I saw and article the other day and to say it was reckless fear-mongering would have been an understatement. There were no statistics at all, just anecdotal examples of a "very fit" friend who experienced rhabdo because (from what it sounds like) she was too hard-headed to either scale the weight she was using or put the bar down when her body told her to.
I've coached hundreds and hundreds of CF athletes and have never had a single instance of "Rhabdo". The only issues I've ever had with clients are the "very fit" (and generally very new) people who come through the door and think they can just hit the workouts with no conditioning, training or prep.
My BEST clients are always those who listen to me about the dangers of the programming style and the importance of conditioning and LEARNING #CrossFit. Almost every workout looks "easy" until you get started on it!
Finally - the reason this "very fit" client's coach even knew about rhabdo is because it's pretty much CrossFit 101 - practically the very first thing any coach worth a damn knows going right out of the gate. The idea that this guy had some "secret" that the CrossFit brand is "hiding" is absolutely absurd. It's one of the first things taught and, more importantly, the prevention of the condition is (or should be) of the utmost concern of every trainer.
That this guy knew about rhabdo and still let her go the extremes she did in that particular workout is a fault on the trainer - not on the program. I'm sure we all know PTs or personal trainers or coaches who are not fit to be in the position they are in.
The bottom line is, fearmongering gets more hits than the truth - it's why sensationalistic TV stations like Fox News and MSNBC exist. Don't believe the hype - CrossFit is safe and effective if you know what you're doing and your coach isn't a total assclown.
