WARNING: Cocaine (Stimulants) and Exercise don’t mix well
“Supplementing your supplements”
2 years ago I had the pleasure of meeting a gentleman named…oh, let’s call him Tim! Tim was an Airline pilot. He traveled all over the world flying private and commercial flights, enjoying elaborate parties with some high end clients now and then. One afternoon(4p.m.) Tim got involved with a pretty nasty workout involving Thrusters, Burpees, and Toes-To-Bar; immediately after he had arrived from a prior flight around 10 that morning.
The volume was pretty high, but not uncommon for his level of fitness.
He pushed through the workout; squeezing out every rep he could. He was walking around and talking normally right after the workout ended, but obviously taxed from the training and showing no real signs of overtraining. After being at home for several hours, he started developing severe cramping, his urine was the color of Coca-Cola, and he was feverish. Tim was experiencing the onset of Rhabdomyolysis.
3 weeks later he came walking back in to the gym for his next workout. Because I saw him so infrequently, I waddled on over and asked how life had been; flying, exercise, the ladies..you know, normal gym talk. 🙂 Tim proceeded to tell me about his 7 day stint in the hospital recovering from Rhabdomyolysis. I was shocked that he had not mentioned it before, seeing as our training staff at the time may have been able to at least come visit him at the hospital. After all, we did this….right? Our irresponsible programming almost killed this guy…right? WRONG!!
Tim neglected to disclose that he had been involved in an “epic party sesh” with some clients. His drug of choice; Cocaine, and not a small amount!
The reason he didn’t tell us about the case is because, and I quote: ” I was stupid and did not realize the implications that such actions would have. It was completely my fault, as I chose not to tell anyone about the use, in fear of judgement.” How modest.
That was two years ago, but important. As a fitness professional, part of our job is to keep you safe. As a student/client/athlete part your job is to inform your trainer of anything that could be affecting performance; even drug use. It’s tough to talk about, but we need to know everything you are taking…EVERYTHING. Even if you don’t like disclosing that information, it could keep you from DYING ONE DAY!! Seriously….
Because this topic was brought up the other morning, I figured I would post this warning about stimulant (not over the counter) use and exercise.
“Cathinone use can also cause rhabdomyolysis, which is a melting of the muscle tissue and the release of muscle fibers into the blood stream. This can lead to kidney failure and result in a user needing permanent dialysis.”
(That’s without adding exercise!)
If you did not study chemistry…..do not try and practice it on yourself; especially during an intense exercise routine. Some of you guys and gals are starting to get deep down the Rabbit Hole in exercise supplementation and it’s looking scary.
Most of you have some sort of pre-workout supplement that has about 30 different chemical names on the back; 3 of which you can identify. That’s a problem! What is the other stuff in their doing?
For one, it could be actually hindering your progress. Especially if you are not eating properly to facilitate the necessary recovery of certain chemicals in the body. Your kidneys might be wasting precious time filtering out a bunch of garbage that you do not need to take. You may also be sprinting down the road to overtraining. Not overtraining from too much exercise, but depletion of proper nutrients. Remember overtraining encompasses several factors; Nutrition, whether it’s too much or too little; sleep; and daily activity(read exercise).
It is crucial that we have a better understanding about what’s going on with our body, and how to exercise and eat properly.
Take supplementation seriously – talk to a coach about what you are using. Not a “sales guy” at the McVitamin store.
Be smart about what you put in your body.
- Coach Jason Philyaw
