High-intensity workout injuries spawn cottage industry

After feeling a searing pain during a particularly grueling exercise, the Los Angeles-based CEO of an event planning company learned he'd torn his Achilles tendon.

[...] workouts include high-impact moves like jumping onto platforms and are performed during a shorter period of time, often without a break to maximize benefits, but some experts say they strain participants' bodies beyond what they're meant to endure as they sling sledgehammers over their shoulders and perfect headstand pushups.

Many people who do the high-intensity workouts aren't adequately conditioned for such rigorous workouts, or have back and spine conditions that could worsen, said Dr. Marc Umlas, chief of orthopedic surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, who said his office has seen an increase in injuries from workouts at CrossFit and similar programs.

"Every CrossFit athlete that I see as patients, they have something going on as a result of being in CrossFit," said Dr. Tyler Kallenbach, a Los Angeles-based chiropractor who noted knee and shoulder injuries like torn rotator cuffs are common.

Los Angeles-based trainer Lauren Roxburgh has created an entire workout around the foam roller, a narrow tube often relegated to post-workout stretching, which she says can smooth out connective tissue, stimulate the lymphatic system and deliver highly effective core strengthening.

At LIT Method, a Los Angeles studio that specializes in low-impact workouts for those who are injured, clients rotate between cardio sessions on rowing machines and strength training using resistance bands.