Internet entrepreneur claims he almost died from kidney failure after completing just one session of the P90X workout scheme Matt Lombardi's attempt at losing weight almost cost him his health After trying rigorous exercise he was admitted to hospital after contracting rhabdomyolysis and concerns his liver might fail A man claims that his recent attempt to lose a couple of excess pounds almost cost him his health after he ended up in hospital with doctors scrambling to save his kidneys. Matt Lombardi said he decided to try the P90X, or Power 90 Extreme, exercise regimen after he gained 20 pounds while focused on launching his college sports website. But Lombardi says he struggled to complete the first training session, which he did on a Monday, and just days later he was admitted to hospital after contracting rhabdomyolysis, an illness associated with kidney failure and strenuous exercise. Matt Lombardi, right, claims that the P90X exercise regimen caused him to contract rhabdomyolysis and almost lead to kidney failure If you've done P90X, then you know that the first day (chest & back) is really, really difficult. You're asked to do push-ups, then pull-ups, then push-ups, then pull-ups. I lost count of my how many of each I did - but it was a lot. Eventually, my muscles just shut down," he writes on College Spun. All in all, I probably completed half of what I was supposed to do - so around 30 minutes of continuous, hard exercise. The next morning he claims he awoke incredibly sore, but decided to try day two of P90X which works out a different set of muscles. On Wednesday morning his muscles were in such pain that he could barely use them and even getting out of bed was extremely difficult, so he gave further exercise a miss. P90X is a commercial home exercise regimen designed to take 90 days, it consists of a training program which uses cross-training including weight training, martial arts, yoga and calisthenics The next morning he describes using the bathroom and noticing that his urine "looked like Coca-Cola," a quick online search lead him to believe he might have rhabdomyolysis. It is a condition that occurs when your muscles release too many "toxins" into your bloodstream - namely a protein called myoglobin - and typically happens because of too much strenuous exercise. He immediately made an emergency appointment with a kidney specialist in New York City who confirmed his self-diagnosis and sent him for a blood test. Since the results wouldn't be ready for a day, he told me to go home and take it easy, but to call him if my urine got darker. It did. And when I couldn't reach him to let him know, my mother and I decided it was time to go to the ER," writes Lombardi. At the hospital, he was immediately hooked up to a 200 ml IV drip in an attempt to flush out the toxins, while doctors carried out urine and blood tests. He was admitted to hospital the next morning after his test results showed he had severe rhabdomylolysis. Lombardi was admitted to hospital after blood and urine test results showed he had severe rhabdomylolysis His urine contained blood and myoglobin and his blood test came back with a CPK (creatine phosphokinase) level of over 16,800 (the max they can test for). Normal CPK levels usually run between 10-200 micrograms per liter. As doctors fought to save his kidneys, Lombardi was put on two bags of IV fluids and given a catheter. By Saturday, the protein and blood in his urine had subsided, but his CPK levels were still unmeasurable - five days after the initial workout. It was the following Tuesday before his CPK levels dropped and he was discharged from hospital. Lombardi has been told that he can't exercise for a few weeks and that he needs to ease back into anything involving sports or exercising. He is still awaiting test results about his liver. Rhabdomyoloysis isn't uncommon in people and even professional athletes who 'overdo' strenuous exercise P90X is a commercial home exercise regimen designed to take 90 days, it consists of a training program which uses cross-training (weight training, martial arts, yoga and calisthenics) and periodization, combined with a nutrition and dietary supplement plan. MailOnline has reached out to the company for comment. Rhabdomyoloysis isn't uncommon in people and even professional athletes who 'overdo' strenuous exercise. In January 2011, 13 Iowa football players were sent to the emergency room with rhabdomyolysis after the first intense workout of the year, while in March 2011 a teenage boy was hospitalized for a week after being forced to do push-ups as a punishment for bad behaviour at a school in Detroit.