Multiple members of Tufts University's men's lacrosse team have fallen ill. Some of them have been hospitalized after taking part in a brutal training session that was led by an alum, who also happens to be a Navy Seal. [00:00:16] So I didn't know that this was possible, but it is possible to be worked out so hard that your body turns on itself and you could be hospitalized for it. This is one of the most insane stories I've read in a long time, and there's [00:00:31] a lot of insane stories out there. So the September 16th workout was instructed by a Tufts alumnus who is a recent graduate of the Buds Navy Seal training program, which stands for Basic Underwater Demolition Seal training. [00:00:50] And that's according to Patrick Collins. He's the executive director of media relations for the university. I'm sure that he's working around the clock right now considering this negative news story out there about Tufts and what happened with these lacrosse players. Now, the workout, I should note, lasted for about 45 minutes and was voluntary, [00:01:08] so the lacrosse players weren't forced to do it, but around 50. What? I just love the idea that they might be like, they're getting whipped. You lift that? No, but you know, I know what you mean. It's not like you're going to be thrown off the team if you don't do it. I know it would be no consequences for it. Right. But 50 team members actually participated. [00:01:25] They're like, no, no, no, we want to work out. - We want to be trained. - Imagine the social stigma if you don't. - True. - Actually, I don't I don't know. Like, would there be social stigma if you didn't go? I think there's social stigma to work out as hard as you can at regular workouts. Like you want to be a part of the team. You know, trying hard. [00:01:42] Totally disagree. If I want to give up, I'm going to give up and I'm not going to be apologetic about it. Anna Kasparian not a team player. Okay, okay. There's more. There's more. So as of yesterday, this is actually a tragic story. I'm not trying to make light of it. So as of yesterday, three of the team members remained hospitalized [00:02:00] because of how intense this workout was. So I am going to butcher the pronunciation of this, but I want you to know that it is not because I am racist or want to perpetuate white supremacy in America. Now, it could be that nine of the members were sent to the hospital for. [00:02:23] Rhabdomyolysis. Okay. And I'm going to call that something else for short. Rhabdo Rhabdo. Have you heard of this before? Okay, so rhabdo happens when proteins and electrolytes from damaged muscle tissue [00:02:39] are released into the bloodstream, according to the CDC. This could damage the kidneys and lead to kidney failure, seizures, permanent disability, and even death. So rhabdo is considered a rare disease that occurs after an injury [00:02:56] or excessive exercise without rest. According to the CDC, while the condition can pretty much affect anyone, you know, obviously this is rare and it would take a very intense workout. Some groups, like athletes who work outdoors or in hot environments [00:03:12] are actually at higher risk, and it's a usually isolated, according to Doctor Sir Shruti Gupta of the Brigham and Women's Health Hospital in Boston. [00:03:28] Okay, so it's very unusual to see that many people being hospitalized all at once with this condition, particularly young men who are presumably very physically fit. Yeah. So this has happened before. Apparently, back in 2011, 13 Iowa football players were hospitalized [00:03:47] with Rhabdo after an off season workout, and that resulted in a settlement of $15,000 for one of the players. So, like, I don't know what to make of this. - This is crazy. - Yeah. Look. Maybe we shouldn't work out. And maybe Trump is right. [00:04:02] Maybe we have, like, finite a battery energy. We have a battery, and we should protect that battery by not working out. No, I'm just kidding. I think he was way ahead of the curve on Rhabdo. And I think that's what he was thinking about when he said it. He's not just lazy. Yeah. Look, the takeaway is let's let's be reasonable with the workouts. [00:04:21] Especially when, like, like I hear about people having this, like, like you hear about this in reference sometimes to like people who go to hard CrossFit, especially for competitions can get it, particularly people who are doing like some of like the insane competitions outside in the heat, as you pointed out, you'll see instances of this 45 minutes. [00:04:40] I don't, I don't I cannot conceive of how tough that workout was to accomplish this in 45 minutes, but it was probably horrific. I can't conceive of having the type of, I guess, willpower and persistence [00:04:56] to avoid listening to what your body is telling you and keep going like, because think about it like you really do have to push through every warning sign, every red flag that your body is like raising right [00:05:12] to to have this happen to you. Yeah. And so look, my my take on this is when when the instructor is yelling at you to keep going and your body is telling you, don't keep going, don't keep going. [00:05:27] Let them yell at you. Social. I mean. Look, I get it. I do get that. Yeah, I don't know. We don't know a lot about the instructor. I mean, the instructor presumably was trained to do the workouts, but was the instructor properly trained to notice the warning signs? Was there an environment where you would not feel like you were an utter failure, [00:05:45] or you're betraying your team? If you wanted to take a drink or take a moment off? - We don't know. - We honestly don't know. And by the way, I personally do not thrive in that kind of environment and go out of my way to avoid those kinds of environments. So like. But you were a dancer. I'm assuming those workouts were tough. [00:06:00] Yeah, they were they were tough. Yeah, I guess that's a little bit different. They were group workouts, right? I know, but there was never a moment where I knew, hey, if I keep going, I'm really going to harm my body. Like, and I kept going, like, I always just listened to my body and I stopped. [00:06:19] But I totally hear what you're saying in regard to like, the peer pressure. And that could be even more intense in like a male environment, right? Especially in a competitive team like lacrosse. - That's rough. - So I totally get that. I once I was in ROTC in college and during one of our workouts [00:06:37] or morning workouts, that was probably the bigger issue than the workout was the fact that it was so early. And at that point in my life, I was not a morning person. We were working out. I was going super hard, especially because I was new, and I went into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror, and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground. I had passed out and and that happened. [00:06:54] That wasn't rhabdo or anything like that. But yeah, sometimes, like, you're not necessarily you're not you have the warning signs, but you're not necessarily interpreting them as warning signs, particularly when you're trying to keep up with other people and you know, all that stuff. Yeah. I'm assuming they will be more careful in the future, [00:07:10] but it is possible that some of these these guys might have like long lasting or permanent effects of this, and that just seems super unfortunate. I really hope that's not the case. Now the three lacrosse players who remain in the hospital are luckily making progress. [00:07:28] They're not in the clear yet, and I really hope that there's no irreparable harm to their bodies because, I mean, they're so young and it would be devastating if that's the case. But, I mean, this could also be a teachable moment. And I get that he's a Navy Seal, the instructor here. [00:07:45] He should be aware of his own strength and his own training, and not put himself in the same position as college lacrosse players. They have not gone through the kind of training that he has. Yeah, they're not seals. Yeah, they're you know, physical capabilities are a little more [00:08:01] limited because of the fact that they didn't go through the same training. So just be cognizant of that. And I think another thing is don't if you find yourself in a situation like this where peer pressure seems to be like the name of the game and people who might not be safe to keep [00:08:19] up feel pressured to keep up, just like try to not engage in that. Right. Try to encourage people, but don't pressure them or make them feel like crap if they need to stop.