Weird stomach injury

Hi guys.

I've been on a break for about two months now to focus solely on shoulder recovery. My shoulders are feeling a lot better and thus, I started doing some exercises last week (Tuesday, so basically a week ago). Only F1, but I added some GHD-situps (3x10) for the fun of it. That day I did RC/PE1 (4x6), HBP/PE (4x6) and SL (4x24) in terms of GST.

The day after, I was sore - which I had of course expected because of the GHDs. The day after that, it was worse - almost cramp-like. I had to walk around hunched over because arching backwards hurt my abs too much. Both Thursday and Friday were like that. The days after and until now, the soreness subsided, but it seems I have gained a MASSIVE amount of fat. Where I used to have clearly defined abs, I can now barely see them - I can even feel my belly bouncing when I walk. It seems to be a combination of a large amount of added fat and maybe some shrinking of my abs, I'm not sure. I thought it was just the swelling but I'm beginning to fear it might be permanent. I called a doctor and described the situation to him because I was worried it might be rhabdomyolysis, he said that probably wasn't it and that it was common for the area to swell up after overtraining.

So - do some of you have an idea what has happened? Was the doctor right and will it subside? Or has my body drastically changed in the course of a week?

Sounds about right. I once heard of a guy that tried GHD sit-ups and swelled like crazy. And the swelling moved south to outgrow his briefs.

Is it like this?

http://carolcottrill.com/extreme_exercise_rhabdomyolysis/

Jeremy Huston said:

Sounds about right. I once heard of a guy that tried GHD sit-ups and swelled like crazy. And the swelling moved south to outgrow his briefs.

But did it normalize afterwards?

Is it like this?

http://carolcottrill.com/extreme_exercise_rhabdomyolysis/

I moved from this

http://peecee.dk/upload/view/446567

to that.

http://peecee.dk/upload/view/446566

So yeah. Kind of.

Crazy.

My only experience with this is that website I showed you from Dr. Google.

I would go and see a Doctor.

Let us know how it all goes. ( I doubt its a permanent thing, it'll probably just set you back a bit).

Take the photos with you to the doc too to show the rapid change over a few days. Sometimes Doc think 

you're crazy and wont take your word for it.

I would see a doctor asap.  That kind of swelling is never normal, and often rhabdo wont have the classic signs because they are late signs. The treatment likely will be rest and plenty of fluids, but better get it checked out in person.

There is no physiological way you gained fat in the lower abs like that. You have injured the abdominal muscle and fascia. You may have also caused an inguinal hernia. Go and see a doctor to check if you have a hernia. Hopefully you haven't and lesson learned to not do this exercise until you are ready.

Thanks for the answers guys. I now have a doctor's appointment on Friday. I hope it will normalize somewhat. I am super hyped to tackle this hurdle, so it is somewhat disheartening to just sit and wait after having already taken a long break.

Mark: What would the consequences of an inguinal hernia be?

Surgery if you want to keep doing high level abdominal work. Let's hope not.

Here's the article I read about the swelling:

http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/38_05_GluteHam_SU.pdf

manze said:

 

Mark: What would the consequences of an inguinal hernia be?

I had a groin inguinal hernia repair a few years back. Since then i've adopted a squat position when going to the toilet (Kiiler poos, you should try it!). And I only notice discomfort when suddenly increasing work load too much.  I know groin and abdominal hernias are 

different due to location, but I'm sure the same advice is true. If you DO have one, you are far more likely to get more (some people

just have a weakness in the abdominal wall).

Slow, methodical return to training is the way to go.

Other than that, I dont really know anything about Rhabdo, but Im glad you are going to get it check out. 

Thanks for all the support guys I'll report back Friday!

Mark Collins said:

Surgery if you want to keep doing high level abdominal work. Let's hope not.

Oh. Yeah. Well, I hope it's a good sign that I haven't been feeling any pain. (after the soreness dissipated)

Luckily, the doctor didn't spot any hernia. She thought it might've been a "pulled muscle/muscle rupture" (not sure what the correct term is in English). The swelling has subsided, I have gained a little fat (which is to be expected after rest) and my abs have shrunk a bit and become weaker (which is to be expected after overtraining).

So all in all, it seems I got lucky. Thanks for the help guys.