Tag Archives: CrossFit

Pregnancy: Week Ten

This week took me on another adventure to see family and friends in Wisconsin. I was able to share our joy in person with a handful of family and friends … and even bump bellies with another dear friend who’s just a few weeks ahead of us. So fun!

The first thing out of many people’s mouths in the great state of Wisco was, “I hope you’ve stopped lifting weights.” “Um, NOPE!” Most of my cousins haven’t had a baby in 10+ years, so times are probably a bit different.

One cousin, who is an occupational therapist, told me when she was pregnant her three times, she continued lifting pediatric patients during therapy, but now the women she works with who are currently pregnant won’t lift the kids at all. I said to her, “that’s just weak women trying to shirk responsibility.” I couldn’t believe it; I understand wanting to be cautious, but to avoid things your job requires seems over the top.

The best conversation was with a close family friend who is a retired OB-GYN. When I mentioned the fuss I was receiving about CrossFitting, he said he recalled sitting in a training class years ago that told the doctors to tell their patients to stop any sort of physical exercise/strain throughout the nine months. After that class, he returned home to his patients, who by majority were farming women, “working seven days a week shoveling sh*t, hauling grain bags, driving tractors, dealing with cattle, and I was supposed to tell them to stop?! Those were my healthiest patients.” After that realization, he stopped telling women what they couldn’t do and instead advised them to “listen to their bodies as maternal instinct kicks in early and often.” He was glad I was working closely with my coach and monitoring my heart rate, but told me to otherwise keep it up.

Being able to CrossFit and workout has kept me feeling normal. I know my body is no longer mine, but by exercising, I am maintaining strength and health for myself and our baby. Taking that away from me could be much worse.

Week Ten WODS:

Oct. 1 Warm up

Strength/skill: 5 rounds (not for time) – 5 deadlift, 1 hang squat clean, 3 front squat, 1 thruster Rx: 135/95 5 burpee penalty for dropping the bar Heart rate: 155; rpm the thruster didn’t feel right so I omitted that.

Metcon: Three rounds – 1 min. max rep push ups, rest 30 seconds, 1 min max rep wall balls (20/14) rest 30 seconds – total reps 133 Killer after the strength portion!

Oct. 2 Warm up – 3min row

Strength/skill: Front squats 10×5, build up weight to fail. Made it to 105#, failed after 5 reps Heart rate around 150 rpm

Metcon: Partner WOD, 15 min AMRAP, alternate every 5 reps – 10 shoulder to overhead (115/75), 25 deadlifts (115/75), 50 box jumps (24/20) – we managed 3 rounds + 73 reps. I felt great during lifts, but do step-ups instead of jumps on the box.

Food: About the same, but fruits and veggies are much more appealing this week. Enjoyed some raw veggies with Greek yogurt dip one day, lots of honeycrisp apples and veggie soups. Still not paleo, but trying not to beat myself up. My body is definitely craving carbs of all kinds and dairy (preferably ice cream!).

 

Pregnancy: Week Eight

We had an appointment with our OB/GYN this week. He was awesome about everything – especially my CrossFit. He specifically said, “Everything you were doing prior to the pregnancy, you can continue. Just monitor your heart rate.”

SCORE!

He did mention that moving into the next trimesters, I will want to be careful with lifting too much because as my body and muscles expand to prepare for the birth, I can hurt myself/over-do. I won’t hurt the baby by lifting though.

This news and information made both the hubs and I much more comfortable with my CrossFit routine and what to prepare for.

Biggest changes are in my boobs. They are suddenly huge and very painful.

Week Eight WODS:

Sept. 16 Warm up 500m row

Strength/skill: weighted push ups (5×3) Got to 30#

Metcon: For time: 400m run, 50 push ups, 50 sit ups, 200m run, 40 push ups, 40 sit ups, 200m run, 30 push ups, 30 sit ups, 200m run, 20 push ups, 20 sit ups – 19:46

Sept. 17 Warm up

Strength/skill: front squats (10-8-6-4-2) Got to 115#

Metcon: 12 min amrap: 6 wall ball clean & throw (20/14), 8 box jumps (24’/20′), 6 KBS (1.5/1 pood) – 6 + 12

Heart rate: maintained around 160

Sept. 20 Warm up: core work

Metcon: “Helen” 3 rounds – 400m run (I rowed), 21 kbs, 12 pull ups – 13:46 Heart rate was 162

Food: I had an aversion to cooking this week. Poor hubs. I’ll eat anything put in front of me, but cooking/handling meat is completely unappealing.

Pregnany: Week Seven

My weekly goal is to CrossFit at least three times a week. During week seven, I met that goal. Overall, I’m feeling great. I have days of extreme exhaustion, but that’s easily cured with a nap or some mindless t.v. I have been very lucky to have had no morning sickness or nausea; I really think that has to do with CrossFit and constantly moving.

The hubs did buy me a Polar heart rate monitor this week. The nurse told me to keep my rate around 140, but according to Fit Pregnancy:

For a more precise heart-rate measurement, the Fit Pregnancy website recommends pregnant women use target heart ranges. Unfit, sedentary or overweight women ages 20 to 29 should aim for 129 to 144 beats per minute; those 30 to 39 should stay within 128 to 144. Active women ages 20 to 29 should aim for 132 to 152 BPM; those 30 to 39, 129 to 148 BPM. A range of 145 to 160 BPM is recommended for fit women ages 20 to 29, and 140 to 156 for ages 30 to 39.

I’ve been focusing more on how I feel during the WODs and the heart rate monitor helps me determine where I’m at during the workouts.

Week Seven WODs:

Sept. 9 Warm up

Strength/skill: 3 rep max OHS: 70# PR

Metcon: “Jess” 28 reps of: pullups, thrusters (75/45), KBS, box jumps, weighted sit ups (45/25 – I did without the weights), walking lunges (45/25) – 10:27

Sept. 10 Warm up: 500m row

Strength/skill: snatch balance 3×6, worked up to 75#

Metcon: 16 min amrap 10 reps of: slam balls, push press (95/65), air squats – 7 + 10

Sept. 11 Warm up

Strength/skill: 1 rep max of bench (110# not a PR) / back squat (145# PR!) / deadlift (200# PR!)

Metcon: 8 min amrap, 4 reps of: pull ups, burpees, box jumps – 11 rounds with modified burpees; subbed in push ups and jumping jacks instead of burpees. I tend to slam my belly on burpees, so it’s not worth the risk!

Food: eating whatever sounds good. Paleo-shmaleo is the mindset right now. Mac & cheese and ice cream? Yes, please!

Pregnancy: Week Six

We got an appointment this week to confirm the pregnancy. According to the nurse practitioner, I’m six weeks along. After seeing the baby on the ultrasound, she gave me a bunch of advice – amount of water to drink, what to eat, vitamins to take, medicines to take/avoid, and exercise. With exercise, her advice was, “exercise for 20 minutes, three days a week.” I had to refrain from snorting in laughter.

I said, “I’m a CrossFitter and am used to lifting significant weight.”

Her response sent me into a tizzy …

“Well, you shouldn’t be lifting more than 25#.”

Um, lady, you have no idea what I’m capable of, I thought to myself.

Online, I was reading all sorts of great articles about women CrossFitting while pregnant, but nothing was really adding up. That’s when this blog dawned on me. Maybe if I started documenting my experiences, it would help others. Worth a shot.

Week Six WODs:

So, I was feeling the first trimester exhaustion and squeaked in one measly WOD:

Sept. 4 Warm up

Strength/skill: double unders; 15 minute time cap; increase reps by 5 every minute. So, I suck at double unders and haven’t mastered even one. I did a ton of singles and broke a sweat.

Metcon: 6 rounds for time – 200m run, 10 deadlift (225/155; I did 135), 10 wall balls, 10 ground to overhead (45/25 plates) Time: 25:27, which was consistent with the athletes I workout with regularly. Felt good during and after.

Food: craving salty foods this week. Our box is in the final weeks of a six week paleo challenge, so all week, I ate some salami with cucumbers and added banana peppers to just about everything.

Hotshots 19 WOD

The next WOD I tackled was the Hotshots 19 WOD in Prescott, Ariz. We had traveled to Prescott after my power yoga session, giving ourselves time to adjust to the elevation and figure out the lay of the land.

The official “Hotshots 19″ WOD: Six rounds (6 rounds because they died in June) for time of:

  • 30 Squats (to commemorate June 30, the day the Hotshots died)
  • 135/95 pound Power clean, 19 reps (19 reps for the 19 fallen)
  • 7 Strict Pull-ups (7 in honor of Fire Station 7, the Hotshots 19 station)
  • Run 400 meters (400 because the fire turned its course around 4 p.m. on June 30)

At 5,400 feet elevation, the 400 meter run was the most lung-sucking part. The hubs did an amazing job, finishing 5 rounds + 30 air squats and 10 power cleans in round six (5+40). He scaled the weight to 95#, but did the strict pull-ups unassisted (a first for him!). I was very proud! I was in Heat 4, finishing 5 rounds + 30 air squats. I scaled the power cleans to 65#, but also did unassisted strict pull-ups for the first time.

Strict pull-ups

Strict pull-ups

Smiling through the pain of running

Smiling through the pain of running

And I felt great before, during and after the event. The elevation (other than during the run) didn’t phase me and I was really proud of my pull-ups. And the babe’s “first competition” was one of meaning and emotion. It hit close to home for us, as one of our CrossFit friends was related to one of the Hotshots.

I’m even more proud of the CrossFit community, who participated in the WOD world-wide. It was inspiring to track photos on social media of people doing it around the globe. And the generosity for the families continues to be impressive. More than $300K has been raised online and more than $21K was raised at the event in Prescott. To help the families of the 19, CrossFit has established a trust fund through its CrossFit Kids Foundation. To donate, visit https://hotshots19.crossfit.com/

More pictures here.

Hitting the Box: Baby Steps

All the research from the day before really did me no good. I was still confused about what I should and shouldn’t be doing when it came to my pregnancy fitness. CrossFitMom is great, but I wasn’t looking for programming; I was looking for answers.

I needed some normalcy, so I hit the box.

Courtesy of reebok.com

Courtesy of reebok.com

August 27 WOD:

Warm up

Strength: Push Press 10-8-6-4-2 I got to 105#, but only one rep.

Metcon: Partner WOD 20 min AMRAP Push Press (95/65), double unders; partners switch every minute. I managed 74 push press and 160 singles for a total of 244 reps. My partner managed 380 reps.

I felt good during the strength portion, but was struggling during the metcon. I was watching women I competed with prior to pregnancy knowledge doing circles around me. I think my fear of doing something wrong was eating at my subconscious. Throughout the metcon, I kept catching my hubs’ eye to let him know I wasn’t feeling right. We were both at a loss.

Two days later, I hit the box again.

August 29 WOD:

Warm up: 500m row, 61 kbs (1 pood), 30 slamballs (15#)

Strength: Max reps in 2 min: box jumps (40 at 20′), push ups (50), situps (60)

Metcon: 20 min AMRAP 50m plate run (45/25), 10 med ball cleans (20/14), 10 pull ups, 20 alternating lunges. I skipped the plate run and added the 25# to my alternating lunges. Managed 6 rounds + 9 reps.

Felt better today and whatever was gnawing at me two days before had subsided. Considering the entire WOD was basically 3-in-1, I was happy about my numbers.

On Friday, August 30, I skipped the box for a lunchtime power yoga session to celebrate a girlfriend’s birthday. I felt empowered on my mat. While the class was tough, crowded, hot and full of advanced yogis, I kept up and challenged myself into some balancing poses I typically struggle with. Little did I know, the hot rooms can cook the baby (not really, but I can’t shake this image from my head) … little did I know, pregnant women shouldn’t let their body temps get too high, but that class I left glowing from sweat and pose success.

I guess I really didn’t take baby steps. More like broad jumps!

Courtesy of: dbstrength.com

Courtesy of: dbstrength.com

CrossFit and Pregnant – Part 1

It’s Monday, August 26. I have a sneaking suspension that I’m pregnant. After suiting up for CrossFit, I ran to Target “to pick up a few things,” is what I tell my husband.

I head right to that aisle. You know the one. The one filled with all the embarrassing jellies and creams and condoms and pleasure packs … “Holy crap. There are so many choices, how do I pick one?” is what I think as I scan the rows of pregnancy tests. I go for cheapest – Target’s Up & Up line.

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I return home, to an empty house, thankful my hubs went to the early afternoon CrossFit class. I needed to tackle this alone. Within seconds (literally seconds!) of peeing on that little stick, a plus sign appears.

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I’m stunned.

Call me/us naive, but we really thought it would take longer. For YEARS, I have worried that I would never be able to have children. Not that I ever went through fertility testing, but it took my parents years to conceive and more years for them to conceive my sister. I’ve had numerous cousins miscarry and aunts unable to get pregnant. And so many friends who have faced the full range of pregnancy challenges (adoption, in vitro, surrogates, miscarriages, special needs births)  I figured we’d be dealt similar challenges. Never in a million years did either of us think we’d be pregnant within two months of trying. And we weren’t really trying. I mean, we weren’t not trying, but given our ages, we thought we’d get a head-start, expecting it to take longer. A lot longer.

Back to that afternoon.

I am paralyzed. Stunned. In tears. Unsure of what to do, think, say. I looked at pictures of CrossFit women and cried knowing my physique was no longer mine. I cried because I’m unemployed and “who’s going to hire a pregnant girl?!” Selfish, I know. I know we’re extremely lucky and blessed and all that jazz, but in those first moments, all I could think about were about the career and fitness challenges I would face the rest of my life.

Endless questions ran through my head – can I CrossFit pregnant? What about yoga? Running? Could I hurt the baby doing any of this? How much would fitness have to take a backseat? I was Googling everything and trying to absorb as much as I could.

Needless to say, I didn’t make it to CrossFit that night. I waited, stick in hand, for the hubs to return. His reaction of joy and excitement washed away some of my uncertainty.

And guess what, you can CrossFit while pregnant. You can also run, hike, do yoga, walk the dog, have sex … all my fitness favorites!

I created this site to focus on my CrossFit + pregnant nine months and the share stories of those who walked before. Because CrossFit is still fairly new, the resources and research are limited. It’s my hope that by telling my story and the stories of other CrossFit moms, we’ll pave a path for information, sharing, inspiration and joy for the women that follow.

CrossFit and Pregnant. Here’s to the next nine months!