SUPPLEMENTS CAN KILL YOU ! ! ! ! !

While normally this blog is reserved for showing how much fun we are having building our CrossFit community and the many different, difficult workouts that we tackle as a group, today we are going to talk just a moment about supplements.

Specifically creatine monohydrate, Hydroxycut and any of the other over-the-counter CRAP you can get from GNC or even the PX. This includes the "Rock Star", Monster-drinks everyone takes to stay awake or before a workout. This shit will not help you get big or lean and cut or anything else as well as improving your crappy diet!!! Nothing can replace a high-quality Zone Diet with extra healthy fats and lots of sleep and plenty of water. If you are dorking those three imperitives up, the supplements will only make your situation worse.

I hope Ryan doesn't mind me making an example of him but it is worth mentioning for anyone out there that thinks they need that crap to gain an "edge".

Today, on the way back from our Saturday CrossFit workout, Ryan is minding his own business in the back of the car when several factors ganged up on him, caused him to have a seizure and nearly stop breathing...

Before he found us and started CrossFitting a few months ago, he was lifting heavy in the gym to get bigger and stronger like most young men are apt to do when they have a lot of time on their hands. He probably felt like all of his supplementation was helping him see gains in the gym. Creatine WILL help you gain muscle mass quickly but at what cost? It will dehydrate you which makes your kidneys work harder. If you are not drinking enough water and then you go out and do a hard, sweaty workout or long run, you are putting yourself in jeopardy.

Talking with several providers at the hospital, Soldiers who are using supplements like Creatine and are doing lots of PT and are probably dehydrated, frequently end up in the ER due to seizures and short-term bouts of psychosis. The PX has finally banned "Hydroxycut" from it's shelves due to all of the medical problems associated with taking it.

Now Ryan will probably be at our workout on Monday because that's the kind of drive he has. He always shows up and he always works hard. Usually after having run some stupid amount of milage for PT every morning.

He won't be working out with us for a while but he will listen to me remind him how lucky he is and how foolish he was to waste his money on crap that could have killed him. I'm sure he's learned his lesson and I hope he and I are able to dissuade others from heading down the same dangerous path...