A South Carolina woman learned the hard way that while getting pumped up at the gym has certain benefits, too much pumping can be dangerous.
Jessica Johnson, 25, told Kennedy News Agency she took part in the Murph challenge — a cross-training routine that involves running a mile and completing a circuit of 300 squats, 200 push-ups and 100 pull-ups before finishing up with another mile run, according to the New York Post.
Johnson says the next day she woke up with swollen arms, but chalked it up to the fact that she hadn’t done pull-ups in a while.
The swelling, she says, only increased over the next few days and her urine turned an “orangery color.” Finally, after losing feeling in her hands, she went to the emergency room.
Tests revealed Jessica had rhabdomyolysis, a life-threatening condition where muscles break down and release toxic chemicals into the bloodstream, per the outlet.
Doctors, who reportedly had to cut her arms open to relieve the swelling, said she was lucky to escape the ordeal without serious kidney damage.
The lesson, says Johnson: “Working out too much and doing too aggressive of a workout is not good for you and not healthy.”