Canadian TikToker hospitalised after drinking too much water for 'fitness challenge'

A Canadian TikToker, Michelle Fairburn has been hospitalised after she drank excessive water.

Fairburn was following the ‘75 Hard’ fitness challenge when she felt unwell. The viral challenge requires a person to drink four litres of water a day while also working out twice every day, for two months. If someone skips a step, they are required to start the challenge again.

The challenge was created by Andy Frisella, CEO of 1st Phorm International.

According to Frisella’s original post regarding the challenge, it involves 75 days sticking to five rules: follow a structured diet, do two 45-minute workouts a day (one of which must be outside), drink four litres of water a day, read 10 pages of “educational nonfiction” a day, and take a daily “progress picture’’.

On the 12th day of the challenge, Fairburn began feeling sick and suspected that she had come down with water poisoning. She complained that she had been waking up several times at night to go to the bathroom, felt weak, nauseous, and couldn’t eat.

When she visited the doctor, she was told that she had a severe Sodium deficiency and was advised to drink only half a litre of water instead of the four litres she had been consuming.

In a video posted on TikTok, Fairburn said that “Sodium deficiency actually can be fatal. So now I'm going to the hospital and they're going to check everything and then apparently, they can raise my sodium gradually. I'm still gonna do the ‘75 Hard’ challenge, and I'm not gonna give up, but he says I have to drink less than half a liter of water a day. I cannot believe this is actually happening.”