With the music blaring, the lights low and her feet locked on the pedals of a stationary bike, Kayla Fancy’s adrenaline began to pump.
It was her first and last spin class.
“[The instructor] I just gave more instructions about making the bike more resistant to go faster and go up and down. Then you’re dancing on a bike,” recalled Fancy, who took the class in December 2023.
She said her muscles started hurting mid-training, but it wasn’t the usual soreness.
“I felt my thighs really weakening,” Fancy said. The muscles in my right leg felt like they were “tearing.”
Fancy said she felt pressured to push through because she couldn’t take her foot off the pedal or call for help.
“I didn’t know anything bad was going to happen other than muscle pain,” Fancy said. Fancy was 24 years old at the time and frequently went to the gym for cardio and strength training.
But a few days after training, she said the pain in her legs became “unbearable” and her urine turned dark brown.
“I felt like I was going to die,” said Fancy, who lives in St. John’s.
At the hospital, she was admitted with a life-threatening condition called exercise-induced or exertional rhabdomyolysis, or rhabdo for short.
disease May occur after intense training This is when muscle tissue breaks down and enzymes and proteins leak into the bloodstream. These substances can cause electrolyte imbalances, leading to dehydration and heart problems. Also, high amounts of protein can damage the kidneys.
In March, Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services raised the Concerns over a surge in cases among young women in parts of the state over the past few months.
NL Health Services is warning the public about the risks of strenuous exercise as the number of rhabdomyolysis cases spikes in the St. John’s region. One doctor said pressure to be flexible on social media was leading to an increase in health problems among young women. Reported by CBC’s Zach Gordy.
Infections are on the rise in St. John’s
“We’re starting to see a lot of activity where people are posting about pretty intense exercise,” said Dr. Richard Barter, director of emergency medicine for Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services in St. John’s.
From October 2025 to April 2025, 20 rhabdo cases were recorded in emergency rooms in the eastern region of the state, including St. John’s. — Barter said this was an “alarming” trend, noting that normally the region would expect to see between eight and 14 cases a year.
Although cases of exercise-induced rhabdo are not tracked across Canada, Barter previously said the normal incidence of rhabdo is about 4.5 to 8 per 100,000 people each year. Research in the United States It was found that between 2000 and 2019, this condition sent more than 40,000 Americans to hospital emergency rooms.
The study found that the most common activities that cause rhabdo were non-equipment exercise, weightlifting, and soccer. The majority of cases were males between the ages of 16 and 35. They also found that emergency department visits increased tenfold from the first 10 to 20 years.
Although the study did not examine what was behind the increase, the researchers speculated that changes in exercise trends likely contributed, such as the increased popularity of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) classes in 2014 and the increased popularity of weight training in 2015.
What causes rhabdo?
Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky, director of the Department of Neuromuscular and Neurometabolic Diseases at McMaster University in Hamilton, said rhabdo usually occurs after “unaccustomed exercise.”
“This usually happens when you do something you’re not used to and push yourself too hard,” Tarnopolsky said, adding that it can also happen when you return to a workout after taking some time off.
When you do a new exercise or start training again after a break, it’s common for your muscles to feel tight and tight after a few days.
“If it’s extreme and you can barely bend your legs, or your arms are stuck and you can’t straighten them, or you start passing dark urine…that means your muscles are severely damaged and proteins are spilling into your urine,” he says.
When that happens, Tarnopolsky said people should go to the emergency room so they can start IV fluids to prevent things from getting worse.
In rare cases, Tarnopolsky said, protein levels in the bloodstream that get too high can damage the kidneys and require dialysis. He said it could cause long-term kidney damage, but it was unlikely.
This condition can also cause compartment syndrome. Compartment syndrome is a condition in which muscles become so swollen that they must be cut to relieve pressure. Again, this is a rare result, Tarnopolsky said.
Other possible problems include seizures, blood clots, and heart arrhythmias caused by electrolyte imbalances.
Are trending workouts contributing?
Experts question whether social media plays a role, whether it’s in people challenging themselves or their friends to take part in strenuous activities, or in fitness influencers encouraging people to work out in ways they’ve never tried before.
“Avoid influencers on the internet. That’s where you run into problems,” Tarnopolsky says.
However, it is difficult to know for sure as there is not much research on this subject.
Heat also plays a role, Tarnopolsky said. Higher temperatures increase muscle breakdown It can cause dehydration, all of which affect the kidneys.
One of the biggest risks is overexertion, so no matter how healthy you are, you can experience rhabdo, Tarnopolsky said. Research shows that it often affects both military man and athletes.
But that doesn’t mean you can exercise vigorously as long as you follow certain diet and exercise rules, Tarnopolsky says. Tarnopolsky is actually studying a small number of people with genetic disorders that predispose them to rhabdo.
how to prevent it
Melissa Denny, owner of Peak Performance Training & Nutrition in Brockville, Ont., said she is on high alert for potential cases of rhabdo.
“There was more pressure from social media to get back to that…supermodel look,” she said. “So people are training really hard and catching up on really intense classes like spin and HIIT.”
But Denny said people forget that proper eating, hydration and recovery are a big part of the equation.
Denney said her top priority during classes is to keep people safe. Her trainer does this by keeping class sizes small so instructors can see everyone, providing water and cold towels, and encouraging breaks and hydration.
Meanwhile, Dr. Tarnopolsky said the main ways to prevent rhabdo are to stay hydrated, listen to your body, and slow the buildup if you start new forms of exercise. He said if you’ve already had rhabdo, you’re unlikely to get it again.
With the new year upon us, many people flock to the gym with new fitness goals. It’s normal for your muscles to be a little sore after a workout, but pushing yourself too hard can lead to serious damage, especially with popular high-intensity workouts like CrossFit. Michael Kennedy, an associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Alberta, joined Edmonton AM to figure out what to look out for with a condition called rhabdomyolysis.
Although Fancy has made a full recovery, she still can’t shake what happened to her in spin class more than two years ago.
“I still have panic attacks and sometimes I try to go to the gym,” she said, adding that she feels better now that she has a home gym.
She also sticks to “gentle movement” to help “build a healthy relationship with exercise.”
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