'rhabdo'.
This can be caused by high-intensity exercise, with the condition causing muscles to break down and release toxic components of your muscle fibres into your organs, according to Cleveland Clinic.
It's a life-threatening condition that can lead to organ failure, or even death.
Footage shows him competing at the event, held in Saint Paul, Minnesota, US.
Following the scary ordeal, he admitted that he feared for his life, and has sent a warning to others looking to push themselves that far, after spending a decade working to become one of the strongest men in the country.
The Wisconsin-native explained: "I was really scared for my life.
"That moment alone terrified me so much that I rescinded any need to find any of my physical limits ever again."
Describing himself as 'one of the strongest guys in the US' before the competition, he revealed: "The nature of Strongman is extreme effort for a short amount of time and that's what my body was built for.
"This Murph Challenge was literally 600 repetitions with two miles of running and you're supposed to do it as fast as possible with no rest, so it's the exact opposite of anything I was prepared for."
Admitting that he had 'done maybe four CrossFit workouts' before taking on the Murph challenge.
He added that he was dehydrated, has barely slept, and that it was raining.
"I ripped through 50 pull-ups in the first few sets and then it immediately felt like my lats, my forearms and my biceps were being inflated with an air hose," he recalled.
After a while, he said he 'couldn't bend' his arms, and fought through the pain, thinking it was 'just a physical sensation'.
Describing the pain as '9/10', he admitted that he was crying and 'borderline puking', adding: "I thought 'wow this is kind of fun, I've never pushed myself this hard'."
He went on to recall that his muscles were 'inflated', with a blood test revealing that he had fatally high levels of creatine kinase, an enzyme found in muscles and the brain that helps produce energy.
Congdon remembers being in tears while his fiance put ice packs under his back as he laid on the floor, admitting: "I've been doing heavy lifting at extreme world level, crazy s**t, for 10 years, but nothing like that ever hurt me like this."
"My initial [kinase level] readings were all unreadable because the hospital's levels only went up to 3,000 or 2,000," he explained.
The bodybuilder could barely eat or move, and the experience resulted in him stepping away from extreme fitness challenges.
"I don't train nearly as much, if at all. That was a truly life-changing, mind-changing moment," Congdon confessed.
He reflected, saying that he spent most of his adult life trying to become the strongest 150kg man ever without drugs, as he learned that pain doesn't necessarily mean that the exercise is good.
"The cost of gaining that toughness is not what I desire anymore. Whether you can do something doesn't mean you should," the 32-year-old pointed out, as he focuses more on fishing these days.
Jessica, from South Carolina, was also left with rhabdomyolysis after aiming to take part in the Murph challenge in November last year, and recalls looking like 'the Hulk' after just a week of training.
She said it was 'embarrassing', having been admitted to the hospital for four days afterward.
"There was visible swelling. I looked like the hulk. Everyone said 'we just thought you were super jacked or something'."
There was the threat of cutting her arms open when she was rushed to hospital in August, as she remembers the tension her skin was under.
"They were mostly concerned about my organs. In rhabdomyolysis, your cells are basically exploding in your muscles. Your muscles are bursting," she explained.
LADbible has approached CrossFit for a comment.
Joshua Nair