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No real takeaway fromthe Iowa situation, but it's a good opportunity to point out that your body does have limits that you should pay attention to... you know, if anyone likes to push the boundary b/w "hard" and "full retard" in their workouts.
Iowa report on hospitalized players includes no reprimands
PUBLISHED 20 hours and 24 minutes ago
LAST UPDATED 4 hours and 50 minutes ago
A two-month investigation into why 13 Iowa Hawkeyes football players were hospitalized after a January offseason workout provided no clear causes, and assigned no responsibility, for the players' illnesses.
The report, made public Wednesday and discussed at the state's Board of Regents meeting in Ames, makes a clear connection between the hospitalizations and a Jan. 20 full-team workout.
Otherwise, there's only mystery behind why the players contracted rhabdomyolysis, the breakdown of muscle fibers, resulting in the release of muscle fiber contents into the bloodstream causing brown or discolored urine. It can be brought on during severe exertion and, as it did to the Iowa players, rhabdomyolysis can cause kidney damage and even kidney failure.
"I still don't think we know exactly what happened," coach Kirk Ferentz said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon in Iowa City. "Obviously, exercise was part of the cause. But I just don't have an explanation why not the other 70-plus guys."
The report, compiled by four University of Iowa professors and a university hospital compliance officer, listed 10 recommendations in the case's wake. Other than shelving the workout, which includes players doing 100 squats at 50 percent of their heaviest previous squat, Iowa officials are asked to better educate its strength coaches on rhabdomyolysis and create an emergency management plan to help improve communication in case of a similar incident.
Athletic director Gary Barta told reporters on Wednesday his department would implement all the suggestions.
"Everything listed there is rational, makes sense, and is something we will begin pursuing," he said.
Still, the report didn't offer what many around Iowa football had hoped -- a clear reason why those players ended up in the hospital for nearly a week. All 13 are expected to participate in the Hawkeyes' spring practices, which began Wednesday. Still, even Ferentz conceded that he wanted straight answers as to the causes.
Instead, beyond the obvious link to the workout, the investigators only delivered hypotheses as to what might have caused the issues. A three-week break between Iowa's Insight Bowl victory and the workout, which kicked off Iowa's offseason conditioning program, might have left some of the players out of shape. Players who needed more time to complete the exercises might have been more susceptible to the condition. And maybe skill players, such as receivers and defensive backs, were more at risk because they were lifting a higher percentage of their body weight than linemen.
Ferentz, though, countered some of those points. A past edition of the workout came after a similar layoff, he said, and there were even contradicting results within this same group.
"We had two players of very similar stature in terms of size, years in the program," he said. "One guy finished in under nine minutes, another guy took over 50. The guy that did it in nine walked away sore. I mean, they're all sore. We understand that. But [he] walked away perfectly fine. The other player was affected. How do you explain those things? I'm not smart enough to know that."
Ferentz and others escaped blame in the report. The investigators were explicit in stating that the players did nothing to cause their condition -- neither drug use, illegal or legal, nor too much partying, contributed to their conditions.
The report also indicated that Iowa's strength and conditioning staff acted with no malice when it created the 100-squat workout. But some of the coaches' comments during the workout might have encouraged players to continue when they should have stopped.
"Everyone is sore," the report quotes the coaches as saying. "Buck it up. ... Stop feeling sorry for yourself. ... You just need to get yourself together."
The investigators also include in the report that such conduct from coaches, and workouts similar to the one that caused the illness, are common at all levels of college football.
No staff member will lose his job; no player will be disciplined for inappropriate conduct. The case's legacy likely will be much less powerful than anticipated -- greater awareness of rhabdomyolysis at Iowa and other schools around the country, and the hope that such an incident never happens again.
"It's clear this condition is far more relevant than is being reported," Mason, the UI president, told reporters Wednesday. "It's very important for the players to understand the risks."
PUBLISHED 20 hours and 24 minutes ago
LAST UPDATED 4 hours and 50 minutes ago
A two-month investigation into why 13 Iowa Hawkeyes football players were hospitalized after a January offseason workout provided no clear causes, and assigned no responsibility, for the players' illnesses.
The report, made public Wednesday and discussed at the state's Board of Regents meeting in Ames, makes a clear connection between the hospitalizations and a Jan. 20 full-team workout.
Otherwise, there's only mystery behind why the players contracted rhabdomyolysis, the breakdown of muscle fibers, resulting in the release of muscle fiber contents into the bloodstream causing brown or discolored urine. It can be brought on during severe exertion and, as it did to the Iowa players, rhabdomyolysis can cause kidney damage and even kidney failure.
"I still don't think we know exactly what happened," coach Kirk Ferentz said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon in Iowa City. "Obviously, exercise was part of the cause. But I just don't have an explanation why not the other 70-plus guys."
The report, compiled by four University of Iowa professors and a university hospital compliance officer, listed 10 recommendations in the case's wake. Other than shelving the workout, which includes players doing 100 squats at 50 percent of their heaviest previous squat, Iowa officials are asked to better educate its strength coaches on rhabdomyolysis and create an emergency management plan to help improve communication in case of a similar incident.
Athletic director Gary Barta told reporters on Wednesday his department would implement all the suggestions.
"Everything listed there is rational, makes sense, and is something we will begin pursuing," he said.
Still, the report didn't offer what many around Iowa football had hoped -- a clear reason why those players ended up in the hospital for nearly a week. All 13 are expected to participate in the Hawkeyes' spring practices, which began Wednesday. Still, even Ferentz conceded that he wanted straight answers as to the causes.
Instead, beyond the obvious link to the workout, the investigators only delivered hypotheses as to what might have caused the issues. A three-week break between Iowa's Insight Bowl victory and the workout, which kicked off Iowa's offseason conditioning program, might have left some of the players out of shape. Players who needed more time to complete the exercises might have been more susceptible to the condition. And maybe skill players, such as receivers and defensive backs, were more at risk because they were lifting a higher percentage of their body weight than linemen.
Ferentz, though, countered some of those points. A past edition of the workout came after a similar layoff, he said, and there were even contradicting results within this same group.
"We had two players of very similar stature in terms of size, years in the program," he said. "One guy finished in under nine minutes, another guy took over 50. The guy that did it in nine walked away sore. I mean, they're all sore. We understand that. But [he] walked away perfectly fine. The other player was affected. How do you explain those things? I'm not smart enough to know that."
Ferentz and others escaped blame in the report. The investigators were explicit in stating that the players did nothing to cause their condition -- neither drug use, illegal or legal, nor too much partying, contributed to their conditions.
The report also indicated that Iowa's strength and conditioning staff acted with no malice when it created the 100-squat workout. But some of the coaches' comments during the workout might have encouraged players to continue when they should have stopped.
"Everyone is sore," the report quotes the coaches as saying. "Buck it up. ... Stop feeling sorry for yourself. ... You just need to get yourself together."
The investigators also include in the report that such conduct from coaches, and workouts similar to the one that caused the illness, are common at all levels of college football.
No staff member will lose his job; no player will be disciplined for inappropriate conduct. The case's legacy likely will be much less powerful than anticipated -- greater awareness of rhabdomyolysis at Iowa and other schools around the country, and the hope that such an incident never happens again.
"It's clear this condition is far more relevant than is being reported," Mason, the UI president, told reporters Wednesday. "It's very important for the players to understand the risks."
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