I am so grateful for CrossFit, not just because it drastically and positively affected my pregnancy, birth, and the health of my son, but because it has changed my life. CrossFit has redefined how I view health, fitness, and strength. Having struggled with disordered eating for half of my life, CrossFit has really helped me cross over the bridge from equating health with thinness, to internalizing strength as my new definition of healthy.
Shortly after finding out Finn was a being, at Fight Gone Bad IV last year. About 6 weeks
16 weeks- box jumps
18 weeks- kettle bell swings
20 weeks
22 weeks- good mornings
28 weeks- prowler pushes!
30 weeks- pull ups!
32 weeks- KB swings
more pull ups!
33 weeks- deadlifting
such an excited daddy to be!
35 weeks- Over Head Squats
tired after MORE pull ups
I ran throughout the pregnancy, it stared to get a bit hard at the end! 36 weeks!
My belly says "4 more weeks!"
KB swings, 37 weeks
trying my best to do sit-ups!
ACK ! Pull ups at 38 weeks!
Mostly, I had positive feedback and awesome encouragement throughout my pregnancy. People in the CrossFit community had a "more power to you!" attitude and really seemed to "get it" that I was just continuing to stay committed to the same activity level as I had before pregnancy. Others seemed to be in awe and did not quite understand how I could still do pull ups when I was 39 weeks along, but were supportive all the same. A few people expressed concern, and maybe others were worried but never approached me about it. Then there was the "old wive's tales" contingency who said things like, "if you put your hands over your head, the baby's cord will get wrapped around its neck!" or, "if you pick up that heavy thing, you will strain your overies!" That's sooo 1910...
When I found out I was pregnant last September, I did my research. I knew that not exercising or really even changing my fitness lifestyle significantly at all was not an option. So I talked to some experts. The best advice I got came from a former Olympic athlete named Alex Allred who continued to train under the close supervision of an OB who monitored her and her baby's health throughout. She is the fitness and nutrition expert on pregnancy.org
This is her response to my questions about continuing high intensity exercise while carrying child:
"First things first -- yes, a heart monitor is important. You don't want your heart rate so high that it causes distress to the baby. But here in lies the problem with elite athletes -- as I believe you are. A heart rate of 140 bpm may be significant to a woman in average shape but for you, this is nothing. So, you naturally want to push a little harder. And because there is no real hard science on heart rates and elite pregnant athletes, its a crap shoot.
You can allow your heart rate to exceed 140 but what I tell my clients is do not stay there. If I am working with someone who has gone up to 170 or more (be careful!!!), we work to bring it right back down. As you know, there are plenty of ways to really work hard yet keep the heart rate stable. What I am most interested in is your inner core temperature. Your baby's temperature is one degree Celsius higher than that of your own but unlike you -- your baby has no sweating mechanism and cannot regulate heat. In other words, as you heat up ... so does baby. I know this is gross but I swear by it and will not let my clients (pregnant) train without this one tool -- a rectal thermometer. When you go to the gym, break after 18-22 minutes into the routine, go the bathroom and take your inner core temperature.
Women don't like this and always ask, "can't I just feel how hot I am?" or "can't I tell by how much I'm sweating?" The answer is no -- because many times your body temp will spike as you move to different exercises. You need to keep a tab on your body temperature every 20 minutes or so. Once you get near 100.5 degree F -- you are in a danger zone. I don't like people to get higher than 101 degree F.
Two more tools -- water and a journal. By keeping a written journal of each and every workout and noting your inner core temperature, you will also get a better idea of what exercises make your inner core temperature spike.
The second trimester will bring you more energy but by the third, you will slow considerably. Into your second (midway) trimester, I would like to see you move away from the plyometrics -- jumping on the boxes. Here's why. Can you handle it?? Yes. And the inner core temp is even manageable BUT your body is moving into the third trimester and joints are beginning to soften in preparation of child birth. It is in the third pregnancy that there are more injuries to joints for moms-to-be who misstep, move too quickly. Research shows that it is inactive, non athletic moms to be who experience the most injuries -- we jocks know how to move and have better muscle tone -- BUT you need to be careful. The bounding is too hard on the joints. As you get into the phase -- come back to me and I will set you up with intense workouts on the treadmill that minimize bounding but will really challenge you."
So I took all this advice. I drank a ton of water. I kept a journal with my heart rate and core body temperature. I stopped jumping on boxes when the belly got too big, and did step ups instead. I did not go for one rep maxes in my lifts. I used a little thing called common sense, and it served me very well. I am so happy that I worked as hard as I did. It paid off. I gained a minimal healthy amount of weight. I had no post-baby body. I was in labor for 5 hours and I pushed for 20 minutes. I progressed from 1cm to 9cm in an hour and a half. The nurses were shocked at the speed and ease of my delivery as a first time mom. I whole heartedly believe I have CrossFit to thank for my easy delivery and healthy strong baby. So thank you CrossFit and thank you ME for getting my ass into the gym when it was the last thing in the world I wanted to do!
